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Part 1: Introduction
Overview
and
overall impression
We planned this brief trip to Denmark as we were anyway in the area and
thought it might be interesting to have a look at Copenhagen and
perhaps the area around it. We were lucky with the weather and due to
the season were rewarded with spectacular views of Copenhagen
(beautiful light, great skies). The historic core of Copenhagen is
beautiful and clean with plenty of old buildings, castles and churches.
Nyhavn is a picturesque area where to stroll and relax at one of the
cafes and restaurants. The downside is that Copenhagen is one of the
most expensive cities in the world, with a high cost of living.
Costs
Costs in Copenhagen are very high. Hotels are expensive, but it's
especially restaurants and the food in general which are very pricey.
After the trip to Copenhagen, we picked up a conversation between
travellers in Amsterdam. One complained that he was forced to live on
"bread and water" while in Copenhagen.
Food
I must admit that we didn't try out the local specialities, and relied
instead on food from known places (Italian restaurants, KFC etc.). We
saw some fish&chips restaurants near kastellet in Copenhagen, but
weren't willing to overpay for some poor quality fried fish.
Accommodation
The first place we stayed was actually not expensive, but was out of
Copenhagen and commuting into town took some effort and time. The
second place, the Cabinn Metro, was more expensive, but closer to the
centre. Staying in the centre of Copenhagen would have been quite
pricey.
Money
/ Exchange rate (June 2014)
1 Euro = 7.45 DKK
For current
exchange rates
check
the Universal
Currency
Converter.
ATMs are everywhere, so that you can easily get cash with a
Cirrus/Maestro ATM card. You won't need traveller cheques.
Mobile
phones and prepaid cards
Prices for roaming have significantly fallen over the past years,
making it economic to roam in Denmark with a German SIM card. So this
time we purchased some data roaming packages.
Internet
access
We used the WLAN of the hotel and mobile data packages with Smartphones
out of the hotel. I can't remember having seen many Internet cafes in
Copenhagen.
Weather
Mostly sunny, some clouds, no rain, max. temperatures around 20-23°C.
Health /
Vaccinations
None required for Denmark.
VISA
/ Entry
requirements
Visitors
from developed countries can enter Denmark without a visa or get a visa
on arrival. Visitors of other countries need to get a Schengen visa.
Security
No issues here. Denmark is a safe country.
Getting
around
We drove to Copenhagen, then relied on public
transportation to move around. This wasn't such a good idea, because
the public transportation network is thinly spread, which forced us to
walk a lot. We didn't use buses, as we didn't know where these buses
were going to.
8.6: Hamburg -> Lübeck
->
Puttgarden -> Copenhagen
Park Hotel, Glostrup (suburb of
Copenhagen, Denmark). 97 Euro for a large room with lots of furniture.
Hotel located about 13km from the centre of Copenhagen. Big nice room
with attached bathroom, good furniture. Free fast WLAN in the room.
Breakfast included in the price. Only problem is that the A/C seems not
to be working (25°C in the room in the evening) and there are just
thin, light curtains on the windows, which means that at 4am the room
will start to be bright.
Weather: sunny with clouds in
Hamburg, quite warm (26-27°C). After about 3pm the sky closes and it
rains a bit. More rain in the evening. In Denmark more fresh in the
evening and the sky opens up.
The ferry ro Rödby is a small drive through vessel with a restaurant
and duty
free area. After 45 minutes, a 8:30pm we reach Rodby, the Danish
harbour. Then we start driving towards Copenhagen.
We make two stops, one to purchase a roaming data package and one to
take a picture of a bridge. The motorway is almost empty. Initial max.
speed is 110 km/h, which then increases to 130 km/h. It all looks like
we are going to reach the hotel by 10:15pm, when suddenly we end up in
a huge traffic jam. We lose all in all 35 minutes due to this traffic
jam. No car accident, the cause is roadworks on the motorway and three
lanes becoming one. Very dumb way of doing roadworks. In Germany they
would have closed one section of the motorway in one direction and
would have directed the traffic on the other direction, but here they
force the traffic from three lanes to one.
We reach finally the hotel shortly before 11pm.
Copyright
2014
Alfred
Molon
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