Stockholm/Copenhagen

We are taking our 13 year old grandson this summer for a 10-day trip to Europe and he chose to visit Stockholm and Copenhagen. My plan is to stay in Airbnbs in those cities and I'm seeking advice about what areas of the city are interesting in character and close to historic sites. Also has anyone been to Legoland? My grandson played with legos a lot as a child but has grown out of that phase. Would Legoland still be worth a visit? Thanks!

For sure, don't miss the Nyhavn district of Copenhagen, an old-time waterfront district with outdoor restaurants and markets along the canal, which is lined with beautifully and colorfully painted buildings. A lot of fun and a good photo op.

 

Also, Tivoli Gardens, while touristy, is something to see, especially if you stay into the evening to see the lights and, of course, it's very kid friendly.

 

The Copenhagen Opera House is worth seeing and photographing as well, an incredible architectural structure and world-class modern music hall on the water.

 

Enjoy your trip.

Fred, thanks for the advice. If you had 3 or 4 days to spend in Copenhagen, where would you live to be close to interesting sites. Note that this is not a primarily photographic trip, but rather one to travel with my grandson.

Downtown Copenhagen has lots of historic sites. Rosenborg Castle can be toured, and it is maintained in a 1600s environment, including the throne room. It was succeeded by Christiansborg Palace, which is huge, but today it houses the Danish Parliament and the office the Prime Minister, plus many (maybe all) federal agencies. On the same grounds are the royal stables, and they are an interesting place to wander through (we walked in - no entry controls of any type). Only a part of the stable complex is still used for the ceremonial horse and carriages. The Amalienborg Palace is the present day home of the Queen and the rest of the royal family. The changing of the guard at noon each day is worth watching. Adjacent to the Amalienborg Palace is the Marble Church - beautiful inside and out

 

There'a canal boat ride that tours around the waterfront area - it's not expensive and a good tour. The advice about Nyhavn is good - very picturesque and lots of restaurants.

 

Tivoli might be interesting to your grandson - it is the inspiration for Disneyland.

 

Do some Googling about things to see in Copenhagen and NEAR Copenhagen - with 3-4 days, you will be able to travel outside the city. Friends of ours took the train north and crossed over to Sweden for a one-day outing. And there are other castles in the countryside.

 

Something to consider: after doing your internet homework and identifying places you want to see, check out the Copenhagen Card. It can be purchased with a valid period of 1, 2, 3 days maybe more. Once purchased, it will get you into many (perhaps most) attractions at no additional charge, but what was most valuable to us was it gets you onto the subway and buses at no charge and without needing to buy a ticket. If asked for your ticket, showing the card is all that's needed, and that's a huge help. Getting the correct ticket for where you want to go on the train or bus can be complicated, and there are meaningful penalties for being found with the wrong ticket.

...Getting the correct ticket for where you want to go on the train or bus can be complicated, and there are meaningful penalties for being found with the wrong ticket.

 

Hmm... getting kicked off

in the middle of nowhere...?

Getting killed...?!?!

http://bayouline.com/o2.gif

Fred, thanks for the advice. If you had 3 or 4 days to spend in Copenhagen, where would you live to be close to interesting sites. Note that this is not a primarily photographic trip, but rather one to travel with my grandson.

Honestly, I was there quite a while back and wouldn't have recommendations on where to stay. Sorry.

Vor Frelsers Kirke in Copenhagen is fun. Gamla Stan in Stockholm is also'

Bob, thanks for the hints. The Copenhagen card sounds like a good deal. In what area of town would you stay if you had a choice?

There is a set of lakes/ponds in a semi-circle on the northwest side of downtown Copenhagen. We stayed at the Ibsens Hotel - about a block from one of those lakes (nice hotel, not cheap, but that's the way it is with hotels in Copenhagen). We didn't eat meals at the hotel - we ate while out and about. The hotel is also a couple of blocks from a train station where two major rail lines in the city cross - a good place to get rides to different parts of town. We used a cab only twice while we were there, once to meet friends at a restaurant in Nyhavn because we were running late, and to get from the hotel to the cruise ship when we were leaving. Otherwise we took trains and walked. I had difficulty with walking as much as we did - my legs are pretty much wreckage after a few decades of arthritis and a couple of accidents, and walking on uneven surfaces is difficult for me - cobblestone streets are not my friend. Nevertheless, I'd do it all again.

 

The Rosenborg Castle was within walking distance from the hotel for me, so it should be pretty easy for just about anyone. A lot of the attractions from The Amalienborg Palace (north) to the Christianborg Palace (south) are within walking distance (for MY walking) from the Kongens Nytorv train station. There's also a train station in the area of Tivoli Gardens and the original town square.

 

Copenhagen Card - the canal tour is well worth it, but the card includes the cost of the tour only if you take the tour from their Ved Stranden facility (near the Christanborg Palace). The tour can also be boarded at Nyhavn, but the card won't cover that cost. The boats are made to fit the canal width and the height of the bridges - one bridge is an especially tight fit. They can be fitted with a glass shell in rainy weather, but even if the shell is on the boat, the back end of the boat isn't covered, which is better for photography. Mind you head - not ducking when the boat operator says to could ruin your whole day.

 

I bought a travel book about Copenhagen at a local Barnes & Noble. The book had a very good map of the city, made of a laminated material that was much more durable than paper. I don't recall the title and I don't see it near where I'm sitting at the moment.

 

The internet is a big help. Doing a search for things to see in Copenhagen and NEAR Copenhagen will yield a wealth of info.

