A Couple Days in Copenhagen

This year, we're making an effort to take more weekend trips, as the rest of Europe is at our doorstep. At the end of last year, we were browsing the web for inexpensive flights and without much hesitation, booked a weekend in Copenhagen in January.

Perhaps we should have given it a little more thought, as Denmark in the middle of winter was bitter cold, and probably the reason for it being such a deal! Nevertheless, we powered through the cold and ended up having an incredible couple of days in one of the prettiest places that I've been. Here's what we were up to:

Friday

Wake up in the early hours to catch an 8:45 am flight from London Heathrow to Copenhagen. 

Take the metro from the airport to the city center, then walk to our hotel, the chic and cozy SP34, which couldn't have been located in a better spot. Realize that we're not properly dressed for the -7 degree celsius temperatures and add more layers before heading out for lunch.

Browse the various stalls at the Torvehallerne (a permanent enclosed market that houses stalls selling ready made dishes, wine, produce, chocolate and so much more). It reminded me a bit of the Mercato Centrale in Florence or the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

We settled upon Smag, a place that made incredible salads and sandwiches, served with or on freshly baked bread. As there was not much room inside, we ate our lunch outside on a picnic table and lucked out on some sun.

Wanting to admire the best of Scandinavian-designed homewares, we popped into Notre Dame which is filled with the best accessories and linens that I wish I had room in my suitcase for. We left empty handed, but full of inspiration!

Wander around the town center afterwards, occasionally pausing to admire the architecture.

Return to the hotel to warm up and add more layers before looking for a dinner spot.

After asking a few restaurants if they have any room, we soon realized that we really should have made dinner reservations beforehand. Luckily enough, a spot next door to our hotel was able to squeeze us in!

We had in incredible three course dinner at Väkst (I'll admit that it was a little more than we had wanted to spend, but we were just happy to find a spot to eat and get out of the cold!). The service was spot on and I loved the interior - there's a greenhouse in the center of the restaurant and hanging plants all around.

It was a modern take on traditional Danish cuisine and I'm really glad that we happened upon this spot - I definitely recommend going (and certainly don't forget to reserve ahead!)

Bedtime! 

Saturday

Sleep way in and wake up to snow outside. Laze about, bundle up and head out for some much-needed caffeine.

Walk over to Democratic Coffee for some warm drinks (espresso for me, cortado for him) and a combination of breakfast and lunch. We shared a freshly-baked raisin roll with cheese and butter, a croissant and a panini - all very good.

After fueling up, return to the Torvehallerne and pick up Summerbird chocolate for ourselves and our pet sitters. It's hard to resist the pretty pastel packaging.

Go to the Christianshavn neighborhood via metro. Brave the wind and snow to walk along the waterfront and snap photos. It's exactly as pretty as I hoped that Copenhagen would be. Boats lined up along the canals, colorful buildings and cobbled streets.

Pop into Parterre for a little hygge atmosphere. It was the perfect coffee shop for a respite from the cold and gave us a chance to warm up and plan our next steps.

Walk over to Paper Island to see the indoor food truck market, but realize that it's closed for the holidays. Nevertheless, it was still a really pretty spot surrounded by water.

Go to one of the best shopping streets, Pilestræde, to check out HAY, a highly regarded Danish design store. Again, we didn't make any purchases, but left with some inspiration for our own home and a serious admiration for Scandinavian design.

The cold had us hungry for an early dinner, so we tried to go to Gasoline Grill, a burger shop housed in a functioning gas station. As they had sold out of vegetarian options, we went around the corner to Cantina for their pizza menu. The goat's cheese pizza was one of the best dishes I've had and the apricot martini was even better!

As we'd eaten dinner at around 5:00 pm, we stopped by 7-11 (these shops are nothing like their US counterparts - full of healthy, vegan options and freshly baked pastries) for snacks.

Watch some TV in the hotel and then sleep!

Sunday

Determined to try some Danish pastries, we took the bus to Meyers Bageri and it was well worth the trip. We ordered the chocolate, cinnamon and custard pastries and took them back to our hotel for breakfast.

I did quite a bit of window shopping while walking around town and really admired the clothes at Samsøe & Samsøe, so I finally checked it out. I left with a couple of skirts and a top and highly recommend stopping by (there's even a men's shop right next door to the women's shop if your guy is in tow).

Wanting one more meal before leaving town, I got an acaí bowl at 42Raw (everything is raw and vegan) and the husband got a danish-style hotdog at DØP, the city's top-rated stand (there are quite a few in Copenhagen!)

Check out of our hotel and catch our flight back to London.

Until next time,

- B