Europe 2019: Goodbye Copenhagen

Europe 2019

Goodbye Copenhagen

We left Copenhagen on a Monday morning, but before I get to the next part of our trip I wanted to just touch on a few things about this very popular city. 

I would put Copenhagen in the category of places that are fantastic to visit, but I would NEVER want to live there (think like Barcelona or San Francisco). It's kind of pretty and has a real charm to it. There are lots of things to do, at least for a tourist, and it's fairly clean as well - although not nearly as clean as I think most Danes think it is. We also felt safe walking around while we were there, but to be fair we were in the very central "upscale" part of the city.

One thing I was quite surprised by, and have mentioned already, was the quality of the food. We really enjoyed just about every meal here, and that's rarely the case in Europe. It bears mentioning that we came here straight from Germany and German food is just awful (sorry Germany - you've got a lot of things going for you, but flavor isn't one of them).  

Something I wasn't surprised by was how expensive everything is in Denmark, and all of Scandinavia really. You don't realize it so much because everything is in Danish Krone so you kind of get numb to dinner being 1200 DK until you do the math and realize that's about $180 and you had soup. So it's not a budget vacation local, but it's not impossible to get by on the cheap...I assume. The Scandinavian model is really a lesson in the pros and cons of a modern day welfare state (Don't call Denmark socialist - it's not at all). People in Denmark don't seem to mind paying exorbitant taxes because they see it as paying into the quality of societal life. That model would never work in America, nor should it as it drives counter to everything the US was built on. That said, Danes seem to like living there, so more power to them.

Alright, political ideologies aside, it really is a nice place to visit. I would recommend trying to stay in the center of town as much as your budget allows. Our apartment couldn't have been more centered and we loved it. 

We had great weather when we were there in September, but I'm not sure how it is year round. I've never been disappointed traveling to Europe in the fall. I feel it's the sweet spot between weather and crowds.

There's lots of shopping to be done in Copenhagen, and Branelle didn't miss any of it. I think the city has a good mix of tourist shopping and local shopping - they do a good job of embracing the tourist destination stuff without losing their charm.

It was also a very good place for children. Everything seemed to be child friendly and Samantha was free most places as well. There are the occasional random parks to play on, but central Copenhagen doesn't have a lot of green space.

Would I go back? I wouldn't mind it, but I think we've pretty much seen everything there is to see so no need really.