Copenhagen Uncovered: Design, Dining, and Distinctive Charm

A mixture of colorful harbors, royal palaces and bicycle traffic jams.

There's no place in the world quite like Copenhagen.

It's the Danish capital.

It's by the sea.

They have amazing seafood.

There's so much to talk about this week.

David, how are you doing?

I'm doing great.

I was in Copenhagen about three weeks ago now.

I was coming back from a conference in Europe and managed to route my flight with a stopover.

So I had a little over 48 hours in Copenhagen and I packed a ton into it.

I really, really enjoyed the city.

I find, you know, if you like Scandinavian design, that sort of minimalist, futuristic design, a lot of that throughout the city.

It's got an incredible, incredible restaurant scene.

It is, it has got a lot going on for it.

So I'm looking forward to getting into talking about Copenhagen today.

I've been a couple times to Copenhagen.

It's been a little bit longer since I was there, so.

So let's get right into it.

Let's.

Let's talk about some of your favorite things to do in this city.

Well, to kick off, I'll say I was really fortunate that tourism Copenhagen helped me out a little bit by setting up a couple of experiences while I was in the city and set me up with a Copenhagen card which lets you get into 80 different attractions throughout the city.

It includes all your public transportation.

So that made it a lot easier for the short amount of time that I had.

Some of the, some of the things that I really liked in terms of the attractions that were included on that, the design museum which really showcasing like Scandinavian interior design, the country's rich design heritage.

That, that was a great stop.

As well as the Danish Architecture Center.

Very cool building.

Talking about, you know, urban design, the future of urban design as well.

And they even built in a slide into the, into the center where that's actually how you exit.

You go this like 4 story slide down to get out.

That went way faster than I expected would.

So that, that was a cool visit as well.

The Royal palace is another thing that you can do as part of that card as well.

And see the changing of the guard, which was quite cool.

And then the, the Museum of Contemporary Art where featuring, you know, banksies, more halls, a lot of street art, that, that, that was quite cool as well.

So no shortage of cultural things to do there in the city.

And that was definitely a highlight for me.

Food, I know is something both of us, a big driver for travel.

You, I know got to experience somewhere.

I didn't One of the Most renowned restaurants anywhere in the world.

Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

And then I can maybe talk a little bit about a new trend in dining that's happening there as well?

Absolutely, absolutely.

Just before I get into some of my favorite restaurants, I did a couple quick recommendations on things to do.

The Tivoli, you know, is this, I think, the second oldest amusement park in the world.

And they actually have like an actual brakeman on board who's like, who's, who's actively like, like a real train where he's breaking on the roller coaster.

Plus they have modern roller coasters and things like that as well.

And, and then there's the, the.

And I don't know if we're going to talk about it later, but I love the, the meat packing district.

When I was there, one of the times I got chatting with somebody at, I think it was the Danish Museum of Design.

And she recommended all her favorite little spots.

And so I went to Bakken and Jolene, these cool little bars that are in the meatpacking district.

My favorite thing about the meatpacking district is that they still pack meat there.

You know, like pretty much every meatpacking district, you know, New York or whatever, where it's become gentrified.

This, they don't, they don't still have a slaughterhouse, but this still has a slaughterhouse.

So you walk by and see a guy kind of hosing off the tile, which I'm not saying that's like a super pleasant thing, but it's called the meatpacking district and they still do meatpacking there.

So anyway, now that we're talking about meat going to mention, I mean, the one that we always have to mention when we talk about Copenhagen is Nomad.

And you know, it's, it's, it's not just a, like, it's a restaurant obviously, but it inspired a movement.

I've seen it throughout my travels, you know, over the last decade, that this movement towards foraging and innovation and just doing really creative things, things with.

I mean, obviously culinary arts have been like that for a while, but they've really inspired this hyperlocal foraging movement.

And so three Michelin starred restaurant.

Now I will say I did not.

I've been inside the building and I've spoken with a chef, but I did not actually get a chance to eat there.

It was, reservations are months and months in advance.

I did not have one of those reservations.

But even just being there and smelling it and talking to the chefs, it was, it was, it was an interesting, amazing experience.

And I'll mention one more restaurant called Restaurant Bar and it's B A R R and it's, it's classic Danish food.

