We are thinking of visiting both Copenhagen and Stockholm mid to late November or early December. Any tips on hotels, restaurants, Christmas markets, definite must sees? Also, recs from Houston on flying to either city. I think we will have to change planes either in London or Frankfurt..not sure any direct flights from US other than nyc. Thanks!

I've flown to CPH from Houston many times.

I've connected through London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and oddly enough Istanbul (screaming deal on business class and only a few hours longer). I personally don't like connecting state side.

If you do want to connect stateside, check out SAS as they have non-stops from NYC and BOS, with United covering the domestic leg.

If you're airline agnostic and in econ class, really doesn't matter. If we're talking business class, I have preferences.

I've flown on KLM via Amsterdam.

We were in Copenhagen for several days before a Baltic cruise. We had elementary aged kids, so much of what we did was kid centric and not high end (seems like every recommendation on this board is very high end stuff).

If you like zoos and/or have never seen panda, then go to the zoo since there are only a few zoos outside of China with pandas.

Shopping on Stroget is fun. The LEGO store has some things you can't get outside of Denmark.

Climb the Round Tower, see the changing of the guard, visit the ancient ruins under Christiansborg Palace.

We took a harbor cruise to get close to the Little Mermaid statue without fighting through the crowd of thousands on the shore.

Get a burger at the voted best burger in the world, Gasoline Grill.

We had barbecue and beer at Warpigs, a Texas barbecue joint/brewery.

We ate lunch and had beers on Nyhavn.

We didn't make it over to Freetown Christiania, and not sure I would with kids, but you should probably go over there.

We were in Stockholm for only half a day. We went around old town/Gamla Stan, visited the Vasa Museum on the museum Island, had a couple drinks at the Ice Bar (very cool and very cold). Had pastry for breakfast, meatballs for lunch. Bought a little red horse.

dylan said:

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We are thinking of visiting both Copenhagen and Stockholm mid to late November or early December. Any tips on hotels, restaurants, Christmas markets, definite must sees? Also, recs from Houston on flying to either city. I think we will have to change planes either in London or Frankfurt..not sure any direct flights from US other than nyc. Thanks!

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I have always rented a flat in CPH in Osterbro neighborhood, which is not far from the US Embassy.

As far as must sees, if you have kids with you I suggest Tivoli Gardens (near the Central train station). Nyhavn (with the covered houses along the harbour) is pretty cool. CPH is an excellent city for walking, although at that time of year it will be a bit cold. The metro/subway is very reliable.

Strongly suggest catching a train from the Central train station for a day trip to Malmö. The train ride is about 30-40 minutes.

As far as restaurants, I was last there pre-pandemic, so not sure if any of the places are still around.

Danger Mouse said:

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As far as restaurants, I was last there pre-pandemic, so not sure if any of the places are still around.

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Noma has been ranked several times as the best restaurant in the world and is supposed to be closing soon after year end.

Oh wow I had no idea.

Forgot to suggest taking a day trip to Kronborg Castle (Hamlet Castle). About a 45min-1hr train ride (from Central train station).

I work for a Swedish company that has a CPH office....fantastic city.

SAS just opened an Atlanta to CPH direct that codeshares with Delta and have had a few colleagues taking it. New planes and good service.

I usually go via Frankfurt as I am too high up the list with United.

Had a half day in Stockholm for work in January 2023. Second the Vasa museum and just walking around, everyone walks, even in the winter. This place was excellent for dinner - recommended by the company we audited https://rolfskok.se/

What are your favorite airlines for business class?

Thanks for the recs! Malmo sounds interesting. I'm watching the Bridge and Malmo is mentioned.

The metro stations in Stockholm are unique and beautiful, each one is given to a local artist to design. I spent a half-day just going around the tunnelbana network finding different cool station designs a few years before the pandemic.

Lived in Copenhagen for two years with my wife and two children. My suggestions:

- don't mess with going to mermaid

- weather is horrendous that time of year….constant clouds and drizzle.."land of the low sky"

- shopping on stroget is great

- Tivoli is great if open that time of year

- Viking ship museum and castle in Roskilde a must

- Fredericksburg castle a must

- best local food is the neighborhood bakeries

- Hamlet castle in Helsingor is interesting

- try to take a drive up the strandvej across along the strait with Sweden …..much better in Summer in Helsingor take a quick ferry over to Helsingborg.

- the only really special celebration the Danes do for Christmas is the Christmas beers from Tuborg and Carlsberg. I don't recall ever seeing a single Christmas market there….we would travel to Germany quite a bit that time of year for the markets

- take a walk in the Kings hunting forest…really neat with tame deer all around and pony rentals to lead the kids through it are virtually free. If they are open that time of year.

- Salmon and Salmon airlines do a pretty decent job of transporting Americans

That's incredible! Thanks for sharing. Thanks as well for the recs

Looks like I can't go during xmas season. Is late February too cold and early to go?

Should you have the flexibility to do late spring (May) or early summer (June), I highly advise those windows. February will be cold and less enjoyable.

Late Spring sounds nice. Maybe a little earlier than late May though.

Denmark had the second highest suicide rate in the world at the time I lived there. January thru March was a big part of the reason. Keep in mind that Copenhagen's latitude is about half way up Hudson's Bay.

Really have enjoyed this thread and info...I have been kicking the idea of taking my wife and two kids (5 &7) to Denmark. Opinions on if the kids should be older to enjoy the trip?

Great place for kids. Would go during summer. Could potentially experience more things without the cold getting in the way.

TxAG-010 said:

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Really have enjoyed this thread and info...I have been kicking the idea of taking my wife and two kids (5 &7) to Denmark. Opinions on if the kids should be older to enjoy the trip?

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Mine were 5 and 7 when we went and they had a blast.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the thread, but the LEGO store on Stroget is cool and they have things you can't get anywhere else.

And they loved Tivoli Gardens, seeing pandas (and everything else) at the zoo. Zoo has an Australia section that is cool.

The kids liked Torvehallerne Food Market, we got all sorts of snacks and candy and local foods.

It never felt unsafe at any point. Great town for kids in my opinion.

Thank you both for the input! It seems like a great place, and I've always wanted to go. Need to start planning!

I thought Denmark was the happiest place on earth

Can't wait to go. All of Scandinavia seems like the place to be during the summer and minus the crazy crowds of southern Europe.