1st time to Copenhagen. One day only. What not to miss?

[lohr500]

My wife and I will be in Copenhagen at the end of September for one day on a Fred Olsen cruise. Both in our late 50's.

Very open minded on what to see and do.

Should we just head to Tivoli Gardens and make a day of it with the crowds, or spend our time wandering around soaking up the sights?

We are both interested in culture and architecture but also enjoy a good theme park!!

Happy to do our own thing independently of any expensive organised excursions from the cruise company. 

Any suggestions from hardened travellers and locals would be greatly appreciated.

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, lohr500 said:

My wife and I will be in Copenhagen at the end of September for one day on a Fred Olsen cruise. Both in our late 50's.

Very open minded on what to see and do.

Should we just head to Tivoli Gardens and make a day of it with the crowds, or spend our time wandering around soaking up the sights?

We are both interested in culture and architecture but also enjoy a good theme park!!

Happy to do our own thing independently of any expensive organised excursions from the cruise company. 

Any suggestions from hardened travellers and locals would be greatly appreciated.

If you have only one day in Copenhagen I would skip Tivoli. (I must admit; it did absolutely nothing for me when I visited before.) I would probably prioritize Rosenborg Castle.

[CruiserBruce]

Take the Hop on Hop off bus around town...it stops at the dock. Then decide where to get off and wonder around. Tivoli will be on of your stops.

 

Tivoli is a smaller amusement park,  but, IIRC, the second oldest in operation. 

[love2crews.]

Any local tour company recommendations?  Thinking Hamlet's castle for sure.

[hallasm]

It depends on how much time is available.
My suggestions are Nyhavn with canal tour, Amalienborg Castle (royal castle) and the changing of the guard, Rosenborg Castle, and Rundetårn (round tower), Christiansborg Castle (parliament), Botanical Garden and Europe's longest pedestrian street Strøget.
Good museums are the Glyptoteket and the Statens Museum for Kunst (art museums).

 

A visit to Tivoli amusement park also depends on how much time is availableSeptember 25 is Tivoli's last opening day of the summer season.

Kronborg castle (Hamlet's castle) in Helsingør and Frederiksborg castle in Hillerød are also two good suggestions, but far from Copenhagen for only one day first time in Copenhagen.

[Turtles06]

On 9/2/2022 at 2:57 PM, lohr500 said:

My wife and I will be in Copenhagen at the end of September for one day on a Fred Olsen cruise. Both in our late 50's.

Very open minded on what to see and do.

Should we just head to Tivoli Gardens and make a day of it with the crowds, or spend our time wandering around soaking up the sights?

We are both interested in culture and architecture but also enjoy a good theme park!!

 

Personally, I would skip Tivoli if this is your first time in Copenhagen, and you are only there for a port call.  Given your interests in culture and architecture, there are far more interesting things to see imho. @hallasm has given you great suggestions in comment 5 above.   I would also add the Marble Church (which is not far from Amalienborg Palace.  Copenhagen is very walkable; depending on when and where you start, you could also add City Hall. 

 

Get a good map, and plan a walking route.

 

Enjoy!

[SDPadreFan]

On 9/3/2022 at 2:19 AM, hallasm said:

It depends on how much time is available.
My suggestions are Nyhavn with canal tour, Amalienborg Castle (royal castle) and the changing of the guard, Rosenborg Castle, and Rundetårn (round tower), Christiansborg Castle (parliament), Botanical Garden and Europe's longest pedestrian street Strøget.
Good museums are the Glyptoteket and the Statens Museum for Kunst (art museums).

 

A visit to Tivoli amusement park also depends on how much time is availableSeptember 25 is Tivoli's last opening day of the summer season.

Kronborg castle (Hamlet's castle) in Helsingør and Frederiksborg castle in Hillerød are also two good suggestions, but far from Copenhagen for only one day first time in Copenhagen.

Does the Hop on Hop off Bus get close to those locations you mentioned. Better to do an organized tour that covers some of them or does self wandering work just as well. We are there next July on Carnival Pride. Our port visit is currently listed as 8am-5pm (0800-1700).

Edited September 5, 2022 by SDPadreFan

[hallasm]

It is of course possible to combine the mentioned attractions with the Hop on Hop off Bus as transport, but Copenhagen is quite small and the mentioned attractions are all within walking distance. Personally, I would select the sights that interest me and arrange a walking tour in the Center of Copenhagen.

Check where Carnival Pride will dock in Copenhagen - either Langelinie which is walking distance or Orientkaj which will require transportation.

[hqarangrsl]

hallasm - We are also going to be in Copenhagen at the end of September.  We are flying in for a couple of days and then getting on a cruise ship.  Thank you very much for your suggestions above - they help us to decide what to do.  We already planned on beginning the day with the canal tour from Ved Stranden (we are staying very close to the Christianshavn metro so that is a close walk).  

