Copenhagen Shore Excursions are a challenge because there are about 3 days worth of sights to choose from on your day in port. I had previously confirmed we were docking at Orientkaj. I was surprised how difficult booking an Uber was at the dock until I finally realized that we were docked at Langelinie instead, which was within walking distance of my planned starting point for a Copenhagen Shore Excursion.
So, we walked to the amazing Gefion Statue & the Little Mermaid in sunshine that was forecasted to last for an hour. Along the way we passed the Genetically Modified Little Mermaid, which I loved because it mocks the Little Mermaid. We were the only ones admiring the Genetically Modified Little Mermaid while shortly thereafter we joined the bus loads of tourists trying to take their selfies at the Little Mermaid.
From the Gelfion we caught the water harbour ferry to Nyhavn. You need to have a ticket on your phone or cash to ride and since the ferry was about to leave, they let us on board while we purchased our tickets by phone. Buying the tickets took almost the entire ferry trip to complete. Apple Pay couldn’t complete the transaction and my other credit card kept getting caught up in text and email validations that were then unable to successfully transition back to the transit app. What a pain!
We had similar problems later in the day with the metro, because even though they have ticket machines for the metro, you often can’t find them. Sometimes they are at the ground level entrance, sometimes they are at a bus station barely visible near the metro station and sometimes they are underground half way between the surface and the platform. Copenhagen could really use some help from the Netherlands on how to design a user friendly transit system.
The ferry dropped us right at Nyhavn and we did the obligatory stroll around this famous spot. Next we visited the square called Kongens Nytorv and then we took the metro to the square at City Hall.
At the City Hall square we enjoyed checking out the Hans Christian Andersen monument, the entrance to Tivoli Gardens, the entrance to the Glyptotek and the Jens Olsen’s World Clock inside City Hall. Our visit to the area around City Hall marked the end of the sunshine for the day as the weather changed to cloudy, breezy and chilly.
The next section of our Copenhagen Shore Excursion was one I was really looking forward to and it did not disappoint. We started out on the pedestrian-only Storget Street, passing the hordes lined up for pastry at Buka, and on to Gammeltorv square.
Next it was only another block to the Copenhagen Cathedral. This church is Lutheran, which means you can expect to see an extremely plain interior, but this one is lined on both sides with life-sized white sculptures of the 12 apostles. The effect is profound and makes for the best interior I’ve ever seen in a Lutheran Church.
About a block away from the Copenhagen Cathedral we came upon St Peter’s Bakery, where I planned to try their famous raspberry Danish. The crowds outside in the street made the wait look intimidating, but we soon realized that the line was moving quickly. A sign in the window warned people that if they were closed during business hours, that meant they had run out of pastry – clearly they were extremely popular. I was glad we decided to join the line up. I’ve never had a better Danish pastry in my life.
After our Danish pastries, we enjoyed looking at the original wooden buildings at Skindergade 6, which you can also see on episodes of Rick Steves travel shows. From there we headed to Torvelhallerne Market and tried some traditional open face sandwiches at Hallernes Smørrebrød, but I must say the pastry at St Peter’s was far superior.
After a snack and some difficulty buying metro tickets again, we took the metro from Torvelhallerne Market to the Marble Church. We then walked down through the square at Amalienborg Palace. This area was full of tourists taking pictures of the Danish Royal Guard. I have no idea why that’s such a popular thing to do.
From there it was quite a long walk to reach the Christiansborg Palace area. Before entering the palace we checked out the underwater Agnete and the Mermen Statue, the Stork Fountain on Stroget St and the Statue of Absalon.
Inside Christiansborg Palace the best room in our self-guided palace tour was the Queen’s Tapestries. This very large palace room is filled on all four walls with almost floor to ceiling tapestries. If you wait between the tour groups passing quickly through, you can take the time to really enjoy this highlight of Christiansborg Palace.
At this point my wife had barely recovered from her cold and she was exhausted. I wasn’t a very good partner, as I convinced her to take the 3 stop metro ride to Christiania before we called it a day. At Christianshavn Metro we did need help to find which direction to take for the short walk to Christiania, but luckily most Danish people speak very good English. Freetown Christiania is a popular destination in the media, but for us it wasn’t a bucket list destination in Copenhagen. We soon caught the metro to Østerport Metro Station and returned to the ship.
While my wife was exhausted and done for the day, I had lots of energy and headed back out again by walking to the Kastellet. I took some pics of the quaint windmill on the embankment surrounding this historic military fortification. Then I passed by the Gelfion and the Little Mermaid again before returning to the ship.
Checking my iPhone that evening revealed that I had walked 31,000 steps that day or roughly the equivalent of a Half Marathon. You might think that means I was in great shape, but the reality was that by the next morning, I had caught the miserable cough and cold that my wife had just survived. I was now one of those cruise ship passengers trying their hardest not to cough, so that others wouldn’t flee in disgust.
