Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark. It is situated on the Islands of Zealand and Amager and is separated from Malmö, Sweden by the strait of Oresund.Situated on the island of Zealand facing the Oresund (Danish: Øresund) strait, with Sweden just minutes away by train, it is a link between mainland Europe and Scandinavia, and has a wealth of cultural and entertaining things to see and do.
The city has a reputation for tolerance, the fascinating ‘free city’ of Christiania, a community of people who have tried to create an equal and just consensus-governed democracy for its people. There is more to here than Carlsberg and The Little Mermaid, and a trip to the wonderful Tivoli Gardens will leave the visitor in no doubt that this is a very special city.
The original designation for the city, from which the contemporary Danish name is derived, was Køpmannæhafn, “merchants’ harbor”. The English name for the city is derived from its Low German name, Kopenhagen. The element hafnium is also named for Copenhagen, whose Latin name is Hafnia. The Danish Capital is well known for its livelihood and its people.
With the completion of the transnational Oresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö are connected by a car/rail link and are in the process of integrating their labour markets, resulting in the number of commuters from both sides growing annually. These two cities together form the center of the Øresund Region, which is home to almost 3.7 million inhabitants (20,869 km²).
Copenhagen has placed well in a number of international rankings, some of which are mentioned below. In 2008, the magazine Monocle listed Copenhagen first in their Top 25 Most Livable Cities list, and gave the city the special award as “Best Design City”. Monocle has also stated that Copenhagen is Scandinavia’s most desirable city.
The city of Copenhagen is ranked #14 in MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index and #1 in Scandinavia. This makes Copenhagen one of the most important business cities in the Nordic Region.
In addition, it has also been classified as a GaWC Cultural World City, while it is 3rd in Western Europe in terms of attracting regional headquarters and distribution centers, only surpassed by London and Paris. The city of Copenhagen is described as “The Paris of the North” because of its Design, Fashion and Beauty.
Copenhagen has oceanic climate. Despite its northern location, the climate is relatively mild compared to other locations in similar latitude, mainly because of the Gulf Stream. Because of its northern location, daylight extends 16 hours in midsummer, to around 8 hours in midwinter.
Summers are warm and pleasant with average high temperatures of around 21°C (70°F) and lows of 13°C (55°F), but temperatures could sometimes exceed 25°C (77°F+) and occasional heatwaves are commong during the summer. Winters are cold, with temperatures of -2 to 4°C (28 - 40°F), and is similar to New York City’s. Precipitation is moderate throughout the year, and snowfall is occurs mainly in December thru March, but snow covers does not remain long time.
Copenhagen is known for its horizontal skyline, only broken by spires at churches and castles. In the coming years, a number of development projects in the outskirts of the historical city will add another dimension to the skyline. Copenhagen is located on the eastern shore of the island of Zealand (Sjælland) and partly on the island of Amager.
Copenhagen faces the Øresund to the east, the strait of water that separates Denmark from Sweden, and that connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea. On the Swedish side of the sound directly across from Copenhagen, lie the towns of Malmö and Landskrona. Copenhagen is also a part of the Øresund region, which consists of Zealand, Lolland-Falster and Bornholm in Denmark and Scania in Sweden.
Copenhagen consists of a number of boroughs and areas, including: Indre By, Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro, Amagerbro, Nordhavnen (North Habour), Valby, Kongens Enghave (King’s Meadow Garden), also known as Sydhavnen (meaning South Harbour), Christianshavn, Christiania (Freetown), Sundbyvester (Sundby West), Sundbyøster (Sundby East), Ørestad, Islands Brygge, Bellahøj, Brønshøj, Ryparken, Bispebjerg, Vigerslev, Vestamager, Vanløse.
The term bro in the names Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro and Amagerbro should not be confused with the Danish word for bridge, which is also ‘bro’. The term is thought to be an abbreviation or short form of the Danish word brolagt meaning paved referring to the roads paved with cobblestones leading to the city’s former gates - Østerport, Nørreport, and Vesterport - around which these boroughs grew.
Thus the names could roughly be translated as Eastern, Northern, and Western Paved (Road), respectively. Today the names Østerport, Nørreport, and Vesterport all refer to train stations located on the railroad that was built where the city-walls used to be. This is the border between the medieval town and the rest of Indre By.
