Copenhagen, Helsingor and Hillerod - Denmark

Copenhagen, 5-7 May 2016

5 May 2016

It’s a long weekend, time to pack our luggage J This time we chose Copenhagen, only 1 hour flight from Amsterdam. We had morning flight at 8 am. We deciced to stay at airport hotel, Park Inn Hotel which is located only 2 stops from Airport by metro. First, we bought 1 day pass (DKK 80) at the airport, then took M2 metro and stop at Femoren Stop. From there, we already can see the hotel. Lucky for us, that we can get our room before the check inn time, so we had some times to freshen up. 

 

 

From Femoren, we took M2 again and stop at Norreport, from here we changed to train line and stop at Central Station (Kobenhavn H), only 1 stop. From central station, we can walk to almost main attraction in Copenhagen. Just across the central station, we will see Tivoli garden. Tivoli Garden is a park and an amusement park. To enter this garden, we need to pay DKK 100 (adult) and free for child. It is one of historical park considering that it was built at 1843 and still functioning until today.

From Tivoli, with a short walk, we had already at City Hall, an impressive building with its beautiful tower. In here, we can find the statue of HC Andersen, a famous children book author. In front of the building, there’s Radhuspladsen, a big square.

Then we explore Stroget, a pedestrian shopping street. It stretches from City Hall to Kongens Nytorv Square. It is one of the most famous shopping area in Copenhagen, where we can find all the international brands.

Continued, we walked to Nyhavn, one of the iconic spot in Copenhagen. We can see the postcards take pictures in this area. A canal with yachts and colorful building as a background. It’s indeed a picturesque sight. Nyhavn means new harbor, it was a commercial port, but now it is a nice place to relax in one of the cozy restaurants. We can find a lot of nice and good café and restaurants here or just sit by the canal, have a small picnic while watching and feeding ducks.

After rest a while, we continued to Amalienborg Palace, and lucky for us, we just in time for the changing royal guard time. Amalienborg Palace consists of four identical palaces, surrounding a square, and in the middle of the square, we can see statue of King Frederik V. Amalienborg Palace is a royal residence.

The next place to visit was Kastellet (the Old Citadel), a star shape fortress. It surrounded with green park, a perfect place to sunbathing and picnic. From here, we got a beautiful view of chuch St. Alba. The Citadel has two gates. The King’s Gate and the Norway Gate. We entered from the King’s Gate, and the first thing we saw was a long and red impressive building, used as a soldier barracks. Another nice building was the Commander’s House, with its big square in front of it and a windmill as its background. We exited the Citadel from the Norway Gate.And from here, we just need to walk to Langelinje Pier and see the most famous copenhagen’s icon: The Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid or Den Likke Havfrue in Danish, is a bronze statue and was inspired by HC Andersen’s fairy tale about a mermaid who gives up everything to be united with a young, handsome prince on land. Around the statue, there was a souvenir shop that sell certified miniature of The Little Mermaid. We can not find this miniature in other place (the certified one).

From The Little Mermaid, we rode bus 26 to Rosenborg Castle. Rosenborg Castle was built in 1749. Besides the Crowns that’s displayed inside the castle, the huge park in Renaissance style called “the Kings Garden”also make Rosenborg Castle a worth to visit.

 

 

Next to Rosenborg Palace, was Round Tower (Rundetaarn), it was built n 17^th century as an astronomical observatory. It was part of the Trinitatis Complex, which combined church, library and observatory in a single building. We can entered the tower with a small fee (DKK 25 adult and DKK 5 child). Inside the tower, there were ramp (not stairs), so it’s easy to reach to the top and get a city view of Copenhagen. There were also a hall inside the tower used for gallery and concert venue. Also we can see the bells of the Church of the Trinity hang in the Bell Loft.

As we still had time before it’s getting dark, we decided to go to Christianshavn. Chritianshavn is located on the east side of Copenhagen. We reached there by Metro M2 from Round Tower, (there is a metro stop near Round Tower) and stop at Chriatianshavn Stop. Christianshavn is famous for its picturesque canals and also the unique roof church of Our Savior. Actually we can climb to the top of the church, but since we arrived quite late, it was already closed. From the church, we made a quick visit to the canals not far from the church. Then we took the metro back to Norreport Station, and then changed to train to central station. We had dinner in the central station, we tried indian resto. Then we backed to hotel.

6 May 2016, Kronbog Castle and Frederiksborg Castle

We started our day with a good breakfast. Then we took Metro M2 to the airport and bought 1 day pass for all zone for DKK 130 (if we bought this pass, we can bring along 1 child for free). We plan to visit Helsingor (or Elsinore) to see the Hamlet’s Castle (Kronborg). To reach Helsingor we need a pass with all zone. Hamlet’s Castle or Krononborg is located at Helsingor. From the airport there is direct train to Helsingor. The ride took about 1 hour. 

 

When we arrived at Helsingor Station, instantly we can see the Castle. To reach the castle we just need to walk, less then 10 minutes. As the castle is located at the tip of Zealand Island, while walking to the castle we can see the beautiful view of Baltic sea. Another interesting thing was the fish sculpture, made from recycled materials. And as we continued walking, we passed Kulturværftet, the cultural centre building. In front of the building there is another icon of Helsingor, the sculpture Han. If Copenhagen has little mermaid, Helsingor has Han. A sculpture made from polished steel, with the same pose with the Little Mermaid. 

From Kulturværftet , we can see the Kronborg Castle’s entrance. Kronborg Castle was also known as Hamlet’s Castle because it is the castle that that Shakespeare set Hamlet in. Every summer, there will be a performance of Hamlet in the courtyard. Kronborg Castle has a Renasissance style, and was built in 1574. Because of its location, it was nice to walk around the castle enjoying the Baltic sea view.

From Hamlet’s Castle, we took train to Hillerod to visit Frederiksborg Palace. We arrived at Hillerod train station and continued with bus no 301 that stop at Frederiksborg Slot stop. From that stop, we just need to walk to the castle less then 5 minutes. When we arrived, the Palace had already closed. But we still can admire the Palace from outside. The palace located at a beautiful site. Just beside the palace, we can enjoy the Frederiksborg park with its canals and walking path.

Frederiksborg Castle is the largest Renaissance Castle in Scandinavia. It was built in 17^th century by King Christian IV. It has a superb location, surrounded by the Castle Lake, a Baroque Garden and landscaped gardens. Frederiksborg castle has housed the Museum of National History. Besides the castle and museum, the Baroque garden in this site is really amazing. It has a cascade and fountain in the middle, and a beautiful pattern plants, surrounded by tall mythology gods statue. From here, we can get a great picture of the castle with the garden as the foreground.  

From Hillerod we walked back to the station, passing the shopping arcade (but all closed already) then took train to central station.

7 May 2016

As our flight was at 10 pm, we just spent our morning at the hotel. We still had enough time at the airport to spend some time in the lego store.