joker545
Apr 13, 11, 6:39 am
Posted on my blog (http://dpatrickjohnson.wordpress.com/), but wanted to share in this forum as well:
Last weekend my girlfriend and I were in Copenhagen after booking round-trip tickets that were available at only $180 during a mistake fare by Delta/KLM. We left around 3PM on Thursday, and were back in DC by 3PM on Monday. The flights over on Delta were fine, but the return segments on KLM really reinforced how much better European carriers are than their US counterparts for trans-Atlantic routes. Decent food, good in-seat entertainment, comfortable seats, etc…there’s just not much of a comparison between Delta and KLM. If you have a choice between US airlines (United, Delta, American, etc.) or European carriers (KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Lufthansa, etc.), always go with the European carrier if the cost is similar.
For our trip, we stayed at the Radisson Blu Falconer Hotel. Radisson offer a “Friends & Family” rate at most of their European properties for only 80euro/night, and that includes breakfast and Internet (here’s the special code). Not a bad deal when you’re in a city where a cup of coffee costs $10. Prior to our trip, Radisson provided us a free status match to their Silver Elite level (equivalent to SPG Gold), so we got a room on their top floor with perfect views across the entire city and harbor. While we only took advantage of the free breakfast buffet on the last day, it was definitely worth waking up for and was probably one of the better meals we had during the trip. (Normally we would try and sublease an apartment of Craigslist, but this didn’t seem to be a popular option in the Danish capitol).
During the weekend, we spent most of our time enjoying the perfect spring weather (no wind, 70F, sunny, etc.), A canal tour provided the best overview of the city layout, while we also enjoyed self-guided walking tours around the more touristy areas of Nyhavn and Christianshavn (including the “free state of Christiana”). Copenhagen is hard to not enjoy – the people are beautiful, friendly and stylish, and it’s the most clean city I’ve been to other than Geneva. All public transit runs on schedule (even though ~95% of Copenhageners have bikes) and I’d imagine a higher percentage of the population speaks fluent English than in the US. This was definitely an easy tourist destination.
But make no mistake about it, Copenhagen is expensive. At bars, a cocktail costs over $15 and even a Danish pastry and coffee will set you back $10 from the cheapest establishments. The Copenhagen metro was excellent for getting around the city, but one-way tickets were at least $4 each. While most of the food we had was good, we did make the mistake of visiting Wagamama’s, a UK-based chain that we both like in London. While I remembered the food as being really good for pan-Asian, our dinner there on Saturday was completely forgettable and definitely not worth the cost. We did sample some of the nightlife, and both Rust and Culture Box were good for dancing and electronic music. 7/11 was the best place for a “snack” (don’t mistake Danish 7/11’s for the US version).
Primarily due to the excellent weather, we ended up not visiting any of the major museums but did stop by the Danish Design Center. The Center’s main focus seemed to be in displaying the many ways that Scandinavian design has influenced and infiltrated the products we use on a daily basis. From vacuum cleaners to kitchen ware and furniture thru industrial design, the Center did a good job of showing how Danish companies have designed the products so many people use around the world. While we hoped to get some shopping in, the fact that most stores closed at 4PM on Saturday and were closed Sunday limited the financial damage of buying anything in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
At lunch on Saturday, an Aussie expat remarked that when he moved to Copenhagen three years ago, the most descriptive overview he received of the city was that “there’s really nothing bad to say about Copenhagen.” Our last weekend reinforced this view. I can see the attraction of raising a young family in the city or retiring with the generous social safety net (a result of 50-60% taxation). When an ambulance drove past our hotel on Sunday afternoon, it genuinely surprised us that there would even be a need for ambulances in Copenhagen. I mean, what could go wrong??
Last weekend my girlfriend and I were in Copenhagen after booking round-trip tickets that were available at only $180 during a mistake fare by Delta/KLM. We left around 3PM on Thursday, and were back in DC by 3PM on Monday. The flights over on Delta were fine, but the return segments on KLM really reinforced how much better European carriers are than their US counterparts for trans-Atlantic routes. Decent food, good in-seat entertainment, comfortable seats, etc…there’s just not much of a comparison between Delta and KLM. If you have a choice between US airlines (United, Delta, American, etc.) or European carriers (KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Lufthansa, etc.), always go with the European carrier if the cost is similar.
For our trip, we stayed at the Radisson Blu Falconer Hotel. Radisson offer a “Friends & Family” rate at most of their European properties for only 80euro/night, and that includes breakfast and Internet (here’s the special code). Not a bad deal when you’re in a city where a cup of coffee costs $10. Prior to our trip, Radisson provided us a free status match to their Silver Elite level (equivalent to SPG Gold), so we got a room on their top floor with perfect views across the entire city and harbor. While we only took advantage of the free breakfast buffet on the last day, it was definitely worth waking up for and was probably one of the better meals we had during the trip. (Normally we would try and sublease an apartment of Craigslist, but this didn’t seem to be a popular option in the Danish capitol).
During the weekend, we spent most of our time enjoying the perfect spring weather (no wind, 70F, sunny, etc.), A canal tour provided the best overview of the city layout, while we also enjoyed self-guided walking tours around the more touristy areas of Nyhavn and Christianshavn (including the “free state of Christiana”). Copenhagen is hard to not enjoy – the people are beautiful, friendly and stylish, and it’s the most clean city I’ve been to other than Geneva. All public transit runs on schedule (even though ~95% of Copenhageners have bikes) and I’d imagine a higher percentage of the population speaks fluent English than in the US. This was definitely an easy tourist destination.
But make no mistake about it, Copenhagen is expensive. At bars, a cocktail costs over $15 and even a Danish pastry and coffee will set you back $10 from the cheapest establishments. The Copenhagen metro was excellent for getting around the city, but one-way tickets were at least $4 each. While most of the food we had was good, we did make the mistake of visiting Wagamama’s, a UK-based chain that we both like in London. While I remembered the food as being really good for pan-Asian, our dinner there on Saturday was completely forgettable and definitely not worth the cost. We did sample some of the nightlife, and both Rust and Culture Box were good for dancing and electronic music. 7/11 was the best place for a “snack” (don’t mistake Danish 7/11’s for the US version).
Primarily due to the excellent weather, we ended up not visiting any of the major museums but did stop by the Danish Design Center. The Center’s main focus seemed to be in displaying the many ways that Scandinavian design has influenced and infiltrated the products we use on a daily basis. From vacuum cleaners to kitchen ware and furniture thru industrial design, the Center did a good job of showing how Danish companies have designed the products so many people use around the world. While we hoped to get some shopping in, the fact that most stores closed at 4PM on Saturday and were closed Sunday limited the financial damage of buying anything in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
At lunch on Saturday, an Aussie expat remarked that when he moved to Copenhagen three years ago, the most descriptive overview he received of the city was that “there’s really nothing bad to say about Copenhagen.” Our last weekend reinforced this view. I can see the attraction of raising a young family in the city or retiring with the generous social safety net (a result of 50-60% taxation). When an ambulance drove past our hotel on Sunday afternoon, it genuinely surprised us that there would even be a need for ambulances in Copenhagen. I mean, what could go wrong??