Copenhagen, Denmark | International Travel Photography

We were certainly greeted by the cold Nordic air once we arrived in Denmark. But with its cutely colored houses lined up along the water, Copenhagen certainly had more than enough charm to make up for the weather. It was probably my favorite city of the three we visited on our Europe trip.

Our first stop from the airport was our airbnb apartment, which was filled with casually elegant Danish design.

The view from our apartment:

We took a little walk through the neighborhood in search of dinner.

We found a cute little cafe that just serves one entree per day, and we shared a charcuterie plate and two of the salmon dishes.

Dusk in Copenhagen.

On day two, we started the day with a hop-on hop-off boat tour. It conveniently brought us to see the famous Little Mermaid statue, but otherwise, we saw a lot of the same things we would later see on foot.

Tunnel!

From the boat, we got off and headed to Sweet Treat for a quick coffee break before our lunch at Noma.

Me, Jesse, Christine, & Jon.

Below is a glimpse of Christiania, which is an anarchist hippie town in Copenhagen. They have an open drug trade despite marijuana still being illegal in Denmark, so no photos are allowed in Christiania, but we did walk through it since we were staying less than a block away.

On day three, Jon and Christine flew off to their next destination (Italy), but Jesse and I went out to explore more of Copenhagen.

A classic shot of the colorful houses along Nyhavn.

We went to Amalienborg Palace at noon to watch the changing of the guard.

Light lunch at Atelier Sept.

After our lunch, we walked by Rosenborg Castle, which is now a museum. We thought about going in for a tour, but it was closing for the day

Next, we walked over to Torvehallerne Market to check out Coffee Collective, which my friend Vince recommended, and Rene Redzepi also said was the best espresso in Copenhagen.

Dinner on our last night in Copenhagen, fittingly at Kjøbenhavn restaurant.

I awoke in the middle of the night to a complete power outage in the city, probably due to the high winds we’d had all day. The only lights were that of cars and bicycles rolling by, and our neighbors over in anarchist Christiania seemed to be having fun partying in the dark. Power was restored a couple hours later.

Finally, we squeezed in one more lunch at Told og Snaps, which was great for traditional Danish food and homemade snaps (liquors).

Such a beautiful city!

Visit Copenhagen

Stay

We stayed at this lovely airbnb apartment which had great design details and a central location.

Eat

Noma completely deserves its reputation as the world’s best restaurant.
Kjøbenhavn was a lovely, reasonably-priced dinner. The ambiance is perfect, and the dishes are lovely. Reservations can be booked online.
Told og Snaps is perfect for traditional Danish food, and it’s conveniently located in Nyhavn next to all the colorful houses on the harbor. Make a reservation in person or on the phone.
Atelier Sept is great for a cafe stop and a light lunch. The decor is charming and the food is healthy and fresh.
Coffee Collective is Copenhagen’s best espresso. Visit the location at Torvehallerne market for an array of great food shops too.

Do/See

Watch the changing of the guard every day at noon at Amalienborg Palace. Then walk to Rosenborg Castle, which is close by.
Walk through anarchist hippie town Christiania, but leave your camera out of it– photos are prohibited due to the open drug trade.
Walk around Nyhavn to see the beautiful canals and colorful houses.
Climb up the spiral staircase at Church of Our Savior. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do this due to the high winds.

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco but often jetsetting around the world. Follow her on facebook for more photography and travel adventures.

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