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Destination: Denmark

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The ‘Wrong Side of the Tracks’ in Copenhagen

With the affluence of our time, all over Europe, once-scuzzy neighborhoods on “the wrong side of the tracks” are becoming gentrified. (In fact, here in Copenhagen, the trendiest new area for dining and nightlife fun is the old Meatpacking District, just a couple of blocks behind the main train station.) Stepping into the station, I’ve long heard the martial melodies they play on loudspeakers at its back door without giving it a second thought. Then, with the help of a guide, I learned the reason for the regimented march beat. This video clip explains:

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Having Fun in Copenhagen

Flying from Amsterdam to Copenhagen is like connecting sister cities — bikes, canals, lots of construction work, slick and extensive infrastructure, and people who really know how to have fun.

As I mentioned earlier, my two-month summer trip has five sections: Germany guidebook research, filming in the Netherlands, Scandinavia guidebook research, filming in Berlin and Prague, and finally guidebook research in Poland. I’m just kicking off part three and ready for some Scandinavian travel fun. Join me for the next two weeks as I offer my latest travel tips from in and around Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and Bergen. First up: Copenhagen.

In cities like Copenhagen, I enjoy tuning into the little details of everyday life. For example, the pølse (hot dog) is fast, cheap, tasty, and — like its American cousin — almost worthless nutritionally. Even so, what the locals call the “dead man’s finger” is the dog Danish kids love to bite. Danes gather at pølsevogne (sausage wagons) for munchies and pølsesnak — the local slang for empty chatter (literally, “sausage talk”).  If you join them, you can study this institution — and maybe pick up on some societal insights, as well. Denmark’s “cold feet cafés” are a form of social care: People who have difficulty finding jobs are licensed to run these wiener-mobiles. As they gain seniority, they are promoted to work at more central locations. Traditionally, after getting drunk, guys stop here for a hot dog and chocolate milk on the way home — that’s why many of these stands stay open until the wee hours.

Wandering Copenhagen’s harborfront, visitors are struck by the many young people out drinking in the streets. There’s not more beer consumption here than in the US; it’s just out in public. Many young Danes can’t afford to drink in a bar (where the tax on serving booze is astronomical), so they “picnic drink” their beers in squares and along canals, spending a quarter of the bar price for a bottle from a nearby kiosk. In my guidebook’s self-guided walk of Copenhagen, I encourage my travelers to drop by Nagib’s kiosk (a block from the popular wharf at Nyhavn) and grab a cold $2 beer to join in the scene. It was fun meeting Nagib, as for years, he’s had a steady stream of Americans dropping by to buy a beer…as dictated by some mysterious guidebook writer.

Appreciating local culture extends to sightseeing, as well. When you’re traveling, don’t just seek out the Van Goghs in Sweden, the Rembrandts in Scotland, or the Titians in Spain. Instead, open up to the local artists. In Norway, check out Munch. In Vienna, go for Klimt. And in Prague, give Mucha a look. All over Copenhagen, you’ll see the swoon-worthy art of the great Danish Neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. This local Canova’s work is in the cathedral, in the palace, and packing a museum dedicated entirely to his statues right next to the palace. Do you have a favorite underrated national artist that we should keep on our list when in that artist’s homeland?

Copenhagen is a city of lovely spires and public spaces. As in many towns, once-formidable fortified walls and moat systems have morphed into peaceful, lake-filled parks. In the maps of these cities, you can see the “star fort” shapes centuries after the last cannon was retired. Copenhagen does a particularly good job of utilizing land formerly spent on defense to make the city a wonderful place to live. Wandering through these parks, you can understand why Danes usually top the list of the world’s most content societies.

