Copenhagen - Getting Around / Eating & Drinking

Copenhagen Airport- Kastrup (CPH)

Copenhagen Airport is just 8 kilometres to the Southeast of the city centre, on the edge of the island of Amager, in the suburb of Kastrup. Getting into the city from here couldn’t be easier: a rail line – one of the fastest airport-to-city links in Europe – runs directly to Central Station six times an hour. Alternatively, a taxi to the centre will cost about 180 kroner. There’s a rank outside the arrivals hall.

The airport in Kastrup is, thanks to the Øresund Bridge, the air hub of Scandinavia and used to be the most likely point of arrival for the vast majority of visitors. However, if you’re flying in with Ryanair, you’ll now arrive at Malmø’s Sturup airport across the bridge in Sweden. Transport into Copenhagen couldn’t be easier with the Flybuss 737 awaiting every Ryanair arrival and crossing the bridge to Copenhagen Central Station in 55 minutes.

General Transport

Copenhagen itself is an ideal walking city, with a compact centre, much of which is pedestrianised. For travelling further afield there’s an integrated network of metro, buses trains and local trams.

Metro

Copenhagen Metro The metropolitan “S-Tog” train service curves in a huge “U” shape around Central Station (Nørreport) and covers Copenhagen and the surrounding areas. Ten of its twelve lines stop at Central Station, while the two remaining lines run in a circular route around the centre. Each line has a letter. Lines that stop at fewer stations have a + symbol after the letter (e.g. H+) – it’s worth checking this to ensure that you don’t zoom past your desired station. Services run about every 10-15 minutes between 05.00 and 00.30, and stations are marked with hexagonal signs framing a yellow “S”.
Copenhagen’s Metro system – linking the large urban areas to the east and west for the first time – is still under development. It opened its first section in 2002 and a second in 2003. The last part of the Metro, running to Copenhagen Airport, opens in 2007. Fast and efficient, it follows the same “U” shape as the train system, connecting the island of Amagar with northwest Copenhagen via two brand new stations conveniently located at Christianshavn and Kongens Nytorv. The metro’s two lines – M1 and M2 – intersect with the S-Tog at the Central Station.

Buses

The city’s bus network is much more comprehensive than the S-Tog train system, its very convenience for locals does mean that it tends to be busy at rush hour. Stops are marked by yellow placards on signposts. The bus terminal is a black building adjacent to City Hall on the big open square called Rådhuspladsen, a block from both Central Station and the Tivoli Gardens. You can pick up bus-route maps here and get general information about the general transport system. All buses are yellow and entrance is in the front.

The Metro, S-trains and city buses use the same tickets. Tickets can be bought at stations, and you can use your ticket to transfer between the Metro, other trains and buses in the metropolitan area. The ticket vending machine at the station sells tickets for travel within the metropolitan area, as well as for destinations in all of Denmark and Scania.

Eating & Drinking

Copenhagen- Food Danish cuisine is not traditionally the most adventurous in the world. It tends to focus upon on meat or fish plus two veg, with one of the accompaniments invariably being a potato. (Indeed Danes likes their potatoes so much that new crops are anticipated each spring with almost the eagerness that the French lavish on the nouveau Beaujolais.) The other classic dish is smørrebrød (open sandwich). One of the highlights of any visit to Copenhagen, it’s best sampled in one of the many smørrebrød joints – often cosy and packed cellar places open at lunchtime only and for which you’re advised to book ahead. Some of the most popular toppings include herring in any of several marinades, sometimes pickled, breaded and fried; smoked eel with scrambled eggs and chives; spraengt oksebryst (corned brisket of beef) with horseradish; pork roast with hard crackling and pickled purple cabbage. Most smørrebrød come on dense dark bread spread with duck fat and accompanied by cold beer and ice-cold caraway-flavored schnapps.

Obviously Denmark’s climate is not conducive to eating out during most of the year, but during the warmer months the cafés that can spill out onto the pavements. If the air on the long light evenings retains a certain chill most will provide diners with blankets to help along that hygge (cosy) feeling. Ordering is made easy by the fact that almost all eateries in Copenhagen have English language menus, though you may have to ask for one. The cafés are more versatile than those elsewhere. During the day they serve coffee and cakes, brunches and lunches. In the evenings most turn into bars, serving a more expensive dinner menu.

If you’re really on a shoestring there are the ubiquitous pølser stands, which offer a variety of tasty and surprisingly addictive hot dogs and burgers. The immigrant community’s impact is increasingly being felt, particularly in the Vesterbro and Nørrebro areas, with a large array of Turkish and Indian places (probably Copenhagen’s cheapest eating-out options) along with a good selection of (slightly pricier) Thai restaurants and Japanese sushi joints.

Of course another speciality not to be missed is the famous Danish pastry – most cafés will serve reasonable versions, though they’re best bought straight from the excellent konditorier (patisseries), which seem to be on every street corner. But don’t expect Danish pastries made in Denmark to resemble those you’ll find abroad. They’re less sweet and sticky and much more flaky and crispy (in Denmark Danish pastry is actually called Wienerbrød (“Viennese bread”), because the art of making flaking pastry was learnt from bakers in Vienna.)

Text written by David Cunningham, author of CloudWorld and CloudWorld At War