Denmark

From the effortlessly cool capital of Copenhagen—known for its forward-thinking design and yes, ample supply of cardamom buns—to more relaxed and bucolic getaways outside this Nordic country’s city centers, Denmark is a destination sure to delight travelers of all walks of life.

Denmark ranked second in the 2023 World Happiness report.

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Overview

Practical Information

Denmark is a Nordic country bordering Germany and Sweden. Although Danish is the national language, English is spoken widely. Copenhagen is the capital and one of the most popular places to visit in Denmark, though it’s worth getting outside of the city and visiting other areas of the country—such as West Denmark—as well.

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Read Before You Go
2021 was good to Denmark’s capital city, ushering in new hotels, urban farms, and even a floating sauna. The best part? 2022 is looking even better.
Hotels
This 1918 mansion in the Danish capital’s posh Østerbro neighborhood has been given new life as a private villa with seven bedrooms and bespoke amenities.
Resources to help plan your trip
Like a bear emerging from hibernation after a long winter, Copenhageners throw open their doors with a hunger for sunlight, food, and community. Summer is an amazing time to be in the city as it comes alive with events, festivals, and folks just soaking it all up.
Denmark is known for its genius designers, including Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl, and Jacob Jensen. Much of their work and influence is on display in the capital, Copenhagen. Great design touches everything in the city from the futuristic hotels to the pilgrimage-worthy restaurants and the New Nordic food they turn out. Walk the city and take in the great architecture or pack or hit the shops and take home super cool Scandi souvenirs from a new breed of design talent.
Copenhagen has an amazing collection of museums and galleries. These include living museums as well as more traditional museum collections that are home to work by some of history’s most lauded artists. Copenhagen’s best museums include the National Museum, the Roskilde Viking Museum, the Open Air Museum, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, and the world-famous Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.
Food, Danish design, cycling, jazz and sustainability are just a few of the unique facets that make up Copenhagen culture.
Now it’s time to dig into the rest of Copenhagen: Christiania, the Black Diamond, and the Opera House.
With only three days in Copenhagen you have to make every moment count, but you’ll still want to leave time to combine well-known and more obscure sights, sounds, and experiences. Ride Copenhagen’s harbor bus, stroll through Christiania, enjoy a meal in the Royal Library, and don’t miss the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Seventy-two hours in Copenhagen is just enough time to get a taste for local life in the Danish capital.
Denmark is famous for its design, and shopping in Copenhagen is the best way to explore the cool, clean aesthetic that informs everything from chairs and lamps to jewelry and cutlery. Check out fashion houses as well as traditional Danish interior design stores, and make sure to visit a mixture of larger shops, shopping malls, and tiny boutiques to get a real feel for the best design in Copenhagen.
Over the last decade Copenhagen has charged onto the international culinary scene, with New Nordic cuisine becoming famous around the world. Emphasizing simplicity, freshness, and innovation, New Nordic is almost synonymous with Copenhagen’s Noma restaurant, but there are many restaurants around the Danish capital offering their own twists on the New Nordic genre.
Copenhagen is easy to navigate, incredibly safe, and boasts a multilingual population. Plus, there’s the Danish commitment to hygge (roughly translation: cozy), which means that the city feels warm and companionable—ideal for a solo traveler.
Few meals are more traditionally Danish than smørrebrød. These open-faced sandwiches are made with fresh ingredients, often by masters skilled in the art of preparation, pairing, and presentation. Just as the types and toppings vary widely, so too do the ways in which you can consume it.
With a focus on visual simplicity, clean lines, and quirky blends, Danish design is shaping the global fashion industry. Here, the best and most famous places to explore Danish fashion along the famous cobblestone “walking street” district of downtown Copenhagen.
Nordic cuisine is making a modern day comeback and there is no city where this is more apparent than the charming Danish capital. The city delivers on its past to present promise where traditional Danish fare mixes with some of the world’s most modern, innovative and successful chefs.
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