This summer I took a city break to København and Wikipedia informs me that the English cognate name is the one I used in the title. So that, as they say, explains that.

 

Copenhagen would not necessarily have been high on my list, but I wanted someplace to escape the unbearable heat of what was the worst summer in Bucharest in my memory. I found a decent price on the flight by going to Malmö and then taking a bus across the big Öresund Bridge they have there.

Other than the flight, my first impression is the one I expected. Expensive. I paid 200 dollars a night on a hotel room that was the size of a small closet. The bathroom is what I would usually expect in an overnight train. But it got the job done, sleep wise (and for other basic bodily functions), and it was a fairly central location, walking distance (which for me is 5 kilometers or less) to most places I wanted to go to.

I have mixed feelings of the city. It was expensive for me as a Romanian so that influenced it. Also, the real estate prices seemed outrageous. But if one is the kind to have inherited a decent apartment in the center from one’s ancestors, it looks like a fairly livable city, especially if you like cycling and messing about in boats.

The general feeling was airy. Most streets were fairly wide, and many had the standard layout of sidewalk bike path parking lane and driving lane. There were plenty of canals in the city where people would swim or boat around. It was quite clean and I think I saw one beggar / homeless person there in 3 days, and she seemed furtive, so it is clearly not something tolerated, similar to my experience in Utrecht.

Architecture wise, it was a mixed bag. As you may already know, I dislike modern architecture. The one in Copenhagen is generally praised and liked by many a modern hipster. It is still not for me. I liked the old stuff way better.

The city did not have a lot of traffic and the public transport seemed good. It was somewhat crowded with people, especially in the touristy areas. But it was pleasant enough to walk around.

What disappointed me was the specialty coffee. The Nordics seem to have a good reputation for good coffee in Europe and I did not see that in Copenhagen. The coffee was perfectly cromulent, decent specialty, but absolutely nothing special. Prolog coffee was the best of the lot. There were, in the end, plenty of cafes, most with good breakfast from 15 to 20 dollars.

What I did like was the craft beer. A lot of choice, a lot of styles and many places had beer flights, something practically nonexistent in Bucharest, even for breweries with 20 taps. A 400 ml beer was between 11 and 15 USD.

The food was a mixed bag, kind of pricey and some of it very good and some not some much. You could get a good fancy-ish meal for 100 dollar a head though. Top stuff would be 250 or more.  But there was ramen and shawarma cheap and filling and pretty good. I also liked Oyster and Grill a bit. The wine bars seemed quite decent. There was a great whisky bar called Noorbohandelen.

Overall it was pleasant enough. Ate some good stuff, drank some good stuff, visited a bunch. But in the end a bit too expensive for me, I spend, all considered, over 1000 USD for a 3 day city break, which just isn’t in the budget for a bum like me (well obviously it is since I spent it, but still). I was careful about some expenses and did not exactly live it up. That could have been 2000. In the end though, if one can swing the cash, I would say it is worth a visit.