What's New

Many of the old towns and villages remain relatively the same year after year, but we've noted some updates and changes below. Of course, in cosmopolitan Copenhagen the pulse always beats faster, so there's lots to report. Here are some of the newest developments in various categories.

Copenhagen

Accommodations -- In the past year or so, Copenhagen has seen the opening of more hotels than in its entire history. Old "dragons" are being spruced up to meet the competition, hotels are opening in completely new buildings, and former hotels are being recycled into something better.

That virtual landmark, the Sophie Amalie, has shed its skin and emerged as the new Front Hotel Copenhagen (tel. 33-13-34-00), one of the finest addresses in the capital, the epitome of Danish modern with chic furnishings such as trendy black leather.

On the Esplanaden, near the Danish Resistance Museum, Comfort Hotel Esplanaden (tel. 33-48-10-00) is a new hotel in the moderately priced field. A building from the 1800s has been considerably upgraded, its interior gutted, and turned into this bastion of comfort with a functionally modern interior.

During the life of this edition, the staid old Palace (tel. 33-14-40-50) is being vastly restored and redesigned, beginning with the opening of the chic "The Night Wing." More changes are in the air, although this 1910 hotel will remain open during its conversion into a more exciting choice for the postmillennium.

Set within a very short walk of the Tivoli, Hotel 27 (tel. 70-27-56-27) is in the middle of a wholesale transformation into something far more glamorous than it was under a different name. By the time that this edition appears, all the work should be complete, and the rooms will have a chic Danish modern design, often in blacks and reds.

After a major overhaul and many changes, the Park Hotel has become Hotel Fox (tel. 33-13-30-00). The owners hired 21 separate designers from all over Europe to strut their stuff -- and so they did, turning the Fox into one of the most avant-garde of all Danish modern hotels in Copenhagen. Each room is a highly idiosyncratic work of art.

Opening in the summer of 2006, Copenhagen Island Hotel (tel. 33-38-96-00) rose up on the southern harbor. With its daringly avant-garde architecture, it lies in a rapidly developing section that is becoming one of the trendiest in Copenhagen. The bedrooms, for many visitors, evoke cabins in a cruise ship. In the same area, Marriott Copenhagen (tel. 88-33-99-00) is elegant, opening onto panoramic views of the harbor. The interior is a combination of traditional and hypermodern.

Not all the hotels are expensive, certainly not Danhostel Copenhagen City (tel. 33-11-85-85). Rising 16 floors over the southern harbor, unprecedented for a youth hostel in Europe, it's been called "The Mother of all Youth Hostels," housing more than 1,000 occupants at the same time.

Dining -- The new choice for visiting celebrities and others is M.R. (Mads Reflund) (tel. 33-91-09-49), a posh and trendy enclave of modern continental cuisine. Creative, imaginative cooking goes into a series of fixed-price menus of three to seven courses, each based on market-fresh ingredients deftly handled by the kitchen staff. Also enjoying a love affair with the press is that bastion of Nordic cuisine, NOMA (tel. 32-96-32-97). Many of its specialties are plucked from the chilling waters of the North Atlantic. Fish, the house specialty, is poached, grilled, pickled, smoked, or salted according to old Nordic traditions.

Another new restaurant very much in vogue is Olsen (tel. 33-14-64-00), which showcases the finest of Danish cuisine but offers an array of finely honed Italian and French dishes as well. Trend-conscious locals and visitors enjoy the good times, the grand cuisine, and the chic atmosphere.

You'll find not just visiting Japanese businessmen but devotees of Japanese cuisine from around the world at Umami (tel. 33-38-75-00), which has been installed in the former headquarters of a bank from the 19th century. A fashionable address for dining, Umami is permeated with an aura of Japanese minimalism, offering an imaginative cuisine and the town's best sushi.

Attractions -- Danish modern is showcased at the Dansk Design Centre (tel. 33-69-33-69), which features "classic" modern designers of yesterday as well as emerging stars. The five-story center features contemporary exhibitions of design as well.

Fredensborg

This town is the site of Fredensborg Slot, the castle where the royal family takes up residence in the summer. For years, it's been known for its family-style restaurant, Prinsessen. The site of that restaurant is still here, lying a short walk from the castle, but now it's Da Oscar (tel. 48-48-01-25), serving the best Italian cuisine in the area, especially succulent pastas and freshly caught fish.

Roskilde

In a move that made headlines around the world, the remains of the czarina, Maria Feodorovna, the mother of the last emperor of Russia, were removed from Roskilde Cathedral in 2006 and returned to St, Petersburg. She married Alexander and bore him six children, one of whom, Nicholas II, was executed at the time of the Russian revolution, The remains of her body were taken out of the Danish cathedral and returned to Russia, where she was reburied with her relatives.

Odense

In the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, Le Brasserie (tel. 66-14-11-00) is the hot new dining ticket. Its French menu today owes a culinary debt to Asia, a sort of fusion cuisine. Its bistro fare is based on market-fresh ingredients and features such specialties as a "duet" of Danish veal and French duck with anise-poached fennel.

Skagen

On the North coast of Jutland, there is no more acclaimed place to stay or dine than the new Ruth's Hotel (tel. 98-44-11-24), which lies among the sand dunes of this artists' colony and summer resort. The on-site spa is the best in Jutland, and the restaurant, Ruth's Gourmet, is acclaimed as one of the top five in the country outside Copenhagen.