We’ve been known to use those ubiquitous lists of top-ten tourist attractions as an immediate and easy reference for striking destinations from our itinerary when planning to visit a foreign country or city. Castles, museums and palaces are a no-go, as were Legoland and Tivoli Gardens amusement parks in Denmark. It’s not that we don’t appreciate history or value what it can teach us, it’s just that it’s already happened. The 1932 invention of Lego by Dane Ole Kirk Kristiansen was unarguably brilliant, but after picking those foot-piercing plastic bricks off our floors for 10 years from our own kids, and now being mid Round 2 with our grandkids, Legoland is the last place we want to visit.
Our objective for visiting Denmark was to experience the unique culture of Copenhagen, dine on some plaice and herring fresh from the ocean, plop our butts into every sexy, minimalist-designed Danish chair available—a personal obsession of my wife— and to participate in their internationally recognized bicycle lifestyle.
Another important component of this trip was to use public transit exclusively—no car rentals or specialty tour buses. One is never more than 52 kilometres from the ocean anywhere in Denmark, a country comprised of 444 islands. Travelling like locals would include ferry rides as well as trains and the metro or trolleys.
Working ports have always fascinated me. Not rows of recreational sailboats or tethered yachts and ocean speedboats, but dented tugs, fishing trawlers buried in nets, and container ships. It may be the grit and authenticity of the low-tech work vessels, or how simply seeing an ocean-going carrier opens my imagination to its path around the world, but I’ll take a messy concrete or rotted wooden wharf over a beach any day. Denmark with its endless “havns” (harbours) was heaven.
Design Museum Danmark has a complete exhibition dedicated to modern Danish chairs entitled, “The Danish Chair: An International Affair,” which unfortunately happened to be closed for renovation when we arrived. The BLOX & Danish Architecture Centre was also on our list. It was free admission because two of its four floors were also closed for renovation. We were forced to visit numerous furniture stores for someone to get her chair fix.
The trip from the airport to central Copenhagen via the Metro was simple and uneventful, although we were surprised that there was no system in place to check if riders had actually purchased a single use ticket. Passholders’ cards were screened electronically, yet individual tickets had to be purchased via machine and riders hopped on and off wherever they chose. There were no transit employees anywhere. For the record, on our train trips of more than an hour, an old-fashioned conductor walked car-to-car checking tickets.
Considering Copenhagen is at the same latitude as Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and is surrounded by the North Sea on the west and the Baltic Sea on the east, we were thrilled to be in the city during the first hot and sunny weekend of their summer.
We were thrilled to be in the city during the first hot and sunny weekend of their summer
Denmark is consistently rated number one or two in polls determining which country in the world has the happiest citizens. In 2024 it ranks number two happiest behind Finland, a Scandinavian neighbour. As tourists and outsiders, we didn’t go specifically looking to discover happiest country truths, but we were interested in what might contribute to their ranking.
The two-day Copenhagen heat wave showed us Danes know how to celebrate, and community is a high priority. Public walking and cycling space line almost every metre of the two main canals that divide Copenhagen, but when the heat is intense and the sun is perfect for tanning, everyone under 40 marks their spot on bike lanes and pedestrian walkways with a towel or blanket and soaks in the rays. The canals are considered safe for swimming, so it’s beach party on the concrete. Impromptu counter-culture bands play, DJs blast out English-language tunes from the shade beneath overhead bridges, and random fireworks pop at dusk, which arrives just before midnight. Public space in Denmark is unquestionably that — public.
A mid-afternoon bike ride on the 13-kilometre Harbour Circle Route included the famous (to cyclists) elevated Dybbolsbro bridge, nicknamed the Bicycle Snake. It twists and turns seven metres above one of the numerous baths and swimming pools built or suspended in the canals for those not brave enough to float in open water. This 13-kilometre loop was total party: swim, sun, street food, and music, making it impossible to be untouched by the joy and pleasure such a rare day had released.
Denmark is ranked as the fifth safest country in the world, behind Iceland, New Zealand, Portugal and Austria. The Danes tease that they can leave a newborn baby in a buggy on the sidewalk while they shop or have a quick beer, and it will come to no harm. We can’t confirm that, but we saw no belligerence or disputes as we walked and cycled amid the crowds. Fifty-five years later, the dreams of love and harmony fostered on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Woodstock, New York were being realized in Copenhagen.
As we travelled on to rural Denmark the importance of public, car-free infrastructure was apparent, and the incredibly verdant scenery was gently beautiful. See next week’s Balanced Life.