spiral-spire-Church-of-our-Savior-Copenhagen
Once a mighty military base, today this Copenhagen district is a park…with bastion-shaped hills and moat-shaped lakes.
topless-Danes
Anywhere in Scandinavia, when the sun’s out, so are the people. Topless Danes were turning heads in the harbor.
copenhagen-polsevogne-hot-dogs
All over Copenhagen, mobile hotdog stands sell the traditional pølse. After a long day of weenie sales, this man is ready to roll home and take a break.
Nagib-beer-kiosk
Nagib is happy to sell my readers a bottle of beer to sip harborside for just 10 kronor — that’s about $2…a huge bargain in Danish terms.
Bertel-Thorvaldsen-cupids-arrow-statue
Local artists — often largely unknown outside their native lands — are a treat just waiting to be discovered. In Denmark, I’m in the mood to be pricked by the cupid’s arrow of Thorvaldsen.
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Aarhus, Denmark’s Second City

Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city, has a population of 256,000 and calls itself the “World’s Smallest Big City.” I’d argue it’s more like the world’s biggest little town: easy to handle and easy to like. Its Viking founders settled here — where a river hit the sea — in the eighth century. Aarhus, a pleasant three-hour train ride from Copenhagen, is starting to get a few cruise ships dropping by — as ours did. Photos by Trish Feaster, see her blog at The Travelphile.com.

Only a couple of dozen cruise ships each season (mostly Princess ships) choose to stop in Aarhus. (This is done to break the long ride from Oslo to Warnemünde.) A free and easy shuttle bus zips you to a welcome tent with a TI with money exchange, bike rental, and Danish handicrafts for sale. I encountered this happy gang — fans of my TV shows and guidebooks — heading back to the ship after a few hours of fun in Aarhus.
Only a couple of dozen cruise ships each season (mostly Princess ships) choose to stop in Aarhus. (This is done to break the long ride from Oslo to Warnemünde.) A free and easy shuttle bus zips you to a welcome tent with a TI with money exchange, bike rental, and Danish handicrafts for sale. I encountered this happy gang — fans of my TV shows and guidebooks — heading back to the ship after a few hours of fun in Aarhus.
You get the feeling that the arrival of a cruise ship is big news in little Aarhus. While the Aarhus pier is buried in an industrial container wasteland where, for security reasons, no one is allowed to walk into town on their own, passengers are often greeted by a high-school marching band.
You get the feeling that the arrival of a cruise ship is big news in little Aarhus. While the Aarhus pier is buried in an industrial container wasteland where, for security reasons, no one is allowed to walk into town on their own, passengers are often greeted by a high-school marching band.
Aarhus makes cruisers feel welcome. Local students get summer work by standing by to answer any questions cruisers have as they tumble off their ships and head into town. From the port, red dots lead you on a five-minute walk into the Aarhus town center.
Aarhus makes cruisers feel welcome. Local students get summer work by standing by to answer any questions cruisers have as they tumble off their ships and head into town. From the port, red dots lead you on a five-minute walk into the Aarhus town center.
In the 1930s, the Aarhus River was covered over to make a new road — an event marked by much celebration. In the 1980s, locals reconsidered the change, deciding that the road cut a boring, people-mean swath through the center of their town. They removed the road, artfully canalized the river, and created a trendy new people zone — the town’s place to see and be seen. This strip of modern restaurants ensures that the street stays as lively as possible even after the short summer. With plenty of take-away eateries, we enjoyed a nice budget lunch sitting on the riverbank in the center of Aarhus.
