Copenhagen
19 July 2025
Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world, and I can see why! The city of Copenhagen is beautiful. In the summer, you can swim in the canals, and they have great hot dogs. I’m not sure what more you need, and it seems that the Danes agree because apparently they’re incredibly happy.
Día 1
I flew into Copenhagen from Gdansk for less than $50.00 USD. Europeans (and most of the world) don’t know how good they have it. American airfare is out of control. I got in at around 11:00 pm and went right to my accommodation. The bus from the airport had a stop right outside my hostel. Next House Hostel has one of the coolest hostel lobbies I have been to, and I recommend it! It seems to be a hangout spot for locals and other travelers.
- Christiansborg Palace
- Garden of the Royal Library
- The Round Tower
- Rosenborg Castle
- Nyhavn
- Havnebadet Islands Brygge
Christiansborg Palace
Christiansborg Palace houses Denmark’s Parliament, Supreme Court, and Prime Minister’s Office. I walked around the exterior for a bit, but the sun was really strong, so I didn’t linger.
Garden of the Royal Library
La Garden of the Royal Library is tucked between the old library building and Christiansborg Palace. A long reflecting pool runs down the center, surrounded by neatly kept hedges. I geeked out on an unassuming statue of Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard used the Royal Library during his lifetime and often walked around the area where the garden is now located. Pretty cool to be standing where he stood a couple of hundred years later.
The Round Tower
The Round Tower offers a good view of the city from the top. The most interesting thing about visiting, though, is that instead of stairs, there is a wide internal ramp that climbs to the top of the tower. It was built so that a horse could pull a carriage to the top, laden with heavy astronomical equipment. Now there’s room for at least three American tourists with BBL’s to walk hand in hand to the top, so prescient planning back in 1642.
After walking down the ramp inside of the Round Tower and emerging into the bright world again, I got some Danish street food. In this case, that meant a hot dog and ebelskivers. Both were really good! It being mid-July meant that the wasps were getting desperate, so I had to walk around while eating the ebelskivers to avoid them.
I was blessed with excellent weather. Walking around the city was very pleasant. If anything, I got hot.
Rosenborg Castle
Rosenborg Castle is a Renaissance-era palace built in the early 1600s by King Christian IV. It houses the Danish crown jewels and royal regalia. I had to wait a while for the next available tour, so I strolled the grounds and sat on a bench in the garden until it was time.
I liked my street hot dog so much that I decided to go for round 2. This time I bought a bacon-wrapped hot dog from 7-Eleven. It had no right to be that good. Famously, 7-Elevens in Japan are awesome, but I found that they were surprisingly impressive in Scandinavia as well.
There are so many beautiful buildings that I passed by the wayside. Such is the way of travel, though. The number of things that you don’t see will always vastly outnumber the ones you do.
Nyhavn
Nyhavn is Copenhagen’s picturesque waterfront district, famous for its colorful townhouses and historic wooden ships. The roads were packed with foot traffic. I bought a keychain and a nearby shop that was a copy of the famous yellow house.
Havnebadet Islands Brygge
It was so hot that my main priority of the day began to shift to swimming. I had not believed it would be so warm and had not known that swimming in the canals was allowed. I was surprised to see many swimmers in different sanctioned spots across the city.
Havnebadet Islands Brygge is a popular harbor swim spot across from my hostel. Wooden platforms cut out swimming spots of different depths. Gates enclose the child area so that they don’t wander into a pool too deep for them. There is a fairly tall dive platform that was fun to jump off. I put my stuff on a small piece of open space. Almost all of the deck was claimed by sunbathers.
There was a massive party of some kind across the canal.
Next time
On my next adventure, I fly to Stockholm, run into a cousin, and see one of the coolest museums ever.
ES 
EN