travis bickle

Good day,

Mrs Bickle and I will be leaving for Goteborg Sweden in a few months to pick up the new Volvo. Accompanying us will be our 14-year old niece.

After touring for a few days in Sweden, I thought it might be nice to go to Copenhagen for a day or two -- none of us have been there before, and this will be the niece's first international trip.

Our time is fairly limited, so what can we do for a couple of days in Copenhagen? We are not interested in the bar/club scene.

Thanks in advance.

Aviatrix

What time of year will this be?

nacho

You can see CPH in one day if you are fast, i.e. no museum visit, no Tivoli and a little shopping. Most of the sites are in the city and they are fairly close together, within walking distances. However if you want to see a few museum or spend a day in Tivoli (oldest theme park in the world), then you need to set aside more time. Also if you want to see Kronborg castle which is north of Copenhagen then you need extra time for that.

travis bickle

early spring actually when we go there.

Thanks for the info, I will investigate going to such places as Kronborg castle.

By the way, when I did a search on FT earlier I came across some posts concerning problems accepting USA credit cards in Denmark -- does anyone have some updates on this issue?

Thanks in advance

bez7

We spent 2 days there last fall and had a blast. We stayed at the Imperial Hotel (newer reno, smaller rooms, no breakfast) on a great rate and spent all of our time in town. We walked everywhere we went and used the CPH card for one day in order to gain entry into Glypotek and Tivoli as well as transit to the airport. The Glypotek was great and I'd recommend it. I was hesitant about Tivoli but it was a lot of fun (cold in October but decked out for Halloween). We spent a lot of time on Stroget. For cheaper food we enjoyed the Shawarma houses on Stroget (my wife lived in the Middle East for a few years and grew to love the Lebanese Shawarma) and Nutella Crepes. For free check out Vor Frue Kirke, the beautiful Copenhagen Cathedral with its statues of Christ and the Apostles.

(I'm envious about your overseas Volvo purchase...I've been saving for years to go do that). You'll enjoy Göteborg and Sweden's west coast as well.

bez7

Oh, if you plan to shop do it in Sweden before you get to Denmark. H&M, for example, had the same prices on things in both countries but the exchange rate was much different between the two places.

And you'll enjoy the drive over the Öresund bridge/tunnel, it's amazing!

Aviatrix

Tivoli is a must. My favourite time there is in December when it becomes a giant Christmas market, but it's worth going to all year round. Evening is best (lots of pretty lights).

I went on a boat trip from Nyhavn on one of my recent visits, and found it really enjoyable.

Copenhagen is also a great place for cycling.

nacho

We got a friend from the US over to CPH a month ago and she did have trouble using her US credit card in CPH (she rang the card centre right away and found out that her card was ok). It's not just US credit card problem, our Danish master card doesn't work all the time either in various countries. Beware if you do your foreign issued credit card in Denmark you could be charged 5% transaction fee (most tourist shops and department stores won't charge that fee) but ask and show your card before you pay.
Shop in Sweden - it's much cheaper than better. However if you are into brand names like LV, Prada then Denmark is the place to go because these things are very cheap in Denmark because of the high sales tax.
Louisiana is a nice art museum in the north of Copenhagen too close to Kronborg castle.

bez7

We had no trouble using our no fees US Capital One card in both Sweden and Denmark. I don't carry that card in my wallet here at home but I think it was VISA branded.

travis bickle

... to all, we will have plenty of time to "plot out" our exact itinerary and purchases to maximize your tips.

... to bez7, we too have a Captial One MC that is "no fees for international transactions" and intend to use that. Glad to hear that you had no problems with it in either country.

GUWonder

There may appear to be some problem using US bank cards at the Copenhagen Metro ticket kiosks, but often they accept the ATM cards even after saying the transaction was declined.

derteilzeitberliner

Copenhagen comes second, right after Berlin, as my favourite city.

My favourite places:

- Nationalmuseet (National Museum of Denmark)
- Bymuseet (Municipal Museum)
- Frihedsmuseet (Danish Resistance Museum) and its associate memorial, Mindelunden i Ryvangen in Hellerup area.

Yes, I'm a geek

FT Guest xyzpdq

Please note that Tivoli opens late april.

There is plenty to do in CPH. Just outside Copenhagen also consider the following, depending on interests:
- 1,000 year old vikingships in Roskilde
- Kronborg Castle in Helsinore - as noted above
- Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød
- Louisianna museum of Modern Art
The three later are all north of Copenhagen and can be done in a day driving around in your new Volvo.

If you provde the board with interests and priorities - I am sure you will get heaps of info. Also check earlier posts on CPH

Bastholm

You could eventually take a Ferry from Sweden to denmark instead of the bridge, then you end up in Elsinore (Helsingør) where you'll find Kronborg. And it can be a quite nice trip down towards copenhagen eventually visiting some of the places mentioned by OFFlyer.

Nowadays you can pay with Visa and Mastercard in most shops, but it is true that a few years ago most shops (besides restuarants and souvenirshops) only accepted the national debetcard (Dankort).

A problem with credit/debet cards for an international guest in Denmark is that you will need a pin-code in most shops... And many (US) tourists arent used to that. So if you want to pay with debet/credit cards you better be sure to know the code for your card.

Have a nice trip...

bez7

Be sure to look into the tax-free shopping:

http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Sw...free-shopping/

http://www.visitdenmark.com/internat...ng-taxfree.htm

Make sure you find a refund location before you leave the country of purchase, otherwise you can't get cash immediately and must wait for it via post. Airports usually have them but we found one office on Stroget, I think in Illum.

Also, you have minimum spends and you need to request a tax-free form and then you MUST get each one validated before leaving for home, if you plan on mailing in the forms.