Coming To Copenhagen

The so-called pedestrian street known as Strøget is your destination on the first of your two perfect days in Copenhagen. Remember, your quest is to find that perfect hot dog that I wrote about earlier. Of course, if you’re in the Danish capital for a day, you’ll need to modify the plan a bit.

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Before setting you loose to explore Copenhagen on your own, I need to let you in on a secret: A lot of the people you’ll be meeting today aren’t Danes. They’re Swedes.

Each day, they come across the Oresund Bridge, which opened in 2000, from Malmo, Sweden’s third’s largest city. Such is the number of Swedes who commute back and forth between the two that some people joke that Malmo is West Copenhagen. I once met a Swede who worked at the airport but had never bothered to make the 10-minute trip into Copenhagen’s city center. Swedes come to Copenhagen because they earn higher wages (and pay less in taxes) than in Sweden.

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Here’s something else you should know about the Danes.

Arguably, one of the reasons for the Danes being named by two university studies as the world’s happiest nation can be attributed to a concept known as Janteloven, or Jante Law.

Basically, the concept asserts that no one is better than anyone else and that you should never brag too much. The local beer brewer even makes the claim that Carlsberg is “probably” the world’s best beer. Click to learn more about Janteloven.

If you truly want to experience Copenhagen, skip the Danish and go for the hot dog.

After all, every Dane loves a good dog, so not only will you be doing something quintessentially Danish, but on your quest for the perfect hot dog, you also will visit the key attractions in the Danish capital.

Following my advice, you’re going to get a taste of Copenhagen — and a hot dog — that you’re not likely to soon forget.

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Room With A View: Scandic Palace Room 301, originally uploaded by Ralph Grizzle.

Room 301 at the legendary Palace Hotel boasts one of Copenhagen’s best views. French doors open onto a balcony overlooking the bustle below and beyond at City Hall Square.

Acquired by the Scandic chain and re-opened in April 2009, the long-established landmark Palace Hotel, built in 1910, got a complete make-over to its 170 rooms, restaurant, bar and lobby area.

I found Room 301 to be extremely comfortable — and spacious, with a walk-in closet, a large workspace, giant flat-screen television, a sitting area and spacious bathroom. But my favorite feature was the balcony.

With its location at City Hall Square, near Strøget, the shopping street, and opposite the amusement park Tivoli, the Palace Hotel is as central as it gets in the Danish capital.

Room 301 is certainly a room with a view.

Watch a video review of room 301.

Click on any of the thumbnails below to view photos of the Palace Hotel.

In December, I moved from America’s happiest city to the world’s happiest nation. In case you missed it, a major news network cited Asheville, North Carolina as the happiest city in the United States — with Denmark taking honors as the world’s happiest country.

I first visited Denmark in 2003, when assigned to write about Northern Europe’s cruise capital, Copenhagen. Like many others who have visited Denmark’s cosmopolitan capital, I found myself immediately intrigued and eventually smitten. I’ve seldom visited a place where the people were so welcoming, the lifestyle so easy, and the endless summer sunlight, so energizing.

I moved to Copenhagen because I wanted to see what it was like to live one year of my life in such a happy, foreign place. And my timing could not have been better. In the fall of 2007, a high-profile cruise executive proclaimed Europe to be cruising’s “new center of gravity.” And because I make my living writing about cruises, I wanted to put myself in the center of all that gravity. With more than 300 cruise ship calls, Copenhagen seemed a good place to be — both professionally and personally.

While here, I hope to learn about Copenhagen in ways that will help visitors, like me, get the most from their time in the Danish capital. 

For starters, how can visitors survive in a city where consumers pay 39 percent more than the European Union average for goods and services? According to Statistics Denmark, Copenhagen is Europe’s most expensive city for food, transport, restaurant and hotel prices.

Indeed, Copenhagen can be brutally expensive. In a restaurant recently, I noted that the children’s menu was DKK 150 (Denmark’s official currency is the Danish krone). That’s US$32. For the kids!

On the day that I wrote these words, I paid the equivalent of US$15 for a hot dog, candy bar and Coke at a convenience store. You can easily pay more US$7 for a cappucino and nearly US$10 for a beer. 

Over time, however, I’ve ferreted out some of Copenhagen’s best dining values. Dinner at my favorite restaurant, for example, about US$26. I’ll tell you more about Peder Oxe and other restaurants in future posts. 

My aim with this blog is to create a “survival guide” of sorts. Yes, Copenhagen is expensive, but during the last few months, I’ve earned how to live a good life in Copenhagen for perhaps less than I would have spent in an equivalent city in America.

More importantly, however, I want to be nowhere other than Copenhagen and its environs. I have more moments of euphoria living in the spirited Danish capital than I have had living in any other place. Why should I be surprised? Denmark is the world’s happiest nation, and I am happy being here. 

If you live in or near Copenhagen, I invite you to contribute to this blog in the form of comments or e-mail. If you make your home abroad, submit your e-mail address in the form on this page to be notified each time I post a new item. Or subscribe to the RSS feed.

I invite you to experience Copenhagen with me through the articles, videos and photos I will post. I’ll begin with weekly updates, and if the blog gains reaction and readers, I will increase the frequency of the updates.

Thank you for stopping to visit. And please let me know if like me, you too are coming to Copenhagen. I’d enjoy meeting you and orienting you to the capital city of the world’s happiest nation.