World City Guide

Key Attractions

Rundetårn (The Round Tower)
In the streets to the north of Strøget is the Rundetårn, the oldest observatory in Europe. Built by Christian IV in 1642, the building forms part of a scholastic complex that also includes a university library (now an exhibition hall) and student church. A 209m-long (686ft) spiral ramp leads to the top of the tower 35m (115ft) above the street, from where there is a good view over the old parts of the city.

Købmagergade 52A
Tel: 3373 0373. Fax: 3373 0377.
E-mail: post@rundetaarn.dk
Website: www.rundetaarn.dk
Transport: Bus 5A, 7, 14, 16, 17, 24, 43, 84; S-train or Metro to Nørreport.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-2000, Sun 1200-2000 (Jun-Aug); Mon-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1200-1700 (Sep-May).
Admission: Dkk20; concessions available.

Tivoli
One of the most famous European amusement parks, Tivoli is a charmingly bizarre mixture of the natural and the artificial. Georg Carstensen designed it as a pleasure ground for the masses, and Christian VIII, the then King of Denmark, eventually gave his royal permission for the amusement park in the heart of Copenhagen. ‘When the populace are enjoying themselves they forget about politicking,’ the widely travelled Carstensen reasoned. When it opened in 1843, visitors had a choice of two amusements – a horse-drawn carrousel and a rollercoaster. Today, there are 25 rides, as well as games and arcades, two theatres, an open-air stage and a museum. Of the four rollercoasters, the ‘Bjergrutschebanen’ (the Mountain Roller Coaster) is the oldest (dates from 1914) and still the most popular. The Tivoli Boys Guard Band parade through the gardens at 1730 and 1930 on weekends and public holidays, with a full orchestra, stagecoach and horses. Crowded, pricey and unbelievably kitsch, Tivoli remains strangely appealing, particularly at night when the trees are illuminated with lanterns. Numerous concerts and special events are held here every summer (April to September), as well as a Christmas market in December.

Vesterbrogade 3
Tel: 3315 1001 (ticket centre).
E-mail: info@tivoli.dk
Website: www.tivoli.dk
Transport: Bus 1, 2A, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 28, 29, 30 or 39; S-train to Central Station.
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1100-2300, Fri 1100-0100, Sat 1100-2400 (mid-Apr-mid-Jun and mid-Aug-mid-Sep); Sun-Thurs 1100-2400, Fri and Sat 1100-0100 (mid-Jun-mid-Aug).
Admission: Dkk75; concessions and discount schemes available. Rides cost one, two or three Tour Tickets (Dkk15 each).

Waterfront
Nyhavn (New Harbour) is an inlet off the Inderhavnen, towards Kongens Nytorv (King’s New Square). Brothels and bars serving the visiting sailors once used to dominate this seedy area, but now the multicoloured, 17th-century gabled buildings accommodate bustling restaurants and pavement cafés serving traditional Danish food beside a pedestrian thoroughfare and the masts of traditional yachts. Hans Christian Andersen lived at three different houses here and on his birthday (2 April) may still be encountered here, in the form of a person in costume wandering the streets.

It is a very pleasant walk from Nyhavn along Bredgade to Churchill Park or along the waterfront beyond the Admiral Hotel (both routes passing Amalienborg Castle), to the spot in the northeast of the city where Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid) stares wistfully out to sea. Erected in 1913, the statue commemorates the Hans Christian Andersen heroine and has become a global symbol of Copenhagen. Despite being decapitated a few times and being rather smaller in stature than might be imagined, the mermaid remains perennially popular with visitors.

Nyhavn 17
Tel: 3347 9924.
Transport: New harbour bus service (tel: 3613 1415); or bus 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 28, 29, 31 or 41.

Den Lille Havfrue
Promenade, Langelinie
Transport: Bus 1, 6; S-train to Østerport.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.

Rosenborg Slot (Rosenborg Castle)
Built between 1606 and 1634, Rosenborg was the chief residence of Christian IV and the main royal palace until the end of the last century. This redbrick, Dutch Renaissance-style palace displays the Crown jewels and other royal treasures, dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, on the ground floor. In 1999, the Rosenborg Tapestries, woven especially for the banquet room of Rosenborg in the late 1600s, were returned to their original location after some years at Christiansborg Castle. The gardens (Kongens Have) surrounding the palace were laid out in 1606 and are some of the most attractive in the city.

