| I was in the midst of being deafened by my own blood-curdling scream when it hit me: I have not aged out of loving roller coasters. Copenhagen is home to many magical locations, and Tivoli Gardens is way up there. This idyllic, walled enclave with 19th-century rides, modern screamer coasters and manicured grounds is a G-rated pleasure palace, a place where one may re-experience childhood abandon without fear of being uncool. You're cool by default when you're in Copenhagen - or CPH - Denmark's darling, dynamic and delightful capital. Follow this joy-sparking three-day itinerary, but be warned; it was just a few hours after arriving before I started googling "how to move to Copenhagen." | | | | | Senior Director of Content | | | A Cali-raised Brooklinite, I'm a food-obsessed travel writer and editor who is happiest getting lost in a new place and floating on or swimming in the sea. | | |  | Scream your head off at Tivoli Gardens | | | | Take the train for a dignified and inexpensive 15-minute transfer to Copenhagen Central Station in Indre By (inner city). You can also take the metro, but you may need to change trains depending on where you're going. | | | CPH begs to be explored by bicycle, but we walked. (No one wears helmets!) Public transport options abound, and the city is easy to navigate. | | | Alight the stairs from the train station, and you'll be on the doorstep of Villa Copenhagen, a surprisingly affordable luxury hotel with a rooftop pool and sauna housed within the former Central Post & Telegraph Head Office. Last year my colleagues stayed at 25Hours and loved it. | | | Copenhagen deserves its position at the top of the World's Happiest City list. Here's a digest of where I found my bliss on a recent trip.
| | | | Left: Brekke has a beer at Kayak Bar. Right: Kødbyens Fiskebar | | Lunch:
After checking into the hotel around noon, we walked to Christiansborg Slot, home to Folketinget (the Danish parliament), to have a lunch of smørrebrød in the tower at Norrlyst Tårnet. The beef tartare here is tremendous, as is the smoked salmon, and the city views from the tower are second to none. | Getting around:
We walked Indre By following the canals and stopping routinely to take in the beauty of the architecture, made even more stunning basking in the sun with the clear blue sky as a backdrop. | | | An impromptu drink and some sightseeing:
Along our walk, I spied Kayak Bar (I had made a mental note when I read about it in our very own Pocket Copenhagen). Unable to resist floating on a wooden dock, we paused for a quick waterside Carlsberg.
Then we were off to see the view we were searching for: the colorful 17th-century houses lining the main Nyhavn canal. Yes, this area is tourist central, but it's also so darn gorgeous you won't even care.
| More drinks, dinner and a nightcap:
First things first: you need to make reservations in Copenhagen. Walk-ins are next to impossible, so make your plans in advance if you want to go somewhere specific. And be prepared to lay down a deposit.
We went for cocktails at Ruby in a historic townhouse in the inner city. This is a beautifully designed bar with a seasonal menu of specialty cocktails.
Then we rushed to dinner at Kødbyens Fiskebar in Vesterbro, in an industrial warehouse with a large fish tank (sorry, fish!) and a massive bar where we ate our meal. Order bread with seaweed butter, oysters and fish and chips - and of course, more Carlsbergs! | After such a filling (and late) dinner, we walked 15 minutes back to Villa Copenhagen and had one last nightcap in the form of a much-needed digestif, Gammel Dansk, in the spectacular hotel lobby. Do not pass up the Gammel Dansk! | | | Photography credits: reynarayne/Shutterstock, Brekke Fletcher/Lonely Planet | This email was sent to you by: | Lonely Planet Publications Ltd. | 1101 Red Ventures Drive, Fort Mill, SC 29707 | | | |
