Rick Steves - Rick Steves Snapshot Copenhagen & the Best of Denmark

SNAPSHOT

Copenhagen & the Best of Denmark

This Snapshot guide, excerpted from my guidebook Rick Steves Scandinavia, introduces you to one of Europes most modern and progressive, yet traditional and welcoming nationsDenmark. To put it simply, this country is cute. It feels like a mini-golf course inhabited by happy blond gods. Danes heartily embrace the concept of hygge, which means enjoying the cozy simplicity of everyday lifesuch as walking along a beach or sharing a picnic of smrrebrd (open-faced sandwiches) with a friend.

When you visit Denmark, youll discover that theres a lot more to this happy country than just Hans Christian Andersen stories, sweet breakfast pastries, and rolling farmlands. Start with the livable Danish capital, Copenhagen. This vibrant city hosts the Little Mermaid sculpture, the old-time Tivoli Gardens amusement park, and Renaissance King Christian IVs Rosenborg Castle. Wander down the irresistible, shop-lined pedestrian street called Strget to the colorful little harbor of Nyhavn. Gawk at the eye-opening hippie enclave at Christiania and get an earful of the citys thriving jazz scene.

Beyond the capital, make time for the rest of Denmarkrugged islands, salty harbors, and windswept sandy coasts. From Copenhagen you can easily side-trip to nearby Roskilde to see millennium-old Viking ships, or head to Frederiksborg Castle to tour Denmarks Versailles. Farther afield, the isle of r is a time-warp experience, transporting you back into a pleasant 18th-century town where you can unwind in an utterly authentic Danish environment. To complete your visit, check out Hans Christian Andersens house in Odense and stop in Denmarks second cityAarhuswith its open-air folk museum and wildly contemporary art museum.

To help you have the best trip possible, Ive included the following topics in this book:

Planning Your Time, with advice on how to make the most of your limited time

Orientation, including tourist information (abbreviated as TI), tips on public transportation, local tour options, and helpful hints

Sights, with ratings and strategies for meaningful and efficient visits

Sleeping and Eating, with good-value recommendations in every price range

Connections, with tips on trains, buses, boats, and driving

Practicalities, near the end of this book, has information on money, staying connected, hotel reservations, transportation, and other helpful hints.

To travel smartly, read this little book in its entirety before you go. Its my hope that this guide will make your trip more meaningful and rewarding. Traveling like a temporary local, youll get the absolute most out of every mile, minute, and dollar.

God rejse! Happy travels!

Danmark

Denmark is by far the smallest of the Scandinavian countries, but in the 16th century, it was the largest: At one time, Denmark ruled all of Norway and the three southern provinces of Sweden. Danes are proud of their mighty history and are the first to remind you that they were a lot bigger and a lot stronger in the good old days. And yet, theyre a remarkably mellow, well-adjusted lotorganized without being uptight, and easygoing with a delightfully wry sense of humor.

In the 10th century, before its heyday as a Scan-superpower, Denmark was, like Norway and Sweden, home to the Vikings. More than anything else, these fierce warriors were known for their great shipbuilding, which enabled them to travel far. Denmarks Vikings journeyed west to Great Britain and Ireland (where they founded Dublin) and brought back various influences, including Christianity.

Denmark is composed of many islands, a peninsula (Jutland) that juts up from northern Germany, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. The two main islands are Zealand (Sjlland in Danish), where Copenhagen is located, and Funen (Fyn in Danish), where Hans Christian Andersen (or, as Danes call him, simply H. C.) was born. Out of the hundreds of smaller islands, ship-in-bottle-cute ro is my favorite. The Danish landscape is gentle compared with the dramatic fjords, mountains, and vast lakes of other Scandinavian nations. Danes (not to mention Swedes and Norwegians) like to joke about the flat Danish landscape, saying that you can stand on a case of beer and see from one end of the country to the other. Denmarks highest point in Jutland is only 560 feet above sea level, and no part of the country is more than 30 miles from the sea.

In contrast to the rest of Scandinavia, much of Denmark is arable. The landscape consists of rolling hills, small thatched-roof farmhouses, beech forests, and whitewashed churches with characteristic stairstep gables. Red brick, which was a favorite material of the nation-building King Christian IV, is everywhereespecially in major civic buildings such as city halls and train stations.

Danes are mainly of Scandinavian descent, with immigrantsmostly Turkish, Polish, Syrian, German, and Iraqimaking up 13 percent of the population. Greenland is home to the indigenous Inuit, and the Faroe Islands to people of Nordic heritage. Most Danes speak both Danish and English, with a small minority speaking German, Inuit, or Faroese.

The population is 75 percent Protestant (mostly Evangelical Lutheran), but only a small minority attend church regularly. The majority are ethnic Danes, and many (but certainly not all) of them have the stereotypical blond hair and blue eyes. Two out of three Danes have last names ending in -sen. The assimilation of ethnic groups into this homogeneous society, which began in earnest in the 1980s, is a source of some controversy. But in general, most Danes have a live-and-let-live attitude and enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. Taxes are high in this welfare state, but education is free and medical care highly subsidized. Generous parental leave extends to both men and women.