In the 1930s, the Aarhus River was covered over to make a new road — an event marked by much celebration. In the 1980s, locals reconsidered the change, deciding that the road cut a boring, people-mean swath through the center of their town. They removed the road, artfully canalized the river, and created a trendy new people zone — the town’s place to see and be seen. This strip of modern restaurants ensures that the street stays as lively as possible even after the short summer. With plenty of take-away eateries, we enjoyed a nice budget lunch sitting on the riverbank in the center of Aarhus.
I spent my time in Aarhus updating that chapter in our Scandinavia guidebook. (As so few ships call here, the city is not in our new Northern European Cruise Ports book.) I didn’t realize the city had a fascinating museum about life under Nazi rule in World War II. Here’s the new listing: Occupation Museum, 1940-1945 — Aarhus’ police station was used by the Nazi occupiers for their Gestapo headquarters throughout World War II. It was the scene of tortures and executions. Today, it’s a fine exhibit telling the story of the resistance and what it was like to live here under Nazi rule. You’ll learn of heroic acts of sabotage, hear how guns were dropped by England in the night, and see underground newspapers that kept occupied Danes connected and in the know. Sadly, much of the exhibit is without English descriptions (30 kr, free loaner English transcription, Tue-Sun 11:00-16:00, closed Mon, Mathilde Fibigers Have 2; as you face the cathedral, it’s around to the left).
I spent my time in Aarhus updating that chapter in our Scandinavia guidebook. (As so few ships call here, the city is not in our new Northern European Cruise Ports book.) I didn’t realize the city had a fascinating museum about life under Nazi rule in World War II. Here’s the new listing:
Occupation Museum, 1940-1945 — Aarhus’ police station was used by the Nazi occupiers for their Gestapo headquarters throughout World War II. It was the scene of tortures and executions. Today, it’s a fine exhibit telling the story of the resistance and what it was like to live here under Nazi rule. You’ll learn of heroic acts of sabotage, hear how guns were dropped by England in the night, and see underground newspapers that kept occupied Danes connected and in the know. Sadly, much of the exhibit is without English descriptions (30 kr, free loaner English transcription, Tue-Sun 11:00-16:00, closed Mon, Mathilde Fibigers Have 2; as you face the cathedral, it’s around to the left).
Wandering the streets of Aarhus, the city just entertains. This building actually helped me take notes. Today, modern Aarhus bustles with an important university, an inviting café-lined canal, a bursting-with-life pedestrian boulevard, a collection of top-notch museums (modern art, open-air folk, and prehistory), and an adorable “Latin Quarter” filled with people living very, very well.
Wandering the streets of Aarhus, the city just entertains. This building actually helped me take notes. Today, modern Aarhus bustles with an important university, an inviting café-lined canal, a bursting-with-life pedestrian boulevard, a collection of top-notch museums (modern art, open-air folk, and prehistory), and an adorable “Latin Quarter” filled with people living very, very well.
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Northern European Cruise Ports — A Springboard for Action

