Denmark

May 2026

[Since our last blog, Costa Rica, we haven’t published anything until now. There are several reason for that. Our 2025 trips to France, Crete & Cyprus where to catch up with Friends. The two months in South Africa over Xmas & New Year covered ground contained in previous blogs. And the week in April 2026 we spent in Istanbul was just a city break]

The journey was smooth an seamless from leaving our home to standing on our loft apartment balcony gazing over a damp downtown Copenhagen. Although both tired and suffering a bit from our various ailments, we were keen to get out and have a look at the city. The one hour stroll was rewarding for getting our bearings and glimpsing the buzz of Saturday night.

Copenhagen canal by night

View from our Copenhagen hotel balcony

By the following morning, the rain had cleared and the sun beamed down from a cloudless blue sky. We were rested and ready to explore.
From our apartment we wandered the cobblestoned streets of old Copenhagen, admiring the architecture and reading the stories associated with the numerous statues we encountered. The canal system makes Copenhagen quite unique and adds to its attraction. One of such needed to be crossed, via a marble bridge, to reach the Christiansborg Palace. The palace complex consisted of grand buildings, a tranquil garden and riding arena, enough to keep us busy for some time.

Old Town with cobblestone street, Copenhagen

Thermometer in Copenhagen center

One of the many canal in Copenhagen

the "Fuck Q-Park" Proptest monument against falling trees to build a car park which locals don't need

A mews in Old Copenhagen

Chritianborg Palace, Copenhagen

Had to look at a Lego shop, the county where it was invented

A bit of culture was in store for the afternoon, in the form of a visit to the Carlsberg Glyptotek. The Glyptotek is an impressive building housing an art collection donated to the city by the family that founded the Carlsberg brewing conglomerate. One of the stipulations for the donation was that the building would compliment the art that it was to house, this achieves admirably.

Glyptotek museum, it represents the private art collection of Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries.

Inside the Glyptotek museum

Another bright and sunny day and another Copenhagen adventure. First stop was the City Hall to see its impressive clock and architecture. Then it was time to make use of the Metro and get over to the east of the city. Osterport our destination. A green oasis on the edge of the city and where Copenhagens canals spill into the Baltic Sea.
We are here to see, amongst other things, the Little Mermaid. Possibly Denmarks most famous landmark, it is often ridiculed as being underwhelming. From our viewpoint, this is harsh. It may be small, but its unique and a quality sculpture.
Whilst in the area we took a good look at the impressive Gefion Fountain and the Kastellet fortress.
Kastellet sits within a wooded area surrounded by a moat. Once an important military defence it is now more of an administrative complex, but still guarded by military personal.

City Hall, Copenhagen

Jens Olsen's World Clock, a mechanical astronomical masterpieceIt calculates true solar time, global mean time, sidereal time, the Gregorian calendar, leap years, the migration of celestial poles, and planetary orbits.

The little mermaid inspired from Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale

The Godess Gefjon transformed her 4 sons in Oxen to plough as much land as possible in 24h00 creating the island of Zealand

Kastellet military complex

From here we started our walk back, exploring the streets as we did so.
We paused to explore the Nyhavn canal en-route. Once a seedy part of town but know quite chic and full of restaurants, colourful buildings and a variety of boats. From here we passed through the main shopping area back to the apartment.

Soldiers on the move

Nyhavn canal, 17th Century old sailor place now upmarket tourist attraction

It was now time for a change of scenery. We could have stayed longer in Copenhagen but the plan was to see a bit of Zealand. Denmark is made up of multiple islands and the one we are currently on is Zealand.
A taxi back to the airport, and with our rental car secured, we started our road trip.
First stop was the little town of Hillerod to see Frederiksborg Slot. A magnificent fortified palace surrounded by a moat. Before entering the palace we had a quick look round the gardens and took a pleasant boat ride on the adjoining lake. From the boat you could really appreciate the grandeur of the palace. The palace was just as impressive inside and provided a glimpse of life during its occupancy.

