Copenhagen is stylish, historic, fun and easy.

It has the Little Mermaid statue, Tivoli Gardens and world-famous restaurants. More than half of Copenhagen’s residents commute by bicycle daily. They swim in the clean harbor. Their city, Denmark’s capital, consistently leads global liveability and happiness indexes. 

Alas, Copenhagen is also very expensive, which is why Champa and I only visited for two and a half days while kicking off a trip to Scandinavia, as shown on the map.

We strolled Copenhagen’s cobblestone streets and rode a boat through its canals. We admired elegant shops along Strøget and the view atop Christiansborg Palace, above. We saw wedding parties at the beautiful city hall and people dancing to this singer at an outdoor club across from our hotel. 

Compared to our recent travels in places like Kosovo or Indonesia, Copenhagen was frictionless. Everything worked and ran on time, except for a ridiculously long line at the airport’s passport control. Everyone spoke English. We didn’t even change any money since all transactions are electronic.

We were struck by Copenhagen’s progressive spirit, from its souvenirs mocking President Trump’s desire to take over Greenland to a city-wide celebration of Pride Week, including a “Fluid Festival” celebrating diverse gender identities.

If you ever have the opportunity, you might want to visit Copenhagen, too. It’s easy. Just bring your wallet. 

Here are some photos from our trip:

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