Our two cruise ports guidebooks (for both the Mediterranean and Northern Europe) are derived from our existing country guidebooks. To make them, we tailor existing chapters from these guidebooks to the needs of the independent-minded cruise traveler and assemble them in special editions so people can buy a single book rather than several to cover their itinerary. And my main research focus on this trip will be the ports.

Northern European ports lend themselves to independent travel. In many cases (including certain ports in Tallinn, Bergen, Oslo, and Copenhagen), they’re right in the city center and an easy walk from the sightseeing action — and when they aren’t, there’s good public transportation to the center of town. The ports themselves are generally not pretty, but mighty — industrial zones giving you a very honest look at the workings of these great cities. (Photos by Trish Feaster, see her blog – The Travelphile.com.)

This is Stockholm, where, as in many cities, there's a cruise dock in the center and a bigger one a bus ride away. Smaller and more expensive ships often dock right downtown, while most of the full-sized ships dock in the industrial zone farther out. You almost never drop anchor and use tenders to get ashore in Northern Europe — although in this shot, a big ship has dropped its hook just off Stockholm’s Gamla Stan (old town).
This is Stockholm, where, as in many cities, there’s a cruise dock in the center and a bigger one a bus ride away. Smaller and more expensive ships often dock right downtown, while most of the full-sized ships dock in the industrial zone farther out. You almost never drop anchor and use tenders to get ashore in Northern Europe — although in this shot, a big ship has dropped its hook just off Stockholm’s Gamla Stan (old town).
Cruise ports work hard to organize the masses. There are clear charts of each port (like this one for Copenhagen), shuttle buses if necessary, small temporary tourist information tents that are set up when a ship is in, and even painted lines in the pavement that take the guesswork out of getting to and from the town center.
Cruise ports work hard to organize the masses. There are clear charts of each port (like this one for Copenhagen), shuttle buses if necessary, small temporary tourist information tents that are set up when a ship is in, and even painted lines in the pavement that take the guesswork out of getting to and from the town center.
Each ship dumps off thousands of tourists, raring to have the best seven or eight hours possible in each port. Just off the gangplank, you’ll find several options: Tour buses awaiting those who signed up for ship-sponsored excursions (the standard option); hop-on, hop-off buses for budget and independent travelers (all-day, $25 tickets cover a 90-minute loop with a recorded narration, and include hop-off-and-on privileges as buses come by about every 20 minutes all day); public buses dedicated to connecting cruisers with the town center; and taxis (both standard and minibus — economical for small groups).
Each ship dumps off thousands of tourists, raring to have the best seven or eight hours possible in each port. Just off the gangplank, you’ll find several options: Tour buses awaiting those who signed up for ship-sponsored excursions (the standard option); hop-on, hop-off buses for budget and independent travelers (all-day, $25 tickets cover a 90-minute loop with a recorded narration, and include hop-off-and-on privileges as buses come by about every 20 minutes all day); public buses dedicated to connecting cruisers with the town center; and taxis (both standard and minibus — economical for small groups).
Princess Cruise Lines puts a big effort into helping its cruisers be prepared for each port (better than the other lines I’ve sailed with). On the Emerald Princess, our ship lecturer was John Lawrence, who has decades of experience cruising Northern Europe and knows each port intimately. Each evening, John gives a talk to a full theater about the next day’s port of call. That talk would then air repeatedly on the ship’s TV station. John even provided a live, guided narration of the most scenic stretches of island scenery we passed (like the archipelago we sailed through leaving Stockholm).
Princess Cruise Lines puts a big effort into helping its cruisers be prepared for each port (better than the other lines I’ve sailed with). On the Emerald Princess, our ship lecturer was John Lawrence, who has decades of experience cruising Northern Europe and knows each port intimately. Each evening, John gives a talk to a full theater about the next day’s port of call. That talk would then air repeatedly on the ship’s TV station. John even provided a live, guided narration of the most scenic stretches of island scenery we passed (like the archipelago we sailed through leaving Stockholm).
As I had to have my hot-off-the-press copy of our Rick Steves' Northern Europe Cruise Ports guidebook expressed to me in Copenhagen, I was surprised to find this family with the brand-new book in hand. After two years in print, our Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports guidebook is already the leading seller for that region. It’s my hope that this book will be a hit, too. Judging from the fun these travelers were having with the help of our new book, I think we’re on the right track.
As I had to have my hot-off-the-press copy of our Rick Steves’ Northern Europe Cruise Ports guidebook expressed to me in Copenhagen, I was surprised to find this family with the brand-new book in hand. After two years in print, our Rick Steves’ Mediterranean Cruise Ports guidebook is already the leading seller for that region. It’s my hope that this book will be a hit, too. Judging from the fun these travelers were having with the help of our new book, I think we’re on the right track.
In each city, when it comes to tour guides, it’s all hands on deck when a cruise ship docks. I tagged along on this young man’s tour on a cruise excursion from Warnemünde (Germany), and he was great. Perhaps I enjoyed it so much because he seemed like he could be my son.
In each city, when it comes to tour guides, it’s all hands on deck when a cruise ship docks. I tagged along on this young man’s tour on a cruise excursion from Warnemünde (Germany), and he was great. Perhaps I enjoyed it so much because he seemed like he could be my son.
If there are 3,000 tourists relaxing on vacation, it’s because there are over a thousand crew members working day and night to keep them fed, watered, and clean. I have always been very impressed by the crews of our ships. Most are from the developing world and work very hard for low wages plus tips to support families they left behind. Our ship was staffed by several dozen nationalities, but mostly by Filipinos. Most ports have a special lounge for crew members, who make a beeline there to get online cheaply and connect with loved ones back home. Tourists are welcome to use the same cheap Wi-Fi service at these port lounges (which is a big help, as on-ship Wi-Fi is notoriously expensive and slow).
If there are 3,000 tourists relaxing on vacation, it’s because there are over a thousand crew members working day and night to keep them fed, watered, and clean. I have always been very impressed by the crews of our ships. Most are from the developing world and work very hard for low wages plus tips to support families they left behind. Our ship was staffed by several dozen nationalities, but mostly by Filipinos. Most ports have a special lounge for crew members, who make a beeline there to get online cheaply and connect with loved ones back home. Tourists are welcome to use the same cheap Wi-Fi service at these port lounges (which is a big help, as on-ship Wi-Fi is notoriously expensive and slow).
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Wonderful Copenhagen