Since the late 1990s, Copenhagen has undergone a transformation from a cute Scandinavian capital to a cool metropolitan city of international scope in the league of cities like Barcelona and Amsterdam. This was in part due to infrastructural changes like the new Metro, the new Airport Terminal and the bridge to Sweden - but also due to cultural success: Dogma & Lars von Trier, a renewal of Scandinavian architecture & design, the establishment of Vega - House of Music, not to mention the rise of a bustling underground culture scene, which was nearly non-existant in Copenhagen until recently. Between 1998 and 2008, lifestyle journalists wordwide have praised Copenhagen as a cool, well-functioning creative city .
The Copenhagen Jazz Festival, which takes place in early July, is a popular annual event that is the result of a significant jazz scene having existed for many years. It developed when a number of American jazz musicians such as Ben Webster, Thad Jones, Richard Boone, Ernie Wilkins, Kenny Drew, Ed Thigpen, Bob Rockwell and others such as rock guitarist Link Wray came to live in Copenhagen during the 1960s.
Copenhagen Distortion is a youth culture festival capturing the zeitgeist of the city, gathering every year (5 days up to the first weekend of June) up to 30.000 people in the streets, in shops, galleries, clubs, bars, in boats and buses, with a cultural focus on street culture, art and upfront dance music.
For free entertainment one can stroll along Strøget, especially between Nytorv and Højbro Plads, which in the late afternoon and evening is a bit like an impromptu three-ring circus with musicians, magicians, jugglers and other street performers.
Copenhagen offers a great variety of fine restaurants and it is possible to find modest eateries with open sandwiches (called “smørrebrød”), which is the traditional and best known dish. Most restaurants, though, serve international dishes.
The city boasts an impressive 11 Michelin star restaurants. Restaurant Noma (Nordisk Madhus) has currently been voted the 10th best restaurant in the world, and recently it received another Michelin star in addition with the one it already had received. Furthermore, the readers of the international website TripAdvisor rated Noma as the best restaurant in the world.
Since the nineteen-eighties, immigration from the Pakistan, Middle East, Turkey and Arabian countries has introduced fast food dishes such as kebab and falafel, which have become as popular as more traditional Danish fast food.
Copenhagen and the surrounding counties have 3 beaches with a total of approx. 8km of sandy beaches within 30 minutes bicycling from the city centre. This includes Amager Strandpark, a 2 km long artificial island which opened in 2005 and is located just 15 minutes by bicycle from the city centre.
Every February and August, Copenhagen is host to Northern Europe’s largest fashion event, Copenhagen Fashion Week. On the catwalks are a growing number of new and known Danish talent with a preview of their upcoming collections. And at the three trade fairs, CPH Vision, Gallery and Copenhagen International Fashion Fair, you will find an additional 1,100 exhibitors representing a total of over 2,300 international brand name collections.
Danish fashion is known for its unique angle on design, innovation and aesthetics. With a more modern approach to femininity and functionality, expressed in fresh silhouettes, a focus on details and incomparable quality. These are only some of the reasons why more than 50,000 buyers, designers and global press attend Copenhagen Fashion Week twice a year.
Of course, the other main attraction is Copenhagen itself. It’s a cosy, metropolitan city located by the waterfront, and features an interesting array of design venues, architecture, cultural events, cafés, bars and nightlife.
Copenhagen Fashion Week is organised by the Danish Fashion Institute - a newly founded network organisation created by and for the Danish fashion industry. The purpose is to develop an extensive network of industry professionals to promote, market and drive Danish fashion forward. In close cooperation with trade fairs, interest organisations, national organisations, event agencies and media partners, Copenhagen Fashion Week is a pivotal player in positioning Copenhagen as a fashion destination on the international arena.
Copenhagen is home to the oldest and largest university in Denmark, the University of Copenhagen founded in 1479. The University does renowned research within science, health, law, social sciences, theology and the humanities and forms part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), which is a collaboration between high-ranking universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Yale and the University of California at Berkeley. The University attracts app. 1500 international and exchange students every year. The city is also home to EQUIS accredited and high-ranked Copenhagen Business School.
The greater Copenhagen has a very well established transportation infrastructure making it a hub in Northern Europe. By a quality service of roads, railways, airports and harbours has earned Denmark a top ranking in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook and in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report for several consecutive years.
Copenhagen has a large network of toll-free highways and public roads connecting different municipalities of the city together and to Northern Europe. As in many other cities in Europe traffic is increasing in Copenhagen. The radial arterial roads and highways leading to the Copenhagen city center are critically congested during peak hours.
