A Copenhagen City Guide

the guide I wish I'd had not once, but twice. the bakeries, the biking, the $17 oyster....all of it!!

Having just wrapped my second trip to Copenhagen, it’s safe to say that I fell even more madly in love with this Scandi city than I thought possible. My first trip to the Danish utopia was back in May 2024 at the tail end of an emotion-filled week. In the days leading up to my landing in Copenhagen solo, I found out my nana passed while on a girls’ trip to Paris. Mere days later, my sister and I wept our way through “Betty” (nana’s name!) as we saw Taylor Swift perform live in Stockholm. When I landed in Denmark for the first time directly after, it was full of joy and grief in equal measure, overwhelmed with gratitude for a life that let me hold both.

I remember leaving for New York immediately knowing I needed more time—ideally at the height of summer. So when I decided to do my few weeks of remote work in Europe this August, Copenhagen was a natural starting point. That said, just know that I left once again being like “AHHHH, I NEED MORE TIME HERE!!!!”

So, in that spirit, this guide is more like a: here’s what I loved, here’s what I’d do differently, and here’s what I’m marking to check out on my inevitable “third time’s a charm” visit.

Some of my favorite things about Copenhagen are its design sensibility, a feeling of true livability, and quiet quirkiness. It’s singular. Yet, as I say that there’s nowhere else quite like it, in a recent Substack written coming off Copenhagen Fashion Week, Emilia Petrarca likened it to “a larger version of the West Village,” so perhaps in some subtle way it just reminds me of home? But it’s not home. Which means that for me, it’s a place that feels fresh and new and sparks all kinds of inspiration.

It’s somewhere you can freely express yourself, whether that be through fashion (the girlies are throwing FITS here!!) or as the backdrop to get the wheels turning on a creative project. I think Copenhagen makes a fabulous place for a couples trip or a girls’ trip, depending on how you want to frame your time. And on that note, shall we dive in? As ever with my travel guides, the full version of this one will be available exclusively for my paid subscribers. I’m so grateful to each and every one of you!!!!

On my previous visit, I stayed at Hotel d’Angleterre, the grande dame in town. It’s beautiful in that classic Old European kind of way, and the location is fabulously central. This trip, I made 1 Hotel Copenhagen home! It’s about a 10-minute walk away from Nyhavn (that iconic canal) and has a completely different vibe. I loved the large, light-filled gym, the expansive lobby, and, as with all 1 Hotels, the filtered water tap in the room. Would definitely stay again! Alternatively, there’s Hotel Sanders, which I’ve heard great things about too.

Two very different vibes at Hotel d'Angleterre versus 1 Hotel Copenhagen!

Getting Around Copenhagen

This is a cyclist’s city first, pedestrians second, and cars maybe third? Coming from New York, where jaywalking is basically a civic duty, you have to recalibrate fast—step into a bike lane here at the wrong moment and you *will* get hit. Admittedly, I still haven’t gotten on a bike in Copenhagen myself…it massively intimidates me (I don’t bike in New York either), but that might be an endeavor for trip three. The running paths are also beautiful! I had a great run this trip along the lakes.

For the most central shopping, you’re going to be in the Indre By neighborhood. Though this time I also made it over to the other side of the lakes to Nørrebro—a part of town I hadn’t really done before, and it had some solid hopping I hadn’t seen last time. There are pockets of really good vintage shopping scattered around the city, so it’s definitely all about knowing where to go. Here’s a mix of boutiques and vintage shops that were standouts to me.