Travel: New Years Even in Copenhagen and Tivoli Gardens

Hey All

So this is my last post on Copenhagen, you can find where we stayed, what we ate and what we did too. When we arrived we didn't really have plans for NYE and asked for suggestions at the hotel reception. They had tickets for sale for Tivoli and as we had planned to go at some point we decided to spend NYE there. It was around £10 for entry into the gardens which seemed pretty reasonable.

Tivoli Gardens are the second oldest operating amusement park. I didn't really know what to expect going in, was it going to be more Disney or Alton Towers but I was wrong. I'd heard it was beautiful here but it really did feel magical (how over dramatic do I sound!).

So this is the entrance to Tivoli Gardens. It looks so pretty with the fairy lights and Christmas trees after. There was even a sprinkling of fake snow over the trees! Everything was decorated with fairy lights and there were cute little shops making it feel like a Christmas Market and lots of Gluhwein being sold. One thing you notice straight away is how clean it is too which we realised was due to a clever concept. All drinks were served in reusable plastic glasses in which there were recycling points around. When recycled the machine gave you around 50p back so even if they were discarded someone else would return them for the money!

After visiting a supermarket the night before we ended up all wearing novelty hats for the evening too!

There was also a large selection of restuarants including a pirate ship!!! But unfortunately they were all fully booked so if you're spending NYE there book in advance. There were food stalls to eat from around though and we had some amazing fish and chips!

If you're going to go on rides I'd fully recommend the wrist band option. It's around £20 and offers unlimited rides. We opted for single tickets thinking we wouldn't go on many rides but didn't realise some rides required more than 1 ticket so we ended up spending what a wrist band would cost anyway. They have a large selection of rides including full roller costers and gorgeous traditional Carousals like the one above!

At 10pm there was an amazing firework display. I believe Tivoli has fireworks all over Christmas period. These were amazing. They did the display at 10pm so families could leave if they wanted to. After the fireworks part of the park did close but the smaller rides stayed open and we wondered around till midnight, when we grabbed some drinks. At midnight fireworks seemed to go off from all around so we had so many to look at!

Tivoli Gardens really felt like a magical place and we all loved it there! If you're visiting Copenhagen it's definitely worth a visit even if it's just to stroll around.

Love M

xxx

Travel: Places to eat in Copenhagen

Hey All

Another travel post from me on my travels to Copenhagen you can see what to do here and where I stayed here. Now my favourite part....eating! I love food and on holiday it's a great excuse to gorge more than normal. We arrived on the first day at around 6-7ish so headed straight out for food. We went to a burger place but it was just ok so I won't go into that.

Our first breakfast we went for was to The Living Room, it was a really nice little cafe with small rooms so you didn't feel over crowded with amazing pastries and sandwiches! Also a great chai latte!

We'd heard a lot about the hotdogs so for lunch after we'd be to the Rundetaarn we grabbed street food from Hanegal. This was a really tasty hotdog. Amazing sausage, three different sauces, onions and gerkins!! If you're going definitely try one of these!

For Dinner that evening we headed to Mother we'd seen amazing photos of the pizza and had to try it. It was really busy so we queued a bit for a table but we were able to sit in the bar while we waited and the food was definitely worth the wait. I had prosciutto ham bruschetta to start and pizza for main. It was one of the nicest pizzas I've had outside of Italy! A must visit in my opinion!

As you stroll down the main shopping street Stroget, there are a few churros and waffle stands! They are amazing. We had churros and they were lush. Freshly cooked with chocolate sauce! Yum, you could have topped them with ice cream but it was too cold for us!

We visited a few other food places but these were our favourites. Jenson Bofhus was where C's friend in Copenhagen took us for lunch. This reminded me of beefeaters in the UK but it was reasonably priced. We also visited MAD which was an american diner type place for breakfast but I did think for an american diner portions were small but it was tasty. A bakery we loved on stroget was Lagkagehuse. We ate so many pastries over there and most shops were good but we really enjoyed these!

Have you visited Copenhagen? Would you eat in these?

Love M

xxx

Travel: Things to do in Copenhagen

Hey All

So I've mentioned a few times now I've been to Copenhagen. I'm now going to try and do a things to do post when I go to new places as I'm always searching for these before I go and it's a nice reminder of what I did for me. When we went we had 4 days but we arrived in the early evening and left at lunch time so we basically had two full days. Looking at this post we clearly crammed a lot into two days! We absolutely loved our time there and would recommend a trip there to anyone. We stayed at the Absalon Hotel (reviewed here).

When we went to Copenhagen we had no real plan except a few places we'd been recommended to go and a guide book from my brother. We were staying centrally so we managed to just walk everywhere. Everything featured in today's post we walked to.

 The Rundetaarn

(website)

It costs 25DKK which was about £2.50 when we went to get in. It's a tower in the centre of the city you can walk up which has amazing views at the top with a viewing platform. It's great as instead of stairs most of the way it's slopes so great for buggies. There are steps to get to the top viewing platform but you do get views across the city on the way up if you can't managed steps. About halfway up you can get drinks and they have different exhibitions in the library hall. Definitely worth a visit. It's also very central and there is an amazing hot dog stand outside!

Trinitatis Kirke

This is the church next to the Rundetaarn, I love looking in churches as they are amazing buildings. This one has a beautiful organ and the most amazing ceilings. If your decide to climb the Rundetaarn definitely pop in afterwards.