 

I would appreciate some feedback from you on getting to the cruise port (we are docking at Orientkaj).  From our research it looks like we can take metro from Christianshavn to Norreport and then get the Cruise Ship Ferry Bus (#27) to the port or take a taxi.  We will only have one 25" suitcase and a backpack each - so we believe we can do the metro and bus and save some cash.  Does this sound right to you, or would it be harder than we think?  And, is the bus far from the metro at Norreport?  Any advice is welcome!

 

Thanks! 

 

[hallasm]

27 minutes ago, hqarangrsl said:

I would appreciate some feedback from you on getting to the cruise port (we are docking at Orientkaj).

Happy to help. Not that difficult to take the train/bus - will however require two changes.

There are two bus lines that serve Oceankaj terminal this year.  
Bus 164 runs via Hellerup station (S-Train) and bus 25 from Østerport station (Regional Train and S-trains) - bus 25 only runs on days when there are turnarounds at Oceankaj.  Both bus lines stop at Orientkaj metro station.  
On turnaround days there should also be a free shuttle bus from Orientkaj - stop next to Copenhagen International School.

 

From Kristianshavn Metro line M1/2 you can choose to change to M4 at Kongens Nytorv to Orientkaj or S-train (all lines) from Nørreport to Østerport or Line A/E to Hellerup - and onward by bus.  

An interesting alternative will be to take harbor bus 992 from Knippelsbro (close to Kristianshavn) to Orientkaj and then by the bus to Oceankaj.

 

Rejseplanen is a good tool - remember to choose the correct date/time

[hqarangrsl]

Thanks!  You are a great asset.

[irvington]

Thanks for this thread, helpful in planning our two days there next summer.

[lohr500]

On 9/3/2022 at 10:19 AM, hallasm said:

It depends on how much time is available.
My suggestions are Nyhavn with canal tour, Amalienborg Castle (royal castle) and the changing of the guard, Rosenborg Castle, and Rundetårn (round tower), Christiansborg Castle (parliament), Botanical Garden and Europe's longest pedestrian street Strøget.
Good museums are the Glyptoteket and the Statens Museum for Kunst (art museums).

 

A visit to Tivoli amusement park also depends on how much time is availableSeptember 25 is Tivoli's last opening day of the summer season.

Kronborg castle (Hamlet's castle) in Helsingør and Frederiksborg castle in Hillerød are also two good suggestions, but far from Copenhagen for only one day first time in Copenhagen.

I think we have pretty much decided to visit Tivoli during our day in Copenhagen.

 

Only decision now, (given that the 25th September is the last summer opening day) is if we should book tickets in advance or just turn up at the ticket booths? Should we expect a long queue line?

 

My only hesitancy in booking tickets in advance is if we get distracted on our walk into town from the port and see other things that catch our interest. 

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, lohr500 said:

Only decision now, (given that the 25th September is the last summer opening day) is if we should book tickets in advance or just turn up at the ticket booths? Should we expect a long queue line?

No need for book tickets in advance. Most local people will visit Tivoli in the evening. Normally no queues during day time - in general not long queues at the ticket booths.

Enjoy your day in Copenhagen.

[lohr500]

9 hours ago, hallasm said:

No need for book tickets in advance. Most local people will visit Tivoli in the evening. Normally no queues during day time - in general not long queues at the ticket booths.

Enjoy your day in Copenhagen.

Thanks for the info hallasm 👍

[lohr500]

A quick update following our visit to Copenhagen and thanks again to hallasm and others for the useful information.

 

We spent a very pleasant 6 hours or so walking around Copenhagen after deciding not to bother with the various overpriced ship's tours. In the end I used the GPSmycity Android phone App with a free three day trial! It had 5 separate self guided walking tours for Copenhagen (and ones for Oslo and Gothenburg which we also visited).

 

We walked over 8 miles on the day, taking in many of the beautiful sights of the city and absolutely loved it.

 

The only disappointment was Tivoli Gardens. Although we are not theme park ride lovers, we had hoped to see more formal gardens which wasn't the case. Unfortunately we had to be back on board for 3:30pm so missed the evening lights and fireworks. But at least we can say we have been there, even though I would rather have spent the 311 DKK on an extra café stop during our walk.

 

Copenhagen is definitely on our "must visit again" list.

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, lohr500 said:

A quick update following our visit to Copenhagen and thanks again to hallasm and others for the useful information.

Thanks for update.  Always nice when posts with questions follow up with their experiences from the visit - just like @Turtles06Tivoli is not one of my favorites at day time either - but much better to visit in the evening

[DougH]

I would wander around as it is very walkable. A canal tour is well worth the time. I would skip Tivoli with just the one day

[lohr500]

17 hours ago, DougH said:

I would wander around as it is very walkable. A canal tour is well worth the time. I would skip Tivoli with just the one day

We did, as per my post well over a week ago 😀