Attractions

There is talk of a Renaissance in Copenhagen, as Denmark moves deeper into the 21st century. Much of the city, with its copper-domed landmarks, is cutting edge. A sea of change is sweeping across Copenhagen as tired, seedy old buildings are restored -- many turned into boutique hotels. At trendy restaurants, young Danes are reinventing the cuisine of their ancestors, too long dominated by the Danish pig.

Museums are becoming more user-friendly, and even the Queen is appearing on the streets in scarlet red. The culture and charm of old Copenhagen is still here, but in a word the city has become "cool."

A dynamic new life, spurred in part by the young and the changes brought by newly arriving immigrants, has made this venerable old city more vibrant than it's ever been in its history.

"You couldn't be bored here if you tried," a visiting dancer from London told us. He was referring to the around-the-clock summer fun offered in the Danish capital, everything from a free-love-and-drug commune to beer breweries, baroque palaces, art-filled museums, and even an erotica museum.

On a summer evening, there is no greater man-made attraction in all of Scandinavia than a stroll through the Tivoli pleasure gardens, which seems to have emerged intact from the days when the world was young . . . and so were we. The Danes love childhood too much to abandon it forever, no matter how old they get -- so Tivoli keeps alive the magic of fairy lights and the wonder of yesteryear.

Although many visitors arrive in Copenhagen just to attend the Tivoli, there's a lot more going on here. The city is proud of its vast storehouse of antiquities and holds its own with most other capitals of Europe, although dwarfed, of course, by London, Paris, and Rome.

People come to Copenhagen for various reasons -- some to absorb the city's art, others merely to have fun. Copenhagen hasn't become another Hamburg yet, but it still peddles miles of porno and sex toys, for which it became infamous in the 1970s. Several annual summer festivals take place here, and live bands -- some of the best in Europe -- appear in parks to keep Copenhagen rocking around the clock when the sun shines. One actor who settled into Copenhagen found it an "orgy" of boats, bikes, joggers, rollerbladers, and beer.

Shopping is another reason visitors show up here, as the city is world famous for its beautifully designed wares for the home, including porcelain by Bing & Grøndahl and Royal Copenhagen and sterling silver by Georg Jensen, among other big names. Strøget remains one of the most fabled shopping streets of Europe.

Some Danes endorse all that "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen" tourist propaganda. "Tell your readers we have everything," said a tourist official. "We even attract transsexual wannabes who want to change their gender. As you know, we became famous for that way back in the '50s."

Other disgruntled "natives" resent those tourist brochures, and some cynical individual, every now and then, goes and chops off the head of The Little Mermaid in protest.

"We don't think Copenhagen is so wonderful," said a squatter at the commune of Christiania. "In fact, we think it sucks." That's why she and others created an illegal, self-governed, and "free living" community called Christiania back in 1971. In spite of police interference, it's still going strong right in the heart of Copenhagen. On the community's "pusher street," vendors sell their hard drugs.

The summer sun may not set until 11pm, but in winter expect cold, cloudy, dark, rainy weather. "We brood like Hamlet then," said a local. "But winter or summer, we're super friendly and welcoming . . . and in English too."

After years of traveling to Denmark, we heartily agree with that assessment.

Special & Free Events

Much of Copenhagen is a summer festival, especially at the Tivoli Gardens. Although the gardens have an entrance fee, once you're inside, many of the concerts and other presentations are free. A total of 150 performances each summer are presented at the Concert Hall (which seats 1,500), or in the smaller Glassalen Hall (seats 700). Of these, more than 100 are free. Pantomime performances at the Pantomime Theater are also free. Performances on the open-air stage are free every night (closed Mon). Likewise, Bakken Amusement Park, which by most yardsticks is the oldest amusement park in the world, offers many free events. And you don't have to pay an admission to enter -- only if you patronize the various attractions.

The birthday of Queen Margrethe on April 16 is a celebration with the queen and the royal family driving through the pedestrian street, Strøget, in a stagecoach escorted by hussars in full regalia. People also gather in Amalienborg Slotsplads (the square that's the focal point of the Royal Family's residence in Copenhagen), usually cheering wildly in a style that some observers claim evokes star worship at a rock concert.

The Copenhagen Jazz Festival in early July is one of the greatest in the world, and many of the concerts are free. Squares, parks, and a wide range of cafes and clubs resound with the sound of jazz -- in all, some 450 concerts are staged at this time. Visitors arrive for the festival from as far away as China and Australia, and over the years the festival has attracted such jazz greats as Ray Charles and Dizzy Gillespie. For more information, check out www.festival.jazz.dk.