Main Arteries & Streets
The heart of Old Copenhagen is a warren of pedestrian streets, bounded by Nørreport Station to the north, Rådhuspladsen (Town Hall Square) to the west, and Kongens Nytorv, a busy square that's positioned at the top of the Nyhavn Canal, to the east. Strøget, the longest continuous pedestrians-only route in Europe, goes east from Town Hall Square to Kongens Nytorv, and is made up of five interconnected streets: Frederiksberggade, Nygade, Vimmelskaftet, Amagertorv, and Østergade. Strøget is lined with shops, bars, restaurants, pizza parlors, and, in summer, sidewalk cafes. Pistolstræde contains a maze of galleries, restaurants, and boutiques, housed in restored 18th-century buildings.
Fiolstræde (Violet St.), a dignified street with antiques shops and bookshops, cuts through the university (Latin Quarter). If you turn into Rosengaarden at the top of Fiolstræde, you'll come to Kultorvet (Coal Square), just before you reach Nørreport Station. Here you join the third main pedestrian street, Købmagergade (Butcher St.), which winds around and finally meets Strøget at Amagertorv.
At the end of Strøget you approach Kongens Nytorv (King's Square). This is the site of the Royal Theater and Magasin, the largest department store in Copenhagen. This will put you at the beginning of Nyhavn, the former seamen's quarter that has been gentrified into an upmarket area of expensive restaurants, apartments, cafes, and boutiques.
The government of Denmark has been centered for the past 800 years on the small and very central downtown island of Slotsholmen, which is connected to the center by eight different bridges. The island's most immediately visible attraction is the imperial-looking granite mass of Christiansborg Castle, home of the Danish Parliament, the Prime Minister's offices, the country's Supreme Court, and several museums.
The center of Copenhagen is Rådhuspladsen (Town Hall Square). From here it's a short walk to the Tivoli Gardens, the major attraction of Copenhagen, the Central Railroad Station, and the Bus Station terminus. Vesterbrogade, a wide, densely trafficked boulevard, passes by Tivoli en route to the Central Railroad Station. H. C. Andersens Boulevard, a major avenue named after Denmark's most famous writer, runs beside the Rådhuspladsen and Tivoli Gardens.
Finding an Address
All even numbers are on one side of the street, all odd numbers on the other. Buildings are listed in numerical order. A, B, or C is often inserted after the street number.
