Late May, four of us (two young adults and their parents) will be staying in Copenhagen for 3 nights (and later for one night). What part of town do you recommend that we stay in? (Arriving and departing mostly from airport, but we are not wed to staying near airport).
And, does anyone have experience with airbnb in Scandinavia? I have excellent experiences all over the US, but not abroad.
I live in Copenhagen, so I have never had the need to use Airbnb. It is easy to get from the airport to the city, either by metro or regular train. Use http://www.rejseplanen.dk/ to plan your journey once you have an address.
Which neighbourhood to stay in depends on you and your interests, so i'll just give you a highlight of the different neighbourhoods.
The city center is the old part of the city, it's where most of the classic sights are, but it is also a bit touristy with lots of bars in some areas. Also it is not really a residential area, so there might be limited Airbnb apartments available and they will be more expensive.
Vesterbro is an old working class neighbourhood but has seen some gentrification in the past few years. Today there are many students and hipsters living there and lots of cool bars and clubs, especially in the old meat packing district. It also has a small red light district (though prostitution is illegal) and the area around Istedgade close to the central station is a bit seedy, but not dangerous.
Nørrebro is also an old working class neigbourhood with a large immigrant and student population, which gives it a lot of atmosphere and cheap restaurants, especially around Blågårdsgade and Jægersborggade. It has also had a lot of bad press for many years with crime and gangs, but don't believe the bad hype. I live here and i am not worried about going out at night or any of that stuff.
Østerbro is a posh, upper class neighbourhood with lots of cafés.
Frederiksberg is not really a part of the City of Copenhagen, but an enclave within. Its posh and upper class with rather grand buildings and nice cafés.
Christianshavn is an old sailor neighbourhood inspired by Amsterdam, with canals and narrow houses. Very scenic with a nice atmosphere, but could be expensive. it also includes the Freetown Christiania, an old hippie comune well worth a visit.
I did Airbnb in Copenhagen in 2012, and it was a wonderful experience. I stayed with a very friendly gay couple in Islands Brygge, right by the Bryggebroen footbridge, and about a 15-20 minute walk to Tivoli and the train station. I'm a solo traveler, and they wouldn't have room for four of you, but I'm not necessarily recommending that neighborhood so much as the Airbnb experience. I'm still Facebook friends with both of them.
I also did Airbnb in Stockholm; that was an entire apartment to myself, and it was in a wonderful residential neighborhood with lots of shops and restaurants and a park right across the street. It was a ten-minute walk to the metro and then three or four stops on the metro to the main tourist areas.
I'd highly recommend Airbnb, and I'd strongly urge you to consider neighborhood over location. It will make you feel like you are a temporary resident rather than a visitor. Copenhagen is easily walkable and bikeable, so I would think you can get anywhere you want to go. I'll defer to Morten, who obviously knows the neighborhoods much better than I do.
To supplement Lane, i would think that finding the right Airbnb host is more important than the part of town you choose to stay in. Copenhagen is indeed very walkable and the public transport connections are good, albeit a bit expensive for tourists who can't get various discounts. The different naighbourhoods can also vary a lot, with one street being dull and another two blocks away being the hippest place in town. However if ai absolutely had to chosse an neaighborhood to stay and live in it would be Christianshavn, but finding an appartment there is not easy nor cheap.
If you do find a place with Airbnb and need to know more about the specific location i'll be happy to give you my indsides.
We wanted to do Airbnb. There are many good properties out there. Unfortunately, our morning flights out made us undesirable for most renters. We have a 7 am flight and would need to leave uber early to catch our flight. The key return and check out inspection would be even earlier. I can't say I blame them. :P Hopefully your flights are at a more sensible hours.
I have had good to fantastic experiences using AirBnB for a several week trip through Croatia and Slovenia (including staying at a place in Mostar that advertised a million dollar view of the Old Bridge, and which in fact had an even better view than advertised!) Whereas, I had at least one very bad experience with a place recommended by Rick Steves' guidebook (Max's, in Piran, where the proprietor confirmed our reservation the day before, and then apparently decided that since we were the only guests staying there, that he would close up his hotel without notice to or any provision for us, leaving us waiting outside his door for him to show up for several hours, only to have to find another hotel at the last moment).
You can score real deals with AirBnb if you are both careful and lucky. Keeping in good communication with your host is key!
