In Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, we were to celebrate New Year’s Eve. We have now been celebrating this for more than 10 years in various foreign (capital) cities. Over the years, this has proven to be a valuable tradition. In every country, New Year’s Eve is celebrated in a different way, with different traditions and customs.
Denmark can be reached by car from the Netherlands in one day. It took us longer than we had planned, although this was mainly due to a big shower that came over, combined with a road surface with a poor drainage system.
Nyhavn
One of the most famous and photographed places in Copenhagen is Nyhavn. Along this harbor are colorful houses, some of which are now several centuries old. In addition, this area is home to many restaurants and bars, making it a popular nightlife area. In addition, tour boats depart from this place, sailing up the Hønsebroløbet from this harbor.
At the end of Nyhavn, a bridge was built for pedestrians and cyclists. From here you can quickly get to the popular Free City neighborhood of Christiania. This district is known for its hippie culture and is definitely worth a leisurely stroll through.
Den Lille Havfrue
Den Lille Havfrue, better known in Dutch as the little mermaid. This little statue is the symbol of Denmark. The statue itself is not very exciting, although the group of tourists will lead you to believe otherwise.
Still, it’s definitely worth stopping by this statue. So, of course, you’ve taken in an essential part of Denmark and you’re near Kastellet. This is a star-shaped fort surrounded by high ramparts, which you can enjoy walking across.
Rundetaarn
Rundetaarn, the Dutch translation lets you guess with ’round tower’. This century-old tower is located in the center of Copenhagen. What’s special about this tower is that you don’t go up by stairs, but the ascending path. A so-called “spiral corridor. The story here is that the tower was built this way so that the nobles could go up on horseback. The tower was mainly used as an observatory and for that reason a large telescope can be found in the dome of the tower.
We went up around sunset. This gave us a great view of the city at sunset. This is definitely a must.
Please note that due to the Covid pandemic, the tower is currently closed. So keep an eye on the Rundetaarn website for a possible reopening and current prices.
Tivoli
Tivoli is one of the most famous amusement parks in Denmark and is located in the center of Copenhagen. Also, it is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, having been founded in 1843.
Besides being a wonderful place to spend an afternoon, this is also a fantastic place to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The park hosts a fireworks show around midnight, which makes it worth watching.
To enter the park, you pay 135 DKK, which converts to about 18 EUR. Due to the Covid pandemic, it is wise to keep an eye on the Tivoli website for up-to-date information and opening hours.
Elsinore
This place is located about 45 kilometers north of Copenhagen. Other than the fact that this town is home to the male counterpart of the Little Mermaid – Han, the Little Merman – and Kronborg Castle, this town is not otherwise very interesting. We went there because it was January 1 and many venues were closed. To fill the day we decided to go to Elsinore. If you have time to spare, you can always go here. In all other cases, the advice is to skip the city.
On the route to Helsingør is Jægersborg Hegn, a nature reserve where you can go for a lovely walk. This area is about 17 kilometers above Copenhagen and is easily accessible by car. If you like hiking this is definitely a recommended place to go.
From & to the center
We went by car from the Netherlands to Copenhagen. In fact, there are two options you can choose to reach Copenhagen:
- Via Odense all by land or
- The ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby Sogn and from there drive on to Copenhagen.
We chose to go to Copenhagen via Odense, also because it is cheaper. For the ferry, you quickly pay 40 EUR or more per person. On the way back, we decided to take the same road. Next to the highway runs a train track and a just at that moment a train had derailed (what are the odds!). This caused us to be delayed for hours and eventually returned to the Netherlands late.
Stay
For our stay in Copenhagen, we had arranged an apartment through Airbnb. We are mostly not big fans of Airbnb, because it regularly happens that you book an apartment for yourself and upon arrival the owner turns out to be at home.
However, Copenhagen is quite pricey and for that reason we still opted for an apartment through Airbnb. Here we ended up paying 316 EUR for 4 nights.
Although the apartment was not located in the center, we could walk everything from there. You just have to be “not averse” to walking a long way. In that case, the advice is to book a place to stay in the city center, but you pay accordingly.