sightseeing

Recommendations: Sightseeing in Copenhagen, Denmark

There are lots of beautiful things to see and visit while in Copenhagen, but if you have merely a day there are a few things I personally think you should not miss.

In chronological order I suggest that you start at The City Hall Square, in front of Palace Hotel.

If you have a lot of time you could pass by Rosenborg Castle, where the Crown Jewels are protected by the Royal Guard. Otherwise just walk down through the main street (strøget) until you get to Kongens Nytorv. Here you will see the beautiful Royal Theater, world famous for its Royal Ballet.

Go to Nyhavn which is the colourful canal district right by Kongens Nytorv. Here I suggest you take a boat tour. If you go to the boats on the right side of the canal a boat tour only cost you 30 kr (5 $) for one hour. It is really worth your while.

Afterwards take a stroll along the waterfront to Amalienborg Palace – winter residence of the Royal Family. Here we have the opportunity of seeing the changing of the Danish Royal Guard. This should be followed by a visit to the Gefion Fountain and The Little Mermaid, inspired by H. C. Andersen’s fairytale. At the moment she is, however, on vacation and not there.

Go back along the water front and head over to Christiansborg Palace, home to the Danish Parliament and the Old Stock Exchange. After that I suggest that you go to Christiania – the freetown. It’s a lovely artist village established in the 1970s where you will be able to see an alternative way of living and eat some lovely (vegetarian) food.

Tivoli Gardens is a lovely place to end the day and spend the evening.

Have a lovely visit.

Dyrehaven (Deer park) in Klampenborg outside Copenhagen

Dyrehaven (Deer Park) is a large, cultivated forest near Copenhagen, and very popular for nature lovers to walk, bike or horseback.

There are 13 different entrances to the park and the road goes through the famous red wooden doors. If you come from Copenhagen, there is a subway station and parking by Klampenborg station. True romantics take a horse-driven waggon to the picnic spot.

There are more than 1,000 hectares in Dyrehaven and here you can meet red deer, fallow deer and Sika Deer. In 1670 Frederick III appointed the area hunting ground for his son Christian V (not humanitarians obviously!).

In the 1760 the German forester Johann G. von Lange introduced new mixtures of trees. Many of the trees in Dyrehaven dates back to this time. Dyrehaven is known for the great plains, where you can see deers that grasses interspersed with small groups of trees of oak, beech and hawthorn.

In the garden’s southern end and within walking distance from Klampenborg Station you find Bakken. One of the world’s oldest amusement parks with both rroller-coasters carousels and a lot of other attractions as well as pubs and restaurants. Bakken is open from late March to late September.

On the above picture you see Dyrehaven on a beautiful day in September with deers in the background.

Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra, Portugal

Quinta da Regaleira is a fairytale house in a fairytale landscape and well worth a visit.

The house and the garden is one of the most enigmatic monuments of the cultural landscape of Sintra. The present-day form was built between 1898 and 1912 under the supervision of Carvalho Monteiro. The style is neo-manuelin and the decorative theme involved some of Portugal’s best artists: Antonio Goncalves, Joao Machado, Jose da Fonseca, Costa Motta and Rodrigo de Castro, as sculptors in stone and Julio da Fonseca, in wood.

The garden, as an image of the Cosmos, is revealed through a succession of magic and mysterious places. You will find abundant references to the world of mythology, to Olympus, Virgil, Dante, Milton and Camoes, and to the mission of the Templars as continued by the Order of Christ, to great mystics and miraculous magicians, and to the enigmas of the alchemical Ars Magna.

The house is a magic castle with fairytale carvings of all sorts. Plan to spend at least three hours exploring the place.

Good luck.