My wife and I spent several days in Copenhagen last year. We loved the walkable streets, and the various attractions. We used the transit system to visit the Viking Museum in Roskilde, and the sights of Malmo Sweden. The one thing we were surprised by was how expensive everything was. Still, I have to say it is one of my favorite cities in Europe.
2 mistakes tourists make that makes it extra expensive, is staying in Copenhagen (especially the tourist traps), and eating out. If you're on a budget, definitely get your food at a grocery store and prepare it yourself, or at least research cheaper options when eating out. Copenhagen may be the hipster capital of the world. You will get some unique and high quality stuff, but the price will match. But there is a lot more to Denmark, and in a different price range.
Waiters in Denmark are actually being paid to do their job, so that adds to the price, of course (We don't have McJobs by that, as they are also being paid a salary). By that you don't need to leave a Tip, unless feeling for it, for special Services! And the Sub rides by itself without a Driver, and comes close to each other, without problems. You are able to sit in front, by that, looking at coming rails, also below Nyhavn and the water. Near all major roads also have bike lanes to both sides. Actually it is so expensive to park in the Center, and that may also be a reason? Finn. Denmark
Copenhagen is very expensive indeed. There is an added tax on all goods at 25%. It should be mentioned that healthcare is free for all Danish taxpayers as is education and there is social welfare systems in place. This will make things appear very expensive to tourists but since the gross salaries in Denmark are generally pretty good, there is usually a somewhat balance there. However, when you arrive in Denmark as a tourist, who will not have access to the above in the same manner as Danish taxpayers, then everything will indeed appear to be very expensive. However, the general cost of living for Danes is probably a good deal lower than for people living in major cities in America. As with most big cities, you only live in the city center areas if you are rather wealthy.
I'm impressed that you went further than the city center to outer Nørrebro ( where I live), Vesterbro and Frederiksberg. So many tourists only see Nyhavn and the high street but the further you get away from the down town area the cooler and more relaxed it gets. Its where the locals hangs out and the shops are more interesting and the food is cheaper. Hope you enjoyed your stay here in Denmark 😊😊
Hey Kyle, I hope you liked my country's capital city of Copenhagen. Having just concluded my own trip to Washington D.C, I can truthfully say that you have a wonderful capital in America🇩🇰🇺🇲
Copenhagen here. Thanks for a wonderful video. Seing your hometown with the eyes of a traveller, makes me thankful for living here. Keep up the good work.
Nice video. I've never been to Copenhagen, but I have been to many other cities in Europe, like Amsterdam, which were built before the automobile and are much more geared around walking, biking and mass transit. And it's amazing how much more pleasant those cities are compared to what we've built in North America. It's almost like concentrating thousands of loud, noisy machines that spew air pollution and sometimes run people over has a negative effect on the urban environment.
As a borne and breed dweller of Copenhagen I must say... good video.. how ever the map at 7:28 isnt the just of the metro... but also the Regional, Intercity and S-train lines in and around Copenhagen... the Rail line heading out was opened in 1847, the S-train is from 1934.
To be fair, the insanely low prices on property in Detroit has been leading to massive gentrification and changes to the city . -but, it’s still same ol 313.
Great review overall! It's rare to see foreigners actually visit the real Copenhagen and not just the 5 standard tourist destinations that everyone flock to. When I personally think beauty and warmth of Copenhagen, Nyhavn isn't even in my top 10 of places, despite how iconic the location is. Copenhagen has a lot of small side streets and back alleys that have their own unique story and cultural heritage, and these are spread all over the city and you only find them by stumbling into them, and "getting lost" in the city is perhaps one of the best ways to truly experience what Copenhagen has to offer :) I think one "negative" as a native living in Copenhagen, is some of the prices on cafes and restaurants. It does ensure that working staff can get proper wages, but still it seems excessive in certain areas, especially for tourists who may not be accustomed to the fact that eating out is quite expensive and then get the impression that Copenhagen as a whole is very expensive. The reality is, that most people not just in Copenhagen, but in Denmark as a whole, rely mostly on home cooking and goods bought from grocery stores and small vendors, where prices are actually very affordable and in line with most other European countries. Danes spend a lot of time indoors due to the weather and daylight hours in the winter etc, so relying on home cooked meals is the norm and here is where you save a lot of the cost that tourists don't really get to benefit from.
