Destination: Copenhagen, Denmark (Danish Pastries, Exploring Nyhavn, & GETTING ENGAGED– PART 1)

Along Nyhavn (June 2025)

Copenhagen is the most-populous city in Denmark, home to over 1.4 million people in its greater Metropolitan Area. It is one of the largest cities in Scandinavia, and it sees over 11 million visitors each year. I’d previously visited Copenhagen in 2012 when I was in college and really enjoyed my time there; I was happy to return 13 years later with my partner, and we spent a few days taking in the Nordic city, especially in the summer!

My partner and I booked a direct flight to Copenhagen from Los Angeles (via SAS Airlines). It was an overnight flight that lasted 10 hours, but it went smoothly and uneventfully– soon enough, we touched down into Copenhagen Kastrup Airport at 15h00 local time and took the metro into the city center. We reached our hotel and checked into our room. The space was small, but very centrally-located at just a 10-minute walk to Nyhavn; it was enough for a couple of night’s stay while sightseeing the city.

It was already past 17h00 when we arrived, and we were tired from the long flight over. That said, we didn’t do much on our first night, except grab dinner at Madklubben, a chain restaurant that I had during my first visit to Copenhagen and really liked. The restaurant serves contemporary Danish cuisine, and it was just a short walk from our hotel. We had a delicious dinner that consisted of Manitoba bread, chilled pea soup, and elderflower panna cotta. We returned to our hotel and crashed for the rest of the evening– given that we visited in the summer, the sun didn’t set until past 23h00, which was wild!

Manitoba bread

Pea soup

Elderflower panna cotta

Thanks to jetlag, I woke up super early the next morning and headed out