Copenhagen, then what?

July 21, 2011 11:41 PM

My spouse and I are heading to Northern Europe toward the end of the summer, and we'll be staying for 2 1/2 weeks. We'll be landing in Copenhagen and staying for five days, but we haven't planned beyond that. Where else should we go?

We're both fairly urban at heart. We're into museums, history, music, art/architecture, and people-watching. Natural beauty is also delightful, but we're not particularly outdoorsy.

In researching the region, I'm finding myself drawn to Estonia and to Tallinn in particular-- its medieval character and its position at the interface between Scandinavia and Russia sound fascinating.

We'll be leaving from Copenhagen as well, so we don't want to venture too far afield, but we're well-positioned to check out Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, and the Balkans (Trying to do all of the above would be a bit much, however.)

Any ideas, hive mind?

posted by palmcorder_yajna to Travel & Transportation around Copenhagen, Denmark (8 answers total)

I just came back on Monday from a trip that went to this region, and I had a great time.

Talinn was a nice little town, but I don't think you need more than a day or two there. I highly recommend Restaurant Ö if you go there! Everything on the menu looked delicious and it was pretty darn reasonably priced for the quality, especially at lunch. It also seemed to be the place most likely to have random open free wireless, if you're interested in that.

Copenhagen is expensive, foodwise. We were there just after a huge rainfall, and a lot of restaurants and stores with basement storage/kitchens/showrooms were closed and seemed to have suffered some pretty major losses from flooding. Hopefully they'll all be up and running by the time you get there. The Glyptotek is good if you like sculpture, and the National Museum is good if you like history. I liked visiting the Rosenborg Palace, and the tourist information center offers a map with a nice walking tour of the city. It's not really that big, and if you're okay with some walking you can get around without any transit at all. If you're bike riders, though, renting bikes might be a great way to get around town--there are bike lanes everywhere.

I liked Stockholm, and wish that I could have gotten some more time there. I enjoyed visiting Vasa Museum and the royal palace.

Oslo and Aarhus both have areas with historical recreations of buildings from various time periods if you're interested in those.
posted by that girl at 12:43 AM on July 22, 2011

Gdańsk has everything you mention and more, plus the incredible Malbork Castle - the largest castle in the world by area! - just down the road. Check out this guide (actually, the In Your Pocket guides are great for this whole region).
posted by mdonley at 1:08 AM on July 22, 2011

I agree with that girl, Talinn is nice, but I really rate Vilnius in Lithuania as a great place to visit. It's beautiful and has really good restaurants. It's very cheap, so you can afford to indulge a bit, unlike copenhagen. It's a great country for people watching as well. It has influences from Russia and Scandanavia and Poland (although they might not like to hear the polish bit). You could go up into Sweden and catch a ferry across and work your way up to Talinn.

Recommendations to visit in Lithuania is Grutas Park and The Hill of Crosses. If you were feeling really adventurous and organised (visas) Belarus and Kaliningrad are very close.
posted by DOUBLE A SIDE at 1:09 AM on July 22, 2011

When you wrote Balkans, did you mean the Baltics? If not, the Balkans are about a two hour flight away (several cheap direct flights every week to the Black Sea coast, e.g. Sunny Beach, Bulgaria), and end-of-summer is perfect beach weather there. We took a combined Scandinavia (Iceland-Oslo-Copenhagen-Malmoe)/Balkans trip last year but it took us about a month; trying to cram too much into just five days might not be worth it.

When exactly will you be there? There is so much to see beyond Copenhagen (the Glyptotek is wonderful, though) in the region. Last year, we rented a car and drove around the Øresund, taking the ferry at Helsinborg and the tunnel/bridge between Copenhagen and Malmoe. We went to Malmöfestivalen (Aug 19-26) for a couple of days, which was fantastic. Louisiana was wonderful, too.
posted by halogen at 1:24 AM on July 22, 2011

Response by poster: Um, yeah. Baltics is what I meant. Sorry!
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 1:35 AM on July 22, 2011

We're into museums, history, music, art/architecture, and people-watching.

In this case Berlin is perfect. It has museums out the ass, obviously a very rich history, and plenty of fancy architecture.
posted by creasy boy at 1:46 AM on July 22, 2011

Yup, berlin. The modern history in that place is overwhelming. Plus it's on the way to many of the other places you're considering.
posted by kjs4 at 8:35 AM on July 22, 2011

Just in case this is helpful, and though this may be on your to-do list, and though I haven't been, the next time I'm in Copenhagen I shall do my very best to eat at Noma. It's not cheap, but then it is the best restaurant in the world.
posted by nthdegx at 1:36 PM on July 23, 2011