So you got meatballs and schnitzel and sauerkraut and the chef, you know, it's this kind of homey menu that was inspired by his own mother and grandmother and his own childhood.

So those are my, those are my restaurants.

I'm sure you had some good meals while you were there, David.

Let's talk about that for sure.

And, and like you, I mean one of the things that I saw is that Copenhagen is definitely a place that is an influencing cult culinary trends around the world.

And a big trend that is sort of booming there right now is this idea of social dining.

And it's really centered around probably the place that has become most well known for that is, I was going to say a restaurant, but it's much more than a restaurant.

A place called Absalon.

A B S A L O N.

This was, I believe this former church who.

They've turned into sort of a community gathering space where they, there's throughout the day non stop classes on everything from hip hop dancing to pottery making to board games to like a different activity happening every couple of hours that anybody can go and join in and experience.

But then when it comes to meals, there are these social dining experiences.

You kind of feel like you're in the main hall at Hogwarts in these massive long tables.

They pair you up with a random group of people.

You know, I, I had a diplomat sitting beside me on one side, some, two women who worked in finance and then were traveling throughout Europe on the other side, a guy who loved classic films and was a filmmaker sitting across from me.

And you just start up conversations with, with the table and your, your served family style and it's really meant to sort of combat social isolation, get people out of their, out of their homes.

And you know, a lot of locals are going here multiple times a week to have dinner and reconnect with the community.

At Absalon you also get a lot of, I would say more travelers and stuff as well.

But you'll find like a bunch of different social dining experiences throughout the city.

Some that are, that are going to be a bit more local, some, some that are a mix of locals and, and travelers as well.

But definitely a big trend that you're seeing there.

Another place owned by the same owner, but quite different from Absalom, but also a social dining experience was at Hotel Canal Hussett, which is, you know, also social dining, but here a little bit more refined, a little bit more on, on the higher end of the, of the scale in terms of cost.

So a nicer dinner that you're sitting down for and a little bit older in terms of the crowd there as well.

But two great places that I would recommend if you want to kind of dive into this, this new trend in, in Copenhagen of social dining that's, that's kind of really happening throughout the city there right now.

And then one other that I'll call it quickly, completely different, a street food market and kind of redeveloped urban industrial area called Refin R E F F E N and nearby Rehven.

Two of my favorite to do is in Copenhagen that we're going to do a separate bonus episode on a place called Copenhagen, a very unique spa experience and Copen Hill, a ski hill quite like any other anywhere in the world.

So we'll do a bit of a bonus episode talking about, about those two as well.

But as we, as we wrap up our quick overview episode on Copenhagen today, Tim, let's jump into where to stay and what were some of your favorites.

Well, you know, I think the one that I'll definitely call out is 71.

It's either.

I think it's Nyhavn is how it's pronounced.

I believe haven means harbor.

I might be wrong on that, but it's right on one of the most beautiful, picturesque, I mean literally picturesque.

When you see photos of Copenhagen, this is, this is usually the harbor that's pictured.

Multicolored buildings, sailboats, you know, at, at the docks.

And this is a former warehouse.

So I mean, for many, many centuries, of course, Copenhagen's been a major port.

And this, this hotel dates back, the building dates back hundreds of years.

Now they've converted it to a hotel and it was a warehouse.

Still feels like a warehouse in all the best ways.

They've left in some of the rough beans.

And so you get that, that, that feel of that patina of history.

But it's still, you know, a beautiful luxury hotel and views out to the harbor and again, walking distance to everything, you know, the shopping streets and the Tivoli and everything else that you're going to want to see in the city.

And then just a quick one, another former warehouse.

I'm not sure.

Why all nine are warehouses but place called 25 Hours Paper Island.

It was a paper warehouse and it has this very whimsical design, vintage nautical items.

It's on an island and they have a really great restaurant, Asian restaurant, they're called Tiger Lily.

As well as a rooftop bar where you can watch the sunset.

So those are my two recommendations.

David, what, what do you recommend for where to lay your head?

This made my list of the top 10 most unique places and kind of favorite places that I stayed in the past year.

A place called City Hub Copenhagen.

This is a small chain that does these sort of very modern capsule style hotels.

But capsule doesn't really do it justice because they're not like the traditional micro Japanese capsule hotel.

