Travel Reports
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is one of the most vibrant cities in Scandinavia. It also makes for a perfect weekend break destination, being easy to get to. There’s a lot for the tourist to do in the city and everyone speaks impeccable English, so getting around is easy.
Kastrup airport is some 8 km from Copenhagen and from there a high-speed rail link (every 20 minutes) takes you straight to the Central Station in 12 minutes.
Copenhagen itself is not a huge city and the best way to explore is to walk or to cycle. It takes around half an hour to walk across the centre and its pedestrianised areas allow you to spend leisurely time exploring the city’s wonderful little streets, canals and architecture.
The thing that strikes you about Copenhagen is the fact that everyone cycles. The cycle lanes in the city, unlike in the UK where they tend to double up as bus lanes, are large and wide and make cycling a safe and enjoyable experience. There are quite a few cycle hire shops in the centre and the city provides several thousand free bikes (easily recognizable with their solid wheels and advertisements). These work much like a supermarket trolley rack, where you put a coin in and take your bike, when you deposit it at another rack you get your coin back.
The thing you will notice about Denmark – like the rest of Scandanavia – is it’s not a cheap and one should take account of this when budgeting for a trip. The Danish currency is a Kronur and things tend to be pricey even by UK standards. Accommodation varies greatly and room rates are generally more expensive in the summer, though according to guidebooks prices can rise and fall depending on the demand for rooms. Prices range from the cheapest end of the scale under 350 Kr to the top of the range of over 1,500 Kr a night for a double room. There is a hotel reservation desk by arrivals at the airport (6am-11pm) and another at the Wonderful Copenhagen office (the tourism office which is based at Tivoli). Commission of up to 50 Kr is paid on a booking.
I was fortunate enough to spend the weekend in the Scandic, one of the city’s swankiest hotels, which is classicly furnished, very comfortable and in an extremely convenient location, being round the corner Central Station. The Scandic comes out at the top end of the price scale, but is definitely worth the extra especially if you’re treating someone special or yourself to a nice weekend break.
Gay guesthouses include the Windsor, Copenhagen Rainbow or Carsten’s Guest house.
Copenhagen is a very gay friendly city with a very vibrant nightlife. Like its Scandinavian cousins, Denmark offers almost full legal equality to gay men and lesbians, although it doesn’t allow adoption. People are quite relaxed and couples holding hands or kissing in the street doesn’t illicit comment. The people of Copenhagen pride themselves on their liberal attitudes, although occasional gay bashings do take place.
Indeed, such is the city’s liberal attitude, that the cruising area at H.C Orstedsparken, has ‘bird boxes’ filled with free lube and condoms. (And just because you’re in a liberal country, it doesn’t mean you can leave your rubbish behind, nor does it mean that you shouldn’t take the same precautions with your personal safety that you would at home).
Gay life in Copenhagen is centred in the old town and houses several bars and cafes. One of the most curious is the Jailhouse bar and restaurant – think a fetish establishment (cell-block décor with the owners and clients in uniform), yet instead of the techno or the music you would expect, there’s a chorus from Annie blaring out at you. On the whole the atmosphere is cosy, though (though, is that what one wants from a fetish club?).
Oscar is a hive of activity on the weekend , being one of the city’s most popular café bars. Big windows open out in the summer months on the cobble streets and the party spills out onto the square. During the summer the bar is very busy and it can take a while to get served.
A brief trip to Frederiksberg will lead you to the Café Intime’s piano bar, which draws in a mixed crowd of mainly older theatre types and young things who can be found enjoying a cocktail and an evening’s repertoire of Shirley Bassey and show tunes.
As regards clubbing there is CentralHjornet and Can Can, which attract an older set and drag queens, while Masken and Amigo cater to the younger crowd. Amigo’s is a lively mixed bar with karaoke.
A pink triangle on the street lets you know that you’re at Pan’s, a warehouse turned disco, which offers everything from the Marlene Deitrich lounge on the second floor, to techno and hard house on the ground floor. The campy disco stuff can be found on the third floor.
The night doesn’t have to end and as dawn breaks, Never Mind is open for the dance-weary crowd to chill out in. Also Cosy Bar is another option for the clubber who doesn’t want to call it a night. Both bars are near H.C. Orteds Park and you can always stop off for a nightcap after a busy night copping off.
Copenhagen is a particularly picturesque city with much of it dating form the 17th and 18th century. It’s most famous landmark is the Little Mermaid, perched on her rock in the entrance to the harbour, which was created in 1913 by Edvard Eriksen and inspired by the Hans Christian Anderson story of the same name. Over the years the little lady has been the target for vandalism, including the time in 1961 when pranksters painted a bra and pants on her. Since then she’s been decapitated twice, covered in red paint, had her arm chopped off and more than likely elicits the same response from tourists the world over when they see her: “Have really I walked all this way our here to see that?”
