Copenhagen visit

Hi,

I don't have any personal experience with hotels in Copenhagen, but I know the city quite well.

Regarding highlights to visit it really depends on your interests. So it's (almost) impossible to give solid advice without knowing more about your interests. I would, however, recommend everyone to take a canal cruise on their first visit to Copenhagen.

I've made this short (and very generalized) introduction to the main districts of Copenhagen, which can help you get an idea of where to look for accommodation:

Indre By: City centre and the oldest and part of the city. Compact and very pedestrian-friendly. A lot of the sights, attractions and museums in Copenhagen are located in Indre By or within walking distance from Indre By. But it's expensive and the most touristic part of the city. No matter if you sleep here or not, you will visit Indre By (several times) while you're in Copenhagen.

Vesterbro: Hip "hipster" district, with a good variety of bars and restaurants. Home to Kødbyen (foodie and nightlife area) and to the (by international standards: very "tame") red-light district around Istedgade - still perfectly safe though.

Nørrebro: Multicultural and lively district. Some similarities to Vesterbro regarding a hipster-feel (especially the inner parts of Nørrebro).

Østerbro: Considered as the "upper-class" residential district of Copenhagen, with nice big parks. This district is a bit posh in some places, family-friendly and generally quieter than the other parts than the city.

Frederiksberg: Frederiksberg is its own municipality (so it's not technically part of Copenhagen, even though it's fully enclosed by Copenhagen). Mostly an upper-middle-class residential area. Family-friendly, lots of greenery and good parks. Somewhat similar to Østerbro.

Do get Rick's book Scandinavian & Northern European Cruise Ports. It has lots of information on the ports you will be visiting from the specific perspective of a cruise passenger. Since many cruises start or end in Copenhagen, he also has information on hotels, getting in from the airport, what he considers the highlights with limited time, etc.

Also look at Cruise Critic, which has a wealth of information but can be very hard to navigate. Here is their Northern Europe and Baltic Sea Cruise Ports forum, which includes Copenhagen (and most likely, most if not all of the other ports your cruise will call at): https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

I have just returned from a Baltic Cruise that left from Copenhagen.

I use booking.com for hotels and I got an extremely good deal at First Hotel 27. This is listed as a 4 star hotel but I would put it more in the category of 3 star. They have a great breakfast and really good wi fi. Location is very good but it was hard to find the street because it was a very short street not well known.. It is within walking distance to many of the top sights.

A HOHO bus stop is right around the corner from First Hotel 27.. I bought The Copenhagen Card and I regret it because I lost money on it. A HOHO bus will take you to different neighborhoods. You will see where the many attractions are and you can go back later or get off at the time. Some HOHO passes include free admission to many sites.

Book a hotel room now but make certain you use free cancellation and no deposit and keep shopping.

Book a room with free breakfast because food is very expensive. There is a bit of a scam operating. I love buffets and there were many buffets advertised that were very good prices but you are required to buy a drink. I did not realize this until after my second buffet. I had to pay $3 for a glass of water.

Visitors Service will be very helpful. There is one at the airport as well as at Central Station. You can write them now and get a very good large map sent to you. Copenhagen visitors service also has a great website which will give you a lot of very helpful information

I found YouTube videos to be extremely helpful in learning about Copenhagen. So was this site and so was trip advisor.

Coffee tends to be NOT very good all over Northern Europe. I believe that is because they are tea drinkers. They do have Starbucks and other coffee shops which maybe has better coffee but could be expensive. Nowhere had half and half. They use milk for the coffee.

Copenhagen is great. I made a lot of mistakes and wish that i could go back and do it all over again.

Update: two persons took issue with my paragraph about coffee. My opinion about coffee is based on my experience drinking coffee while on my trip. Perhaps I went to the wrong places and or did not know what to ask for but I still have only my experiences. However, I am also a very fussy coffee drinker. The best cup of coffee that I have is the coffee that I make at home.

"Coffee tends to be NOT very good all over Northern Europe. I believe that is because they are tea drinkers."
Funny since we have 5 of the top 6 positions: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-10-coffee-consuming-nations.html
It think it is all a matter of taste, I don't drink coffee myself but noone I know likes the coffee in the US.
Diluting it with dairy is not uncommon but many coffee drinkers have it black. Still there is dairy labeled "coffee cream" to buy (at least in Sweden and Denmark) which is close to half to half when looking at fat content (9-12%). So next time and to everyone else, try asking for coffee cream instead to see if you get more success.

My experience having coffee in Northern Europe was not very good. Maybe it was just bad luck and or coincidence.

I did have good coffee at a bakery in Schwerin Germany, When in Helsinki, my group stopped at a restaurant / bakery on The Baltic Sea. I was not feeling well so I did not have anything but the coffee looked and smelled wonderful.

I had coffee many times in Copenhagen including my hotel and too many places to name. I had coffee in Stockholm twice, at the Vasa Museum and at a sports bar where we ate.. I can not remember if I had coffee in Tallinn. I think that I had coffee at the restaurant where we ate in St Petersburg. All these coffees were either too weak or too strong and there was only milk, never cream.

I never went to a coffee house like Starbucks or others in Copenhagen. Maybe I would have had a better coffee experience if I had.

Also, I am basing my opinion on speaking with other coffee drinkers. I spoke to an American living in London at Heathrow Airport and she is the person who told me that they do not sell half and half anywhere. She told me that you can not buy half and half. Perhaps she was only talking about London / England.

Anders,

I read your link.

I am a fussy coffee drinker. I like my coffee bold and dark with half and half. I do not like light or medium roast. Perhaps the coffee was not the right roast for me while the expresso might be too strong for me but in all cases, I never had half and half.

I might edit my original discussion after reading the link to the article that you posted.