Bob, thanks again. All of that will be handy

Don't just look at sights but try to experience Copenhagen. Ride bicycles for transportation as much as you can. Spend some time relaxing in local cafés. Experience Hygge. Become a local for a bit. Maybe get out of the touristy areas in to some of the surrounding communities. How is life different for people who live in Denmark than where you live? Why do they have only 1/5 the age related illnesses as people in the US (and they live a bit longer as well)? Why are their road designs 3x safer? Read 'The Year of Living Danishly' before you go.

 

Then there's Christiania. May or may not be appropriate for your 13yo. Appropriate for mine but he'd travelled internationally since very young. Great place for photos but really important to get buy-in from subjects first. Fascinating social experiment especially over the past years as they've realized that community alone can only go so far and that some bit of free enterprise, like Sunshine Café provides some massively better options for some things. What is good or not so good about people's life there? Any good lessons to take home?

 

A tip: If you are American... Americans talk extremely loud and come across as obnoxious. Be aware of that.

Edited April 7, 2018 by WAngell

Americans talk extremely loud and come across as obnoxious. Be aware of that.

This is very much not the kind of sensibility I experienced from the people of Copenhagen, who were friendly, welcoming, and didn't do much stereotyping, at least as I experienced it. Maybe they were doing it behind my back and just had more grace than to say such things out loud. Who knows?

My wife and I were on a Baltic cruise in 2014 and hired personal guides for half day tours in both Copenhagen and Stockholm. Our travel agent used Trading Places International to find the tours for us.

 

The Copenhagen tour was a inter city walking tour that was just wonderful. The guide was very knowledgeable and took us places the regular tours might skip. And once she got to know our interests, she was able to customize things for us. I wanted to take photos so she knew how to tailor the the tours to meet my needs and my wife's. The same held true for Stockholm and that tour was for a full day. In Stockholm, we used a local cab when needed to get us to the right part of the city. My wife and I are both in our 70s but the walking tour was not that stressful. This one approach you can take to make things easy for you.

 

A good place to get ideas as to where to go is to check the major cruise lines that serve the Baltic and look at their websites. For a particular cruise like a Baltic cruise, the website for the cruise will give you all sorts of information about the local tours for each city visited like Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Thanks to WA, Fred and Joseph for your thoughts. WA, I am totally in sympathy with your view of traveling. We have rented Airbnbs rather than staying in hotels because I like to meet the people other than hotel clerks. In Stockholm we have a tiny studio apartment but it's in the middle of Gamla Stan, the old town. That should be interesting! And from my travels around the world, I've come to the conclusion that the Chinese have taken over as the worst tourists in the world. Trouble is, I'm Chinese-American. Having just spent considerable time in China, I've seen them at their worst.

 

We are flying into C-hagen for 4 nights and then returning from Stockholm for the last 4 nights with 2 nights in between to drive between the two cities. One thing I am considering is to go to the island of Gotland and visit Visby. Has anyone any experience with this? Is this doable in the short time we have? Alternatively we can visit either Malmo or Gothenburg. Anyone with preferences between these two cities?

 

Interesting that in this thread everyone emphasizes C-hagen while in the other 11 year old revived thread all the talk is about Stockholm.

When you go to Stockholm, you really should spend some time at the Vasa museum. There is a fabulous full-sized ship, which sank in 1628 and has been fully restored. Outside were other, more modern, vessels - when I went, I went down into an engine room, with no-one else on board to bother me.

 

If the weather is good, it is a very walk-friendly city, with plenty to see. Enjoy!

Perhaps there is still time before you go, tcyin, perhaps you are already in Scandinavia, perhaps you have already been here. Anyway, this might be of interest you you or others.

 

Denmark

 

Legoland is more than just a miniature Lego world for children. They have many rides (and a very popular traffic school for children aged 7-13). You do not need to be a Lego fan or of a certain age to enjoy Legoland. Right next to Legoland is Lalandia, an indoor water-fun-land. All in all, I would say at least 2 days (1,5 for Legoland and half a day at Lalandia) for a visit. Anything less, and it is not worth the three-hour drive/train from Copenhagen. If pressed for time, Tivoli Gardens just opposite Copenhagen Central Station might be time better spent. Dyrehavsbakken (or just Bakken) claims to be the world’s oldest amusement park but with modern rides. Commuter trains from Copenhagen Central Station takes about half an hour to get there.

 

Sweden

 

tcying, you asked about Malmö or Göteborg. Between the two, Göteborg has more to offer. However, I would rather go to Lund, which is just next to Malmö. It has got more of the historic small academic city feel to it, where history feels ever-present.

 

Stockholm is a wonderful city, in the summer. The old town, Gamla stan, is a must. The Vasa museum, Skansen and Djurgården are all worth a visit. I would recommend the Hallwyl museum, which is an untouched town house (winter home) turned into a museum showing how the immensely rich lived over a century ago. Not only would I advice a visitor to see the Royal Castle in Gamla stan, I would also advice a visitor with some time on their hands to visit Drottningholm Palace (and its Chinese Pavilion and Drottningholm Palace Theater, which has an active opera scene). Take the scenic route, a ferry from Stockholm rather than the bus.

 

Since you posted the question here on a photo forum, I must advice everyone who goes to Stockholm to visit Fotografiska, a world class photo museum - with a view. In addition to seeing the city itself, see the archipelago. Take the Waxholm ferry, or at the very least go to Fjäderholmarna for lunch/dinner. If you are into history, a day trip to Uppsala is worthwhile. It is about half an hour by train. Seeing Uppsala cathedral, university (founded before Columbus set sail so make sure to visit the university museum) and old Uppsala (which is just outside Uppsala) is time well spent in Sweden.

 

With such a limited time, I would skip Gotland and Visy. Yes, it is a beautiful old town, but the old town of Tallinn, Estonia offers so much more to see and experience. Better to add a day or two and go via Tallinn on the way home. Helsinki Airport is not too far away and offers many trans-Atlantic flights.