Sightseeing Copenhagen of course first and foremost means going for a run with us! Go! Running Tours at your service 🙂 Here below are a few tips on active sightseeing in Copenhagen.
Running Tours
This I can of course with 100% confidence recommend to you, as it is my running colleagues or myself giving you the Sightseeing Copenhagen experience. We can either show you the classic sights on our city tour or we can show you the more “real” and edgy side of the city via our Urban Running Tour or Christiania Running Tour. Here you will get a chance to run with a local Copenhagener and we will tell you all about the city, all about our culture and share all our favourite places in the city. Its fun, its healthy and it is a pretty goddamn good experience of sightseeing Copenhagen. Nothing less 😉
Bike in Copenhagen
Biking in Copenhagen is of course a “must do”. But let me let you in on a secret. If you are not used to biking and especially not on crowded bike lanes, then choose your bike time carefully. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT decide to have your leisurely bike ride through Copenhagen on a Monday morning at 8 am or in the afternoon at 4 pm. These hours are big time rush hour and if you do not ride according to the unwritten rules of biking in Copenhagen, then you will be at the receiving end of quite a few comments, shouts and perhaps even certain hand gestures. While biking may seem idyllic, it is indeed surviving of the fittest and fastest during rush hour.
Ok so now you have chosen the non-busy biking time and you have figure out where to go. I personally think that just cruising in Nørrebro and Vesterbro is super pleasant. There are loads of cafes, bars and shops that you can stop by if you feel like it and the small side streets will continue to surprise you with small shops or galleries. Biking in these places are also great for simply breathing in the Copenhagen atmosphere. If you want to venture a bit further, then you can bike to the beach (Amager Strand) or down Superkilen, which is a recreational area at Nørrebro. You can also choose to go green and go for a bike ride at Amagerfælled or along the harbour. Copenhagen is your oyster when it comes to biking.
Architecture in Copenhagen
Sightseeing Copenhagen does not have to be about history and monuments. In Copenhagen an incredible sightseeing experience is viewing all the architecture. Needless to say, I first and foremost recommend running with me on our Architecture Tour. Here you will get to experience both the well known architectural icons – The Opera, The Black Diamond and The Play House as well as some of the lesser (yet equally interesting) buildings. However, is running is not your thing or you would rather go running with someone else (which I find very hard to believe) then I would recommend visiting DAC – the architecture centre – and viewing their exhibitions and guides.
Sightseeing Copenhagen from above
Everyone knows about the Round Tower (if not, then now you do) and that you can walk to the top and look over all of Copenhagen. What many people do not know is that the Round Tower is so 2013 (or 1642 if you like) because in June 2014 the tower of Christiansborg opened for the public. It is free and it is very high. On the negative side, then logistics wise it is a nightmare to go up and down because of very slow and only a few elevators. So if you want to go up in the tower, then be there a few minutes before they open. Read more about Copenhagen from above here.
Sightseeing Copenhagen the classics
So…Nyhavn, The Little Mermaid, The Royal Palace, are they the sights you want to see (or perhaps just feel you have to see) ? You can spend ½-1 whole day just viewing these sights OR you could join our City Tour either Private or Group and with 1½ hours you will have seen all the sights and you can now dig into our Danish pastries with good conscience. (For more information on running in Copenhagen, check out our guide here.) If you do not run, I would recommend you to grab a map at your hotel and then either walk or bike to the sights. I will never in a million years recommend the hop on, hop off buses and the canal boats only get a luke warm recommendation from me. They are simply too impersonal and too removed from “being in” Copenhagen.
But hey, my best recommendation in terms of experiencing Copenhagen is to get yourself a take away coffee and hit the streets of our capital. Breathe in the atmosphere, let your self be inspired, tempted and fascinated through your walk through the city. Just chill, just be and just enjoy! That is the true sightseeing Copenhagen experience.
Gotta run,
Lena