Øster Voldgade 4A
Tel: 3315 3286. Fax: 3315 2046.
E-mail: museum@dkks.dk
Website: www.rosenborgslot.dk
Transport: Bus 5A, 10, 14, 16, 42, 43, 184, 185, 150S, 173E or 350S; S-train and Metro to Nørreport.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1600 (May and Sep); daily 1000-1700 (Jun-Aug); Tues-Sun 1100-1400 (Nov-Apr). Closed 18-26 Dec.
Admission: Dkk65; concessions available.

Amalienborg Slot (Amalienborg Palace)
This palace has been the winter residence of the Danish royal family since 1794. The four identical Rococo palaces face each other across the octagonal Amalienborg Slot, where the changing of the guard takes place each day at noon when the family is in residence. A museum, featuring some of the private chambers and royal treasures dating from 1863-1947, is open to the public.

Amalienborg
Tel: 3312 0808. Fax: 3393 3203.
E-mail: amalienborgmuseet@c.dk
Website: www.rosenborgslot.dk
Transport: Bus 1, 6 or 10; S-train to Østerport.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1600 (May-Oct); Tues-Sun 1100-1600 (Nov-Apr).
Admission: Dkk50; concessions available.

Nationalmuseet (National Museum)
Housed in a 17th-century royal mansion, the National Museum is the country’s premier historical and cultural institution. Permanent collections include the history of Denmark from the Ice Age to 2000, Egyptian, Greek and Italian antiquities and a survey of indigenous populations. There is also an interactive children’s museum.

Fredriksholms Kanal 12
Tel: 3313 4411. Fax: 3347 3333.
Website: www.natmus.dk
Transport: Bus 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 550S or 650S.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission: Dkk50; concessions available; free admission to permanent exhibitions on Wed.

Statens Museum for Kunst (Royal Museum of Fine Art)
The Royal Museum of Fine Art houses Denmark’s largest art collection, including paintings by Rembrandt, Brueghel and Rubens, works by Titian, Mantegna and Picasso, and an excellent Matisse collection. The museum reopened in 1999, after renovation and expansion.

Sølvgade 48-50
Tel: 3374 8494. Fax: 3374 8404.
E-mail: smk@smk.dk
Website: www.smk.dk
Transport: Bus 6A, 14, 40, 42, 43, 184 or 185; S-train to Østerport or Nørreport /Metro to Nørreport.
Opening hours: Tues and Thurs-Sun 1000-1700; Wed 1000-2000.
Admission: Dkk50; concessions available; free on Wed. Temporary exhibitions charge extra.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek was built by the Carlsberg brewer, Carl Jacobsen, between 1897 and 1906. Today, it houses a superb collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, Impressionist masterpieces and Danish and French art by Monet, Gauguin, Renoir, Degas and Cézanne. The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is undergoing a major programme of renovation and rebuilding. Parts of the museum will be closed to the public, but it will be reopened in late June 2006.

Dantes Plads 7
Tel: 3341 8141. Fax: 3391 2058.
Website: www.glyptoteket.dk
Transport: Bus 1A, 2A, 15, 65E and 33; S-train to Kobenhavn H.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1600.
Admission: Dkk20; concessions available; free Wed and Sun.

Christiania Free Commune
On the eastern edge of Christianshavn, situated on the derelict site of a former military barracks, Christiania, the ‘Free City of Copenhagen’, is a working experiment in alternative lifestyles and communal living. First occupied in 1970, it is now home to about 1,000 people and several hundred dogs. Once away from the drug vendors, clothes stalls and eco-cafés, the area is seductively rural, with picturesque farmhouses and wooden cabins overlooking the calm waterways of the Stadsgraven. Guided tours can be arranged (see Tours of the City).

Bådsmandsstræde 43
Tel: 3295 6507.
Website: www.christiania.org
Transport: Bus 8 to Prinsessegade.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free; Dkk30 per person (guided tours).