Copenhagen

by Alan Cole · Published Friday, August 21st, 2026 · Updated Wednesday, August 19th, 2026

Following a fantastic trip kayaking and wild-camping in the Sankt Anna Archipelago in Sweden, it was now time for a change of pace as we headed to the cosmopolitan capital of Denmark.

Next stop Copenhagen!

Well, not quite.

We first had a short taxi ride to Söderköping that we shared with a German guy who had just spent 10 days kayaking and camping in Sankt Anna and was now off to the Stockholm Archipelago for another 10 days of kayaking and camping. We were a little jealous, as more of the same would have been lovely.

Instead, once in Söderköping, it was onto a bus back to Norrköping train station, where we had a bit of a wait for a train to Malmö. Unfortunately, this train happened to have broken air-conditioning and was very hot and uncomfortable. It was our first bad travel experience in Scandinavia so far.

At Malmö, we changed onto a more comfortable train across the impressive Øresund Bridge. This combined railway and motorway link connects Copenhagen in Denmark with Malmö in Sweden. Opened in 2000, the 16-kilometre fixed link consists of an 8-kilometre bridge, the artificial island of Peberholm and the 4-kilometre Drogden Tunnel.

Denmark

We were now in Denmark, a new country for us!

We were chatting to an Australian couple and missed our stop at the airport, so promptly got off at the next stop once we noticed. This turned out to be a good thing, as we were actually closer to the Moxy Hotel that we had booked, and it was an easy taxi ride there.

The Moxy Hotel was a little out of town, as Copenhagen prices were a little out of our range, but it was perfectly fine. It’s a modern hotel with a youthful feel. We probably didn’t fit in that well, but we had a welcome cocktail, ordered a quick pizza from the bar, as the kitchen had literally just closed as we arrived.

We ate our pizza, drank our cocktails and then headed off to bed, ready for a full day in Copenhagen tomorrow.

Breakfast was good, and then we wandered off to a metro station and caught a couple of trains into the centre of Copenhagen. There were people on bicycles everywhere!

Sightseeing in Copenhagen

First, we strolled along the waterfront and then along the famous Nyhavn, where the multicoloured buildings lined a busy dockside. We took a nice boat trip around the harbour, taking in sights both old and new, including the Little Mermaid statue and buildings as diverse as opera houses, waste disposal plants, palaces and museums.

Back on dry land, we had danish pastries and iced lattés, then wandered towards the famous food market and bought some lunch before settling down in the Botanic Gardens to eat it. Anna had a little snooze on the grass while I wandered around the gardens.

We then jumped on a bus back towards the harbour, where we sat on one of the many dockside jetties and I went for a quick swim. I wasn’t the only one. There thousands of people on the harbourside, swimming, jumping off high boards and generally making the most of the sunshine.

We headed across to the other side of the harbour and had a cocktail before heading back to find somewhere to eat. This should have been an easy task, but everywhere was either far too expensive, far too crowded or far too loud. Yep, we’ve got to that age where we dismiss a restaurant simply because it was too loud!

Eventually, tired and hungry, we found Soho House, which was just perfect. I think we were lucky to get a table, but the staff were friendly, the food was nice and reasonably priced, and the beer and Negroni cocktails went down well!

It was getting late, and we had been on the go for 12 hours, so it was time to head back to our hotel and get some rest, ready for the trip back to Wales the next day.

Copenhagen had been quite a contrast to the lazy days in the Sankt Anna Archipelago, but it was well worth a visit. The journey home was by bus, train, plane, yet more trains and finally a car. All went well, and we even had a day at home to prepare for the shock of going back to work on Monday.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up back in the Sankt Anna Archipelago sometime soon. There are other places that look similar, such as the Stockholm Archipelago and the Finnish archipelagos, so it might be nice to explore somewhere new. But it’ll be hard to beat this trip.