Copenhagen, Denmark
If you’ve got a layover in Europe — I sure as hell hope you pick Copenhagen. I had the pleasure of discovering Copenhagen twice; once in the morning before my connecting flight to France, and once in the evening with an overnight stay at a nearby hotel on the way back to San Francisco.
We touched down in Copenhagen at about 6AM and were ecstatic to see the train station connected directly to the airport. Within 15 minutes, we were in downtown Copenhagen! Since it was still so early, we took our time roaming the streets and made our way to the legendary local bakery, Sankt Peders Bageri (TripAdvisor/Instagram). This place has been around since 1652! Bakeries existed in the 1600s?! The sun wasn’t even up yet and there were a few people walking by, waiting for the bakery to open. As we got out of the cold, damp weather and walked through those doors, the inviting atmosphere and smell of warm bread just felt so comforting, like a big hug! We literally wanted to order every single kind of pastry, it broke my heart knowing I wouldn’t be in town long enough to try everything! We settled on a croissant (classic), Christmas Pastry (seasonal), and Cinnamon Roll (best seller). Everything was amazing, and you absolutely cannot go wrong with whatever your heart and belly desires!
After our 7AM carb load, we needed some caffeine. Just around the corner from the bakery was Next Door Cafe — an underground coffee shop busting out impressive coffee and in a unique ambiance. The decor was adorable, filled with character and charm. I was surprised at how strong and tasty my coffee was. This coffee shop was incredibly friendly too; I felt so relaxed with my coffee and was able to use their WiFi to find for our next stop.
2 rounds of espresso and a huge surge of energy later, we decided to hit up some market halls! What better way to discover a large variety of Copenhagen’s food offerings than a solid market hall? We were so stoked but realized it wasn’t exactly lunchtime yet — not a problem! If you ever find yourself with some downtime, I encourage you to get lost in nearby neighborhoods. Pick a random location, order a cocktail and enjoy the view. That’s exactly what Joel and I did. We saw this hilarious sign on the side of a building and had to turn the corner and walk right into Katz! The owner was so chill; we were surprised to see a full breakfast and cocktail menu available to order. We were still full from our lovely pastry run earlier that morning so we stuck with the breakfast of champions: champagne and a passion fruit cocktail!
Copenhagen actually has quite a few street food markets, stop by as many as you can! We first walked through Tivoli, which gave a well-rounded international vibe! Unfortunately, the stalls were prepping and weren’t quite open yet so off we went! We walked over to Torvehallerne, where we hoped for a wide offering of traditional food, but honestly had no idea what to expect. This market hall is so big it’s two buildings! In addition to plenty of food and drink options, they also had halls that sold trinkets and knickknacks! It was super fun to walk around and explore each stall. I highly recommend trying something from as many stalls as you can, especially if you’re traveling in a group, sharing is caring! I really appreciated that pretty much all the stalls offered tapas style and shareable foods. My friends and I enjoyed:
Hallernes Smorrebrod — because it’s toast, I figured anyone could easily stomach a few of those bad boys! They had a big variety so it was hard to narrow it down to just two - but I finally decided on one pork and one salmon toast. My eyes were clearly bigger than my stomach because these turned out to be huge and filling! The pork was cooked incredibly well and I loved the aioli that came with it. The salmon tasted like it was just caught that morning! It was so refreshing to eat, especially with the pomegranate seeds on top, I loved the texture balance
Pavillon de Verre (Instagram) — we made a few rounds around the building before we decided where to drink. We really enjoy searching for unique cocktails and Pavillon de Verre, by far, was the coolest experience! When we asked for a menu, Fede and her colleague responded with, “here, we have a conversation and make you a cocktail.” UMMM EXCUSIE? Immediately we knew this was something special. We grabbed a table and described what kind of drinks we enjoyed. They brought out 4 unique cocktails that were completely different from each other, even though some of us had similar descriptions. Their knowledge of spices and herbs is next-level shit — and they make all their flavors in-house from scratch! I’ve never been so damn impressed by a bar. The drinks were delicious and unique, strong yet balanced. They were so good we stayed for a second round, cutting it incredibly close to our dinner reservation. TOTALLY WORTH IT
For dinner, we wanted something within walking distance of the Christmas markets and our hotel. We also wanted a restaurant that was casual but cute, offered shareable dishes, and had a full bar (of course)! Voraz Bar & Cafe (TripAdvisor) popped up and we were so glad we went. This cozy restaurant was expertly set up and incredibly inviting. It exuded this naturally happy vibe; both staff and customers were just in the best mood, it was contagious! Pizza made up most of the menu but we were pleasantly surprised to see other offerings too. Their menu offered simple dishes that were expertly done with high-quality ingredients and were generously sized. A huge plus for us was their sauces. The sauces that came with our bread were so damn good, I can’t tell you how many refills we asked for. They also offered a spicy habanero salsa at an additional cost. If you’re anything like me and love that heat, you will be begging them to take your money! You could buy these by the bottle to enjoy during dinner or to pack in your luggage to enjoy when you are sad and back in America. They literally sold out of these by the time we left! Other things we enjoyed:
Charcuterie — Does anyone else not prefer charcuterie so thin you can see through or so thick it’s uncomfortable to chew through? Same same. I loved the charcuterie plate here because it was the epitome of moderation. Perfect thickness and width. Perfect level of salty and savory. Let’s just say by the time our attentive server came to check on us, which was not long after, our platter was already empty
Burger — Joel came hungry and this burger nearly put him out! I was very impressed a burger was so good that he pushed himself to finish every last bite
Pizza — Okay honestly we ordered like 5 different ones and I don’t remember which ones, BUT! I can say we inhaled them all so you can’t go wrong. They also allow you to modify the pizzas however you wish, which only adds to the happy vibes and charm we felt when we dined here
Espresso Martinis — I mean, look at that foam? Expertly done. Perfection
Tequila, Tequila, oh, and More Tequila — Apparently we were recommended to order this rare tequila we never heard of before. We loved it so much that we had more than one round and had zero regrets
Finally, if you are in Copenhagen, I sincerely hope it’s during the holiday season because the Christmas Markets are absolutely breathtaking. As a society, I think many folks find it hard to “stop and smell the roses.” I had also previously fallen into this statistic, and it wasn’t until I began traveling that I honestly began to re-program my brain to see and appreciate what was in front of me.
As my friends and I walked through the charming, clean, family-friendly, holiday-spirited streets of Copenhagen, I slowed down and came to a complete halt. I looked up and around, surrendering myself to the crisp air and all of the amazing lights. I also took a moment to realize the intoxicating scent of warm pretzels, waffles, and German sausages. The BEST PART was being able to measure spicy mustard with my heart sans judgment and smothering my warm pretzel and gigantic German sausage in it. WOW WOW WOW. Please don’t leave Copenhagen without trying their sausages and WARM pretzels. Cold pretzels are not the same and should be illegal.
Denmark was the first Nordic country that I visited and I really didn’t know what to expect. I made the most out of the 24 hours I had there, but I am genuinely sad I didn’t have more time. People are kind, efficient, and happy. The food is delicious and thoughtfully executed. Now that I’ve been to Copenhagen, I can’t wait to plan a full vacation to see more of Denmark and the other Nordic countries too!
