Wellness Guide To Copenhagen

Alright. I have completely fallen in love with Copenhagen. If I were to do college again, I would study abroad here… in the summer ; ). It’s seriously such a magical place — the parks, the bike lanes, the zero noise pollution, the food, the “hygge”… I could go on. Copenhagen is considered one of the happiest cities in the world, + I can totally see why.

Pro Tip — Bike… everywhere. Literally, everywhere.

Coffee + Cafes + Sweets

1] Mad + Kaffe: MUST. HAVE. BRUNCH. HERE. They serve brunch until 12:30 every day. Wow. I can’t believe a spot like this is not in Chicago yet. This has been voted “best brunch in Copenhagen.”

2] Wulff + Konstali: Another — MUST. HAVE. BRUNCH. HERE. They serve brunch until 3 PM [even better!]. Go to the one on Ameagerbro, so that you can go to the beach after!

3] Grod: We went here for takeaway dinner, but I wish I could have come for breakfast! Everything is porridge based… sounds weird but it’s SO GOOD.

For Next Time (Brunch) — Baryl, Social, Bowl Market, Cafe Det Vide Has, Moeller Kaffe + Kokken

Coffee — Coffee Collective, Original Coffee, Statement Coffee, Prolog Coffee Bar

Bakeries — Sankt Peders Bageri [cinnamon rolls on Wednesdays! ++ Copenhagen’s oldest bakery!], Leckerbaer, Isoteket, , Juno The Bakery, Lilli Bakery, Hart Bageri, Meyers Bageri, Bageriet Brod

Sweets — Nicecream, ISTID, Social Foods, Granny’s House [in Torvehallerne]

Restaurants

1] La Banchina: Hands down favorite spot in Copenhagen for a few reasons: the food is incredible [apps = bread + olive oil, olives, + almonds… + then the starter, fish, vegetable, + dessert change every day!], THEN after dinner: jump in the water… + then warm up by the fire + SAUNA. They are also open for breakfast, which is probably so dreamy too.

2] Organic Boho: We stumbled upon this place on our way to Christiana [the hippy town] + WOW, obsessed. Get the burger with tempeh, + THE LOVE PLATE [my fav]. They have tons of beautiful drinks too — juices, smoothies, + rainbow lattes ; ).

3] 42Raw: I love that so many spots in Copenhagen have easy “takeaway” options. We ordered takeaway to bring on the Go Boat: acai bowl, green bowl [“this almost tastes too healthy” — Isaac], salad of the day, + chocolate PB cup. The sweet potato fries looked bomb, too.

4] Neighbourhood: Organic pizza + cocktails… what more do you need? Oh, + TRUFFLE POPCORN. Make sure to get the burrata love pizza.

5] Sprod: You know a place is good when they don’t have an English menu. We ordered the chicken sandwich to split as a snack… + then instantly ordered another one. SO YUM.

6] District Tonkin: This place has the “best banh mi in Copenhagen” + it lived up to the hype . Chicken lemongrass banh mi + pho = winning combo.

7] Souls: This won the most sustainable restaurant in Copenhagen, AND best vegan restaurant — so definitely go. The warm potato salad was liiiiiife. ++ the summer lemonade.

8] Aamanns Deli: A trip to Copenhagen is not complete without trying a smorresbrod. There’s a few Aamanns, depending on the experience you want — I liked the deli because you can eat it in the restaurant, or easily choose takeaway + bring it to a park!

9] Kodbyens Fiskebar: MUSSELS : ) This was the fanciest restaurant that we went to [on our last night]. It’s in the Meat Packing District… we hopped around to a few places — staying at each place for an hour while ordering: drink + one item from the menu to share, what we call #AppyHour.

10] Smag: The BEST salads + sandwiches, oh my gosh. Go before a picnic!

For Next Time — Morganstedt, SimpleRaw, dop, Bollyfood, WEDOFOOD, Gro Spiseri, Ma Poule [duck sandwich is apparently amazing], Kaf, California Kitchen, Mahalle CPH, Plantepolsen, Barabba, Amass [$$$$], Kadea [$$$$], Noma ; ) [$$$$ — named the best restaurant in the WORLD]

Markets — Copenhagen out did themselves with all the markets here. Like, WOW. Trovehallerne is obviously a must… make sure to get Smag, GROD, a chocolate peanut butter brownie from Granny’s House. Other fabulous markets are The Bridge Street Kitchen, Reffen, Rebel Food, + Tivoli Food Hall.

Drinks

1] Mikkeller + Friends: Apparently the best spot for beer in Copenhagen.

2] WarPigs: Go for the beer, stay for the MEAT. Omg, literally — the brisket was to diiiiie for. *Make a stop here during #AppyHour.

3] Noho: Funky cocktails + hip vibe. *Make a stop here during #AppyHour.

4] Grab Wine… Literally Anywhere: Drink in a park, on the streets, by the lake, etc. It’s open container law!

For Next Time — Sidecar, BRUS, Baghaven, Himmeriget, Lidoeb, Malbeck Vinbar

Fun Thangs

1] ALL. THE. PARKS: Faelledparken, Svanemoelle Beach, The Citadel, Frederiksberg Gardens (*probably my fav because you get a shot of the zoo in the park + can see the elephants!), Superkilen, King’s Garden, Botanical Gardens… + more. If I lived here, I would spend every day in a park. They are all so gorgeous + unique. You must visit them all!

2] Walk Down These Streets:

• Nyhavn — The famous canal + colorful houses that screams Copenhagen
• Stroget — Europe’s longest pedestrian walking street, you’ll find everything from the Disney Store to H&M to Prada.
• Flaesketorvet — Meatpacking District… tons of cute places to eat + drink, particularly on a sunny day, #AppyHour
• The Copenhagen Lakes — Perfect for a run with views
• Jaegersborggade — Favorite street for all the things, stop in literally all of these places

3] Go Boat: We chose this over the Canal Tour [if I had time, I’d do both!] — you rent a boat to drive… yourself… with no experience required! Aha. It’s right next to the Islands Brygge Harbour Bath, which you should definitely go to on a sunny day. *Book ahead of time!

4] Tivoli: Copenhagen’s second oldest amusement park, + right in the center of town. It’s definitely worth a stop.

5] Visit The Cemeteries: Sounds creepy, but this is also a must. Vestre Cemetery + Assistens Cemetery are incredibly beautiful.

6] Christiania: The hippie commune — the only place hash/weed is legal in Copenhagen. Super funky to walk through... most people built their homes themselves! Couple things to note: I wouldn’t go there at night, no photos are allowed, + no running.

7] Shop Vintage: Check out this guide for the flea markets!

8] Wellness: I wasn’t able to test any of these out, but I heard great things about: YO Studios, NOR Nordic Health House, CopenHot, Hot Yoga CPH.

Stay

We stayed at Hotel SP34— incredible free breakfast every day, in a great spot in town [a bike store is like two seconds away… or you can rent bikes at the hotel], + WINE HOUR EVERY DAY! Also, there are a few other hotels close by in the same collective, so you can go there for wine hour, too ; ). Check out Brochner Hotels. / *One thing I will say is the room we booked was TINY.

There are so many components within Copenhagen that I want to bring back to Chicago — particularly BIKE LANES. ++ how they do brunch… + all the parks. I’m in loooooove. Please visit!

What did I miss? Let me know!

++ Elisabeth