I’m kicking off the next phase of my summer research rounds, taking our brand-new Northern European Cruise Ports guidebook out for a test drive. My cruise starts from Copenhagen. But, because I enjoy the city so much, I arrived a couple of days early to squeeze in some sightseeing.

Some cities lend themselves to bike touring better than others — and Copenhagen is the best of any. The first thing I did upon checking into my hotel was to rent one of their bikes. That was my mode of transportation for our entire stay, and we also booked a city tour by bike (with Mike, recommended in my guidebooks) that was thoroughly enjoyable. The tour finished at the ever-popular Little Mermaid.

bike-tour
Researching my guidebooks, I am determined to do as many of the activities we recommend as I possibly can. On this trip, I spent a delightful hour on a Bike Mike tour of Copenhagen. A fun part of taking a small, local, independent tour (walking or biking) is that you feel like you get to know a local who is generally a fun and opinionated character. (Mike Sommerville, at http://www.bikecopenhagenwithmike.dk/, offers a good three-hour guided bike tour of the city daily at 10:30.)

mermaid
Copenhagen’s beloved Little Mermaid is 100 years old…but she’s only been beloved for 60 years. She sat on her rock basically ignored for four decades until Danny Kaye sang “Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen” in the Hans Christian Andersen movie, and the Danish tourist board decided to make her the symbol of the city. Today, while kind of underwhelming on her rock, she draws a steady stream of tourists to the pier at the edge of town to snap photos.

Later on my visit, I crossed paths with one of our tour groups. I can recognize our groups out on the streets by the fun-loving nature of the tour members and the ease and joy they seem to exude as they follow their guide across town. It just happened that their guide had arranged an ambush on the way to their dinner by none other than good old Hans Christian Andersen.

hans-christian-andersen
I was walking my bike with the group, chatting with Åsa (our Scandinavia tour guide), when this wonderful gentleman interrupted us and invited us to sit on the steps of the old city hall so he could tell us his story. And he is a wonderful storyteller.

Hans-and-Rick
Watching the faces of our group enjoy the surprise visit from Hans Christian Andersen on their first evening walk across Copenhagen reminded me how much I enjoy my work. To be part of a team that brings so many travel memories to so many good American travelers makes working fun. (Photo by Trish Feaster. Read her blog at The Travelphile.com.)

Hans-Hans-and-Rick
Copenhagen’s Hans Christian Andersen is Richard Karpen, whose friendship I’ve enjoyed for over a decade. He’s one of those guides who simply love to share their passion for history and culture…and that’s a perfect fit for our groups. After his half-hour street theater monologue for our enthralled group, he bid the group farewell and walked off into the city. Then I got to join HCA for dinner. Richard’s tours are a great value — for details, see Copenhagen Walks.com (Photo by Trish Feaster.)