Here you can actually stand up in the room, although only in one end of the room.

They've got king size beds.

Your entire room is controlled off of your mobile so you can control lighting, control music.

It feels like you were staying inside of something designed by Steve Jobs.

These very cool modern spaces.

It also has a Scandinavian sort of spa with a sort of cold plunge and sauna.

It's got a lot of shared spaces or shared working space.

It's got beer and wine on tap.

Check in via this sort of computer system.

Super modern, super unique.

I loved it.

I would happily stay there anytime and check out some of their other properties throughout.

Primarily throughout.

So the Scandinavian countries where they seem to have most of their properties so far.

Really cool spot.

Very cool, very cool.

Do you have any can't miss experiences?

I have one can't miss experience.

I would probably call out Christiania, which is this sort of self proclaimed autonomous neighborhood known for its kind of alternative arts lifestyle, communal living.

Used to be also the center unfortunately of probably one of the biggest open air drug trades in Europe.

But they have gone to great lengths to sort of really clear out that part of the, out of the, out of the district now.

And, and yeah, just cool, cool spot for going walking around.

Very, very unique and very, very Copenhagen.

And I'll say for mine, just a really quick one, just rent a bike and ride.

I mean, you know, Copenhagen is, is.

I think that's, that's the thing I think of when I think about Copenhagen is the fact that at rush hour there's probably more bikes on the road than there are cars in the central part of the city.

And they have amazing bike lanes and you see everything, you see cargo bikes where they've got things that they're delivering on the front of the bike.

You've got freight bikes, ones with baby carriages on the front, all that kind of stuff.

So to get on a bike and then ride around amongst the people who live in the city, I think that's, that's kind of the ultimate local experience.

So, so yeah, it's been great chatting with you about this amazing city, David.

And yeah, any, any other thoughts?

Well, just with that, that is the wrap of season 11 of, of the Travel in 10 podcast.

We, we've been going at this now for, for the past year talking about some of our favorite destinations around the world.

And I want to say huge thanks to you Tim, bringing you on as co host here.

In this past season it's been great to be able to talk with you about some of our favorite places to travel and always have a great time talking about travel with you.

And we, we've had our podcast hit number one on the Apple podcast charts for travel in Canada, in the uk, in the United Arab Emirates, continuing to, to have more and more people tune in and listen to some of our thoughts on, on travel around the world.

And for me as I've had a great time this, this past season and I'm, I'm looking forward to as we get into January, kicking off a new season as well as really we've talked a little bit about this on past episodes but we're really starting to gather steam now with our podcast network bringing together new shows, new Travel content@voyagecape.com and really excited to see where that goes as we get into the next year as well.

Absolutely couldn't agree more.

And really it has been a pleasure for me too, David.

Thank you so much for bringing me on.

What the listeners probably don't know is that, you know, for every 10 minute episode we probably talk for an hour and 10 minutes, you know, because we will chat for half an hour before the episode and then we'll do the episode, then we'll chat for half an hour after the episode.

So it really is fun to talk to you and to share our travel experiences and laughs.

And so this has been a fantastic season.

Can't wait to start recording for season 12.

And is there anything better than talk and travel?

It's the best thing in the world.

So while doing it that, that is the better really.

And, and we're both very fortunate to get to do way more of it than than than we're we probably deserve.

But wow, it's, it has been a great year of travel for, for both of us and and we we get to a couple times our, our travels are going to cross over in this coming year.

I think we're, we're both going to be hoping to both plan to be down in New York for the IMM conference there with uh, a bunch of travel media from around the world.

And then we're also super excited to have some sponsors who are coming on next season who are taking us to a few new destinations as well.

So more to say about that as we get into January and start kicking off some of our new episodes in the new year.

Absolutely.

Looking Forward to season 12 and thanks for a great year of travel conversations.

Sounds great.

Thanks Tim.

Have a great holiday.

You too.

Thanks so much.

David.

All my bags is packed ready to go Standing here outside your door there to wake you up to say goodbye but the dawn is breaking to early morning taxis waiting ready I'm so long to my good D so kiss me smile for me Tell me that you wait for me hold me like you're never let me hold cuz I'm leaving heart play don't know when I'll be back again oh baby to come there's so many times when I so many times played around I tell you now.