Fredericksborg Castle

Frederiskborg castle from the lake

Frederiskborg Castle corridor

Frederiskberg exhibition of tapestry

Frederiksborg Castle amazing chapel ceiling

A further short drive got us to our overnight accommodation in Helsingor. Helsingor is a coastal town on a narrow strait where the Baltic Sea enters the Atlantic Ocean, with the Swedish coast very visible on the opposite side of the strait.
At one time Helsingor was the wealthiest town in Denmark, due to the levy it charged to ships passing through the strait. With that wealth came opulence and the building of a grand palace, Kronborg Slot, with views out over the waterway.
Kronborg Slot was our main focus for the following day’s visits. Similar to yesterday’s palace but different enough to avoid a repeat event. The palace was renowned for its lavish parties. These parties would last several days and included noble guest from all over Europe. The great banqueting hall was where most of the entertainment took place and where we started our visit. Multiple courses of food and drink were provided, including a “Vomit Bucket” for those who over indulged. After a couple of hours investigating all the rooms, including the dark damp corridors of the basement, we were ready for something else.

Kronbord Castle entrance

Kronborg Castle courtyard, the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet

Kronborg Castle cellar

Holger Danske this legendary warrior sleeps deep in Kronborg Castle and will only awaken to defend the nation in its darkest hour.

It was now raining, so the maritime museum seemed a good bet. Housing detailed models of the Danish maritime fleet through the ages and fascinating shipwreck commentary, it filled a surprising amount of time.

With the rain now more persistent, there was just time to visit Han, before seeking shelter back at the apartment. Han is a silver statue, posed in a similar way to the Little Mermaid and depicting a boy.

Han the Merservant (as opposed to maid)

The weather had improved by the time we woke the following morning. We were on the move again, with our destination, the coastal town of Koge. However, we were not going there directly, first was a stop at the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde.
Roskilde was an important Viking settlement between 700-1100 CE due to its fertile land and natural harbour. To defend itself from attack by other Viking tribes it blocked two of the navigable channels so its forces only needed to concentrate on one. Five old Viking ship were sunk to form the barrier. These ships were rediscovered in the late 20th century and carefully removed from the seabed. They are now displayed, along with artefacts from the period and information about life at that time, in a purpose built museum. It was this museum, together with other recreations on the site, that we visited.

A replica of a Viking ship at the Viking ship museum

Thousand year old viking ship

After a very tasty late lunch at the museum we continued our journey to our overnight stop in Koge.
The following day’s destination was the town of Soro, but not before a major detour to Mons Island. Mons Island if famed for its white cliffs and thick forest, known as Mons Klint. A road bridge gave us access to Mons Island, then it was a short drive to the cliffs. The area is UNESCO protected and wooded steps and boardwalk allow you access to the beach and cliff. We took the 500 steps to the beach then used the boardwalk to reach a view point. The white cliffs viewed from the beach were quite impressive (we have been spoilt by the Seven Sisters in the south of England) and the viewpoint looked out to the Baltic Sea. The forest was thick and ancient, however, we didn’t have time to explore it.

Mons Klint wooden steps to the beach (not sure what number step we are in at that point)

White Cliff on Mons Klint

We had a late lunch in the attractive town of Stege, the largest on the island. Then continued to our overnight stop in Soro, back on Zealand.

We weren’t dropping the car off at the airport until late afternoon so had plenty of time to explore Soro before leaving the next day.
Another attractive little town with period building and public sculptures. Very clean and orderly, as we had come to expect from Danish towns. We passed through the monastery grounds to access Soro So, the larger of Soro’s two lakes. Then walked to the northern tip of the lake before returning into town. A stroll around town was completed by a restaurant lunch stop, sitting outside with views of town life.

Soro Lake

Soro period buildings

We then left Soro and drove to the airport for our early evening flight to the Faroe Islands.

Personal Observations & Interesting Facts

1. Most old town areas in Denmark have cobblestones. These are maintained in good order and even have had lines of flat stones added to aid the use of prams, etc.
2. Bicycles are a common sight, they appear to outnumber cars in the centre of Copenhagen. Good cycle lanes can be found throughout the country.
3. Amusing translations from English to Danish: Timetable = Fart Plan & Your Speed = Din Fart.
4. As is often the case when we are abroad, we had an earthquake. During our stay in Helsingor we felt the house wobble momentarily. We later found out that there had been an earthquake south of Copenhagen measuring 4.2. Never knew Denmark had earthquakes of that magnitude.
5. Throughout our stay in Denmark and our subsequent time in the Faroe Islands, we never once used cash. All transactions were done by credit card. Both countries accept cash but prefer card, even for the smallest transaction.
6. If you don’t have a mobile phone in Denmark, paying for parking becomes very difficult. When ever we parked, we paid using the QR code, there were no facilities for cash or card. There was a number you could call, but this still required a phone.

Copenhagen Bicycles