The coolest, most cosmopolitan, most exciting and the most wonderful city in Scandinavia most certainly is Copenhagen (København).
Denmark is one of the happiest nations on earth with some of the best quality of life. Along winding cobbled streets Danes shop and dine at some of the most exciting places in Europe. Copenhagen’s restaurants have more Michelin stars than any other Scandinavian city, and Denmark as a whole would doubtless have more still if the inspectors from Michelin ever troubled themselves to leave the capital and head for Aalborg or Århus & around. Even standards in a workaday Danish café are generally very high.
Beyond the capital and the bigger cities, Denmark offers a mix of lively towns such as Ribe and Odense plus rural countryside, medieval churches, Renaissance castles and tidy 18th-century villages. Neolithic dolmen, preserved 2000-year-old ‘bog people’, and impressive Viking ruins are just some of the remnants of the nation’s long and fascinating history.
Denmark continues to stamp its effortlessly cool style on the world with its furniture, fashion, architecture and graphic design, as it has done for the last half-century or so. This obsession with good design, detail and fine craftsmanship is evident even in something as mundane as a Copenhagen metro or train ride.
Centuries on from the Viking era, Denmark remains very much a maritime nation, bordered by the Baltic and the North Sea. No place in the country is more than an hour’s drive from its lovely seashore, much of which is lined with splendid white-sand beaches.
These days the Danish capital is blossoming. There is a spring in its step borne from a mixture of some brave new architecture, continued prosperity and a burgeoning confidence in its own charms. There are more cafés and restaurants than ever and, more importantly, the locals are learning how to use them. It used to be that Copenhageners ate out on special occasions only and nights out were restricted to Friday and Saturday only, but that’s all changed. Even on a wet Wednesday in February the bars and cafés will be buzzing, that all important hyggelige (cosy) atmosphere fostering a uniquely Danish sense of wellbeing and conviviality.
In a way, the rest of the world woke up to how great this historic city of canals, cobbled squares and copper spires was before the locals did, but it is at last sinking in that the world now looks to Copenhagen for the best in design, architecture and fashion and is beginning also to notice the extraordinary culinary revolution that has taken place here over the last decade.
If you are looking for an earthy, hardcore travel experiences look elsewhere. Copenhagen is clean, safe and ridiculously easy to get to know, the locals all speak superb English and the transport system makes London’s look like it’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It usually makes the top five, if not the top spot, in those ‘most livable city’ lists. And if you are looking for a budget destination, you might also want to reconsider your plans. This is not a cheap city by any means, but then neither is it any more expensive than any other major European city – London and Paris will hit your pocket harder.