The city’s bicycle paths are extensive and well-used. Bicycle paths are often separated from the main traffic lanes and sometimes have their own signal systems. Copenhagen is known as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, with up to 32% of people commuting to work by bicycle and is a center of bicycle culture. The city provides public bicycles which can be found throughout the downtown area and used with a returnable deposit of 20 kroner.
Copenhagen’s well-developed bicycle culture has given rise to the term ‘copenhagenize’. This is the practice of other cities adopting Copenhagen-style bike lanes and bicycle infrastructure. The harbour of Copenhagen, since 2001 merged with Malmö to Copenhagen-Malmö Port, has several functions but its main function today is a major cruise destination.
Cruise Copenhagen Network was established in 1992 as a partnership between the Port of Copenhagen, the City of Copenhagen and 45 professional suppliers, in order to strengthen and develop Copenhagen as the most successful home port for cruises in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea. The trade magazine Dream World Cruise Destinations recently polled the cruise lines, who voted Copenhagen no. 1 in several categories: Most Responsive Port and Best Destination Experience for Independent Sightseeing. World Travel Awards has for several years in a row named Copenhagen Port as the number one cruise destination in Europe.
Copenhagen has two airports, Kastrup (the large international airport) and Roskilde Lufthavn (a smaller international and general aviation airport). Kastrup, also known as Copenhagen Airport, is Europe’s 17th busiest airport and has four times won the award as being “The best airport in Europe”, and two times as “The best airport in the world”.
Kastrup is Scandinavia’s Largest Airport and is one of the three main hubs for Scandinavian Airlines. Another nearby and busy airport, Malmö Airport, is found outside Malmö, across the bridge on the Swedish side. It’s situated about 55 km from central Copenhagen, and this airport is often used by low-cost carriers and chartered airplanes as their Copenhagen destination. In certain circumstances, like heavy fog and strikes, it sometimes works as a complement to Copenhagen Airport.
The public transportation system of Copenhagen consists of commuter trains (called “S-trains” (S-tog)), buses, and a metro. The S-trains form the basis of the transportation network, stretching to most areas of metropolitan Copenhagen, with their main hub at Copenhagen Central Station (København H). Regional trains supplement the S-train services with lines extending further such as to the Copenhagen Airport, Elsinore, and Malmö. The Danish State Railways’ Intercity network has its eastern terminus and main hub at Copenhagen, with most trains extending to Copenhagen Airport.
The fare system is based on 95 zones covering the capital area. Tickets are transferable from one means of transport to another within a time limit. The more zones a ticket is valid for, the longer its time validity with a maximum of two hours. Discount cards (punch cards, klippekort) and period cards are available. Ticket prices are high and have increased substantially in recent years leading to a decrease in passenger numbers. In fact, the percentage of trips made on public transportation in Copenhagen is quite low by northern European standards.
Copenhagen has a very active nightlife where the party goes on all night. Start an evening by drinking beers or cocktails in one of the trendy spots around Istedgade on Vesterbro, or Studiestræde or Gothersgade in the city center. For late night clubbing, most places will be half empty before 1-2 am. and stay open until 5-6 am. Some areas where a number of night clubs can be found is Boltens Gård in Gothersgade and Rådhuspladsen (main city square). Night clubs usually charge DKK 40-80 for entrance and additional DKK 10-20 for cloakrooms. A pint of beer will normally cost you around DKK 40-55. Most nightclubs have age retrictions of minimum 18-20 years on Wednesday-Friday and 20-23 years on Saturday. It is also possible to get more infomation and a full list of clubs on the mobilephone on the address wap.mobileclubbing.net.
The clubscene is vibrant in Copenhagen, but most clubs are only open Thursday to Saturday. Note that most locals have a party at home with friends, or frequent their favorite bars, before they head out for the clubs, so they rarely get going before after midnight. Below is a breakdown of the main clubs in different genres. Most clubs have cover charge, and the ones that doesn’t are rubbish more often than not.
Most clubs maintains a minimum age of 20 or 21, although they are not required to do this by law. Expect a draft beer, or basic drinks, to set you back 40-50 DKK - a bit more expensive than bar
Copenhagen used to be one of the safest cities in the world, and while the situation has deteriorated in recent years, it’s still generally a safe city compared to other cities the same size. Like any metropolitan area, Copenhagen does experience its share of crimes, and recent times has seen an increase in very violent gang related crimes on Nørrebro. While crime against strangers is mostly of the non-violent type, such as pickpocketing and petty theft, one should take the necessary precautions, in particular in the neighbourhood of Nørrebro and in the western suburbs, i.e. those municipalities located to the west of Copenhagen proper.
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