Rosenborg Castle

(website)

The Rosenborg Castle is like a stately home in the UK which you can go and walk around. It's set in beautiful gardens and is an amazing building. It costs 105 DKK which is around £10 for entry you can get joint tickets to go into the Amalienborg Palace but this isn't open all year round. It does shut around 4.30 so visit this one earlier on in the day.  The crown jewels are also housed here which I loved seeing. There were some amazing jewellery pieces there!

Assistens Gardens and Cemetery

This is the furthest place we walked too but was still only around a 40 minute walk from the centre of the city. These are some of the most beautiful gardens in Copenhagen according to the guide book. They did look lovely but I think in winter gardens can always look a bit more bleak. Hans Christian Anderson is buried here.

Tivoli Gardens

I'm going to write a whole other post on Tivoli as there is too much to include in this post. I'll post a link to it here once it's up. It truly is a magical place that should be visited!

Amalienborg Palace

Mentioned above for tickets. As it wasn't opened we just walked around the buildings and saw what we could from the outside. We were lucky enough when we were walking back from the little mermaid to see a changing of the guards!

Amaliehaven

This is a little garden area next to the palace. It feels very symmetrical and pleasing on the eye (now that sounds weird!). Definitely worth a stroll through if you decide to visit the palace.

Nyhavn

This is what I'd seen all over instagram when looking at friends who had been to Copenhagan. It's a pretty little harbour area full of great restaurants and bars and the streets are lined with brightly coloured houses. I imagine in summer this place looks amazing. Rumour has it in a street nearby there are trampolines built into the pavements but we didn't get a chance to see those.

Little mermaid

Now this is one of those you're in Copenhagen so you have to go and see. She's a little out of town so is a bit of a walk away but there are plenty of things to see on the way. Also don't let my photo fool you. I'm totally zoomed in to crop people out of it! Imagine selfie sticks everywhere!

Opera House

This photo is from by the palace looking across the water to it. We did also cross the river to see it but didn't go to explore inside. It's an amazing building set on the river front!

Copenhagen Street Food

(website)

Street food pop up food places are becoming really popular in Cardiff and I imagine most cities, Copenhagen is no exception. Set on the water's edge in a converted warehouse is the street food place. It was unfortunately closed when we went but it looked amazing from what we could see in plus as you can see below I found a swim outside to play on!! There were old shipping containers with sofas in and steps up to convert them to roof top areas. It looked amazing and I imagine when open it's a great place to visit.

Christiania

(link to info)

Christiania is a free town in Copenhagen. I think over the past few years it's changed a lot and is becoming more of a tourist attraction than anything else. I was desperate to go here as I'd heard lots about it but I think we went at the wrong time of day. We went first thing and it seemed to be lacking the vibe I'd expected I imagine in summer in the afternoon it would be great as there is a stage for performers and I imagine more hustle and bustle of people and more things open. Still worth a visit though.

Church of Our Saviour

(website)

Unfortunately the spire for the Church of Our Saviour was closed whilst we were there. It's only open for select days in Dec and closed totally for Jan and Feb but if you're there from March onwards I'd definitely say to go. You do have to climb 400 steps to get to the stop but for the views I'd say it's worth it if they are anything like the Rundetaarn. Plus it's an amazing structure to see.

Strøget - Lego Shop

Strøget is the main shopping street in Copenhagen and is mainly pedestrianised. it has a great selection of shops for any bloggers reading this there is a Sephora there. It is also full of some great coffee shops. The Lego Shop is also there. The home place of Lego. It's got some amazing lego buildings including the streets of Nyhavn.

We had a great time exploring Copenhagen and loved the feel of the city, it felt clean and safe and I'd like to go back at some point.

Have you been to Copenhagen? Hope this helps if you're planning a trip there.

Love M

xxx

Travel: Absalon Hotel - Copenhagen Review

Hey All

For New Years Eve this year me and C decided we weren't going to spend it in the UK after finding decent deals to go to Europe. After some research we decided to stay in the Absalon Hotel (we booked ours through Expedia as it gives discount when booking flights and hotel, here are some photos from the expedia.)

It was really reasonably priced for the stay so we booked for the 3 nights in a standard double room. There was the cheaper option of a small room but we decided to pay the extra. In the end the small would have been ok as we actually didn't spend much time in it.

Here is our bedroom. It was of a decent size, looked clean, modern decoration and very warm. I always worry in cold countries I'd be cold but the rooms were a decent size. The only few negatives were there was only really one usable pillow. The other was like a sofa cushion and there isn't tea and coffee making facilities. I love a cuppa first thing in the morning but there is a little cafe near by. We decided not to have breakfast in the hotel so we could try out different places.

On check in we were greated by very friendly and helpful staff, they were full of local knowledge and willing to book us into different restaurants and give up recommendations! Every floor seemed to be decorated in different colours and looked great.

There was a bar in the hotel where we had a few drinks. There was seating by the bar or more sofas and quiet area where you can see me above. The drinks were a reasonable price and not much higher then what you get in other bars. We enjoyed having a drink before bed here or before we went out for the evening.

One of the best things about Absalon Hotel is the location, it's literally 5 minutes from the main train station (which brings you in from the airport) and a short walk to the centre of Copenhagen. 

We loved it in Copenhagen and would recommend the Absalon to any friends travelling to Copenhagen.

I definitely want to go away again next year for NYE. Have you spent NYE in another country?

Love M

xxx