It's basically as close to a utopia on Earth that we've gotten to so far. Nothing but positive things to say on my visit. Did hear theres a high cost of living. But unlike the U.S. it's actually worth it.
Copenhagen is for sure one of the best bigger cities in Europe in many ways, but it also has its issues like a huge shortage of housing and insane rental prices. But that's not only the case in Denmark.
I spent a week in Copenhagen in the summer of 2019. One problem you might see is running out of parking for your BIKE in some of the major transportation hubs. Never set foot in a car the entire week I was there. Interesting you never mentioned anything about the castles. Like Rosenborg Slot...
Cheap AND fast. Cost less to get from airport with train or Metro than it does to open the door to a Taxi. The Metro city ring are awesome. No need to learn timetables as they depart every 3-5 minutes. Running on emission free windmill energy on top. Love the bicycle apps as well. Pick a bike and go! Drop it anywhere or get a discounted rate if dropping it at designated hubs that are all over town. App tells you where closest bike are as well.
I'm surprised the weather was so nice. I'm living in NW-Europe, much further to the south, and our weather has been terrible for the whole year. It's almost always raining.
The last 5 years the Gulf stream have superheated and at same time slowed down with 15%. Not enough are written about this climate change dangerous tipping point. If the faster melting ice from Greenland due to the warmer Gulf stream where 2/3´s end at the tip of Greenland pushes back or even stops the Gulfstream it will mean Sahara like temperatures and much stronger and frequent tornadoes in USA and colder climate in Northern Europe. Right now it seems to increase vaporisation from the waters above the Gulfstream causing more clouds and more rain. Also seem to impact the upper atmospheres jet streams that increase the instability of the weather tending to cause very heavy European rain pours with increasing frequency some places and larger draught periods other places. Last year France had to shut down a record number of their nuclear plants due to the rivers normally providing cooling water dried out while Germany and Italy experienced massive downpours causing flooding. Denmark generally have been protected somewhat by it´s flat land that do not cause so heavy up drafts that it trigger clouds to rain.
If you wamt to visit a cosy small town in the alps with a thermal hot spring in the alps Go to leukerbad during winter Just make sure you have enough money
Just be aware whenever and wherever you travel. Crime can always happen. They also have adult shops all over and sometimes you'll see some seedy ones nearby those. Older friends of mine were robbed in a fairly busy area, not even when dark. Loved the city and Denmark, but it has its crime, too...
Yep, all places have crimes but statistically amongst the very lowest crime rates in the world are in Denmark also in relation to our neighbours. When Denmarks borders were closed due to Covid bicycle theft dropped instantly with over 50%. Denmark have around 5-6% of it´s population coming from muslim originating countries but stats show over 50% of prison cells are occupied by people having this religious background. This are not an opinion but can be verified by checking stats publicly available by Denmark´s statistics website. The unbroken 8 most over represented countries of origin with up to 8 more times criminal convictions than native Danes are all coming from muslim nations origin in 1st or second generation immigrants. They are as follows, worst first. Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey. There are more but this are the 8 topping the list. If quietly relating to this you should be able to feel very safe in Denmark. If you see a Japanese person then know they are underrepresented in crime convictions when having immigrated to Denmark.
Been living in DK for a long time now. Mixed feelings. Good social system -- was better -- but a lot of xenophobia/racism juuuust under the surface. Probably worse where I live in Jutland than the capital.
Copenhagen is alright but it's nowhere near the best city in the world. Public transport is mediocre. It's lacking green, esp. in the centre. People are meh. Walkability is nice. HDI is great. Not bad, but not great either.
Overhyped, over taxed , super expensive, big immigrant Muslim problems . Pretty but a miserable lot who cannot take any criticism. Was once great , no longer .
Lots of Muslims unfortunately. Very high crime rate among muslims and generally a lack of respect for Danish culture. They consider Islam superior to our ways. Haha.
Kyle, I can't tell you how much I am happy to see you visiting other countries like this. I hope to see reviews by you of other cities around the world.
It helps so much when you get good weather. A place and its people look so good then. It may even cause you to make questionable flea market purchases!
Lol, excuse me but I think Copenhagen is overrated. The city has tons of traffic which is very close to pedestrian and walking areas in the middle of the city, which gives rise to a permanent poorly planned stressful traffic situation. There's lots of pollution, and too few green spaces, often the city feels pretty harsh and grey and has plenty of urban decay. Most things in Copenhagen that you want to see have pretty far distances between them, because of this you won't be able to see that much in one day. The city is pretty old and thus not well planned, especially around rush hour, where everywhere is crammed. Alot of the nightlife is very crammed too. Historically there's been alot of social depravity and YES there are plenty lots of addicts, homelessness, drunkenness crime and prostitution, even in some very central areas. If you're out on a saturday night you can also be attacked or assaulted violently without provocation if you're unlucky, if you are at the wrong place at the wrong time you'll run into drunk violent people or hooligans (the Football hooligans of Copenhagen are absolutely horrible). On the other hand, in wealthier or hipster areas, local people can be very uptight and elitist and not welcoming. People are wealthy and beautiful, but there's an unfriendly aura of boring stiffness, arrogance and snobism which is very unwelcoming. This combined with Danish weariness of strangers is not a nice thing. If you go to a trendy place you can actually get bullied by arrogant locals if you don't know the proper codes of being hip. These people are clearly too cool for school. Food is mostly small portions and expensive, they claim to be the best food city in the world, but many of their famed restaurants are boring, overated and not affordable. In many cases, if you don't pay premium you'll only get a small sandwich. Alot of the food served is just in the size of an overprized small sandwich which is pretty annoying. The newer restaurants are pretty plastic and stiff and not cozy at all. The gourmet places are bastions of obscene elitism and a culinary Napeoleon complex. Alot of the feel of Copenhagen has this pretty soulless, boring feel devoid of character or emotion and this include Danish design and architecture. The best city in Denmark to visit is actually Aarhus. This is a much more relaxed city which is green and walkable. It has the most beautiful woods, beaches and idyllic countryside very close to the city centre, and a much calmer relaxed small town vibe with less stress and less social problems, while still having interesting culture, nightlife, architecture, history and museums. It has basically everything you'll want in Copenhagen but much more accessible and on a human scale. And of course, people from Aarhus (and the region of Jutland) are always made fun of by arrogant Copenhageners, and many Aarhus people who move to CPH aren't even able to make friends with anyone when they move there because they are so elitist. Aarhus is also much closer to beautiful coastal and rural areas of Denmark and more far from urban decay, so it's a real win win.
The location of Copenhagen being that far east compared to the rest of the country, is because in older days, it was the middle of the country. Halland, Blekinge and Skåne in Sweden (basically south Sweden) used to belong to Denmark. And at that time, Copenhagen would have been smack in the middle of the Kingdom. Glad you enjoyed the trip to our capital🙂
Hi Kyle, Good to see you visit my home country 😎. Would have loved to show you around; however, it seems that you did an absolutely awesome job on your own! Best regards Esben (member of AllFiftyStatesClub 🇺🇲💪)
Howdy Kyle, I have been to Copenhagen many times since my first visit in 1971. It is worth saying virtually everyone speaks English and it is all the things you say it is. On the negative side, it’s a bit dull. There is not that much to see and you were lucky with the weather. Its great strength is as a place to live- on so many levels. But to reproduce it in the US you would need a complete cultural transplant. Can you imagine Americans abandoning cars, detached houses, guns and boring architecture?
not much to see ???? Copenhagen is filled with museums, history, art, design all the museums you can dream about, Tivoli garden, 3 Castles inside the city and more in cities close by like the "Hamlet Castle" in Elsinore 25, min train ride from Copenhagen, or Frederiksborg castle in Hillerød 50 min. from Copenhagen, Viking museum 25 min from Copenhagen in Roskilde where there is also a huge Cathedral with most of the Kings tombs , in Copenhagen you also have breweries, Jazz festival, metal rock festival, rock festival, theater, opera, lots of shops, very old part of the city with old buildings and the modern parts, Copenhagen is both architectural and design Capital of Europe, it also have some of the best restaurants in the world, and many parks , but if you don't like history, culture, art, design, food, music, fashion, castles, Vikings ect. then I understand it's a dull city, or maybe you are the dull one
@@veronicajensen7690 I have visited the sights you mention and some others you have not. Sorry l have upset you. It’s all a matter of perspective and l like the city and country very much. But to give just one or two examples- none of the art galleries have anything truly world class. There is nothing like say the Sydney Opera House, Big Ben or the Eiffel Tower. The best known landmark is the Little Mermaid and it’s nice but, well, small. And everywhere has music festivals. The most interesting thing without doubt is Christiana. That is truly unique.
I got to visit in 1989 and it was very nice then but wow its incredible now! A cleaned up red light district and a subway, wow! They had a nice program called Meet the Danes where foreigners would spend an evening with a local family. Four of us spent hours with a family that lived in a commune and we ate dinner in a common house and it was our family's turn to make the dinner. It was a very cool experience in a and an excellent way to learn about the culture from locals.
I liked this video, but I've never been drawn to Copenhagen. This will seem tongue in cheek, but a negative to me about cities like this is that they are too good and thus kind of boring. No crime, no litter, no topography, everything neat and perfectly regulated .... drives some of us to despair!
I am like that too. I have always thought if there was an export market in dodgy lads, we could round up a few in Liverpool and sell them to Denmark as they don’t have many. And you are right about Copenhagen- it is very pleasant but dull.
It really is a cool city, been there twice. It's a bit easier to get there from Switzerland 😉. You might not believe it, but here in Switzerland too we have hardly any homelessness. Not to say there are no poor people, but our social system (not socialist!) is put up in a way that it should prevent that. This means a little higher taxes for everyone else, but in my eyes it's worth it.
I was married in Roskilde, just a little west of Copenhagen way back in 1984. We spent a few days exploring Copenhagen before heading to our honeymoon in Paris.
Yeah copenhagen looks good and all but for me it's unliveable. In the US, wherever you go the weather is usually good or really good, there is lots of daylight. In Copenhagen it's constantly grey. It's always cloudy and overcast and raining. No thanks.
Kyle, Can you please mention some of the places you stayed in some of these videos and the approximate cost? Maybe a quick glance inside the room. Loved the cleanliness of the public transit. How was the food? 100km (62 miles) is some serious walking. Definitely keeps you fit.
I visited Copenhagen in 2016. It was very nice! However, "The best city in the world"?? I personally liked Stockholm, Sweden a whole lot more. (And everything was cheaper too.)
What? No Little Mermaid? Love Copenhagen, and for that matter, all of Scandinavia. Pricey, but very easy to get around. Very safe. Saw moms park their strollers outside of stores, baby inside, while the mom shopped inside. No worries, no fear. Cold as heck in winter, so visit in the warmer months! Great review.
Great video, my wife and I just went to Copenhagen and it was amazing. One of the best cities we have visited. I felt similarly to you about Christiana, felt dirty, empty and a bit unsafe even during the day. I'm sure the old hippy dream is long gone and gentrification is around the corner, but who knows.
Dane here, I lived as a homeless occupant inside Christiania in the last years before gentrification started. back then the only people allowed to conduct business on pusher street had to be residents, the government decided that the area could be worth alot more if it was full of malls, so they arrested all the reliable dealers, and opened up the market to gangs and thugs, now 20 years later the neighborhood has been completely ruined. in the interim the dispersal of the weed market caused gang violence and murders all across coenhagen and spilled into the surrounding regions. Gentrificatio has done nothing but increase overall violent crime, lower the safety of drug use (due to scroupulos gangsters lacing things with opioids), create a division between the alternative communities and the government and in the long run legitimized political violence as a tool.
Seeing the title of your video, of course I could not help but visualize Danny Kaye and burst into song: "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen!" ("Hans Christian Andersen", 1952).