One of Copenhagen’s other most famous landmarks is Tivoli Gardens and to see it at its best visit in Spring when the park is awash with vividly coloured blossoms. Tivoli is a pleasure garden, which is said to have inspired Walt Disney to create his first theme park. Inside are open air theatres, fair ground rides, carousels, restaurants, bars and a concert area. As the sun goes down the entire park is lit by thousands of fairy lights creating a stunningly beautiful environment as the fireworks explode overhead. Locals flock here during the summer and so it gets very busy. Entry is approximately 40 Kr.
Architecture is beautiful in Copenhagen, and none more so than the Royal Palace, a group of four buildings surrounding a square that’s open to the public. Denmark retains a royal family and is enormously found of queen Margarethe 11, and the sort of irreverent banter which we exchange in about our royal family doesn’t really go down well with the Danes. If you see the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace, you’ll notice how similar it is to the ceremony in London – the marching and the bearskins are the same, the uniform is blue instead of red.
Another place that’s worth a visit is the Christiania, the “free city”, which is situated around the old dockyards. The free city is where the hippies and drop-outs live in crudely converted warehouses and homes built from flotsam and jetsam. There you’ll find a gay house, vegetarian cafes and the world famous “Pusher Street” and, yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like – it’s the buy as much dope or ready rolled spliffs as you want street. A word of warning, though, try taking any photographs here and you’ll find that hippies aren’t all peace and love. The free city has been the site of much controversy over the years, it has seen rioting and wide-spread disapproval from many Danes. However, the police now turn a blind-eye to the drug trade and, in its tongue-in-cheek way, Christiania lets you know it’s a world unto itself when you leave through a totem-pole arch with a sign bearing the words “You are now entering the EU”.
If you fancy a “two-nation vacation” as the Americans would say then head to the Swedish city of Malmo, 40 minutes away across the Oresund by a new bridge. The bridge is a feat of engineering excellence and takes you into a rather picturesque and laid back area of Sweden.
Food in Copenhagen is good on the whole, if not a little pricey (two bottles of coke and a sandwich in the main square cost around £9).
Pop into Heaven, the gay café bar, and try a traditional Danish Smorrebrod. These are open sandwiches made with a rye bread base and topped with different foods including roast beef and horseradish, or liver pate or roast pork. Egg and prawns is also a very popular topping.
Denmark is also renound for its pastries and it would be absolutely churlish to go all that way and not sample the wears. It would also be silly not to pop into Somods Bolscher, a family-owned sweet shop making old fashioned sweets out of hand turned candy ribbons. The shop smells fantastic and there’s something very nostalgic about getting a little bag of boiled sweets. The shop’s owners are very patient; the choice is vast and dithering is obviously expected, as is sampling. Even the queen herself pops in for her sweeties.
Meanwhile, Copenhagen also has a brewing legend in its midst, being home to Carlsberg beer. Lager is certainly a staple drink of the country and a Friday night leaves you a little bit sad for the fate which is surely to befall Copenhagen. Alcohol is must cheaper here than in the other Scandinavian countries and hordes of people come from Sweden to take advantage of the more relaxed licensing laws and the cheaper price (God knows what the Swedes pay for drink because Denmark isn’t cheap). The result is lots of pissed up football supporters when I visited, and gangs of young teenagers sicking up in the road at around 11pm on the Friday night. It’s easy to imagine Copenhagen in 10 years time resembling the alcoholic excesses of on the streets of Britain now (what is it about cold countries that encourages drink cultures like this?).
Don’t let that put you off because Copenhagen is a great place to visit and once you’ve been, it’s the sort of place you know you’ll want to go back to.
Gay Times flew to Copenhagen courtesy of SAS and stayed at the Scandic Hotel.
Tourism
Wonderful Copenhagen www.visitcopenhagen.dk
Email: touristinfo@woco.dk
Bars
Heaven 18 Kompagnistraede www.heaven-copenhagen.dk
Jailhouse 12 Studiestraede www.jailhousecph.dk
Oscar 77 Radhuspladsen www.oscarbarcafe.dk
Café Intime 25 Allegade www.cafeintime.dk
Cosy Bar 24 Studiestraede www.cosybar.dk
Never Mind 2 Norre Voldgade www.nevermindbar.dk
Clubbing
Pan disco 3 Knabrostraede www.pan-cph.dk
Amigo Bar 4 Schonbergsgade
Centralhjornet 18 Kattesundet www.centralhjornet.dk
Can Can 11 Mikkel Bryggersgade
Shopping
Somods Bolscher 36 Norregade
Accomodation
Copenhagen Scandic Hotel
6 Vester Sogade, DK –1601 Kobenhaven V www.scandic-hotels.dk/br/50/50index.html
Cpenhagen@scandic-hotles.com
Windsor 30 Frederikborggade www.hotelwindsor.dk
Copenhagen Rainbow 25 C Frederiksberggade “Stroget”
www.copenhagen-rainbow.dk
At Carstens Guest House 28 Christians Brygge 5th floor
Pride
Danish Mermaid Pride
August 14-15th
www.danishpride.dk
email: info@danish-pride.dk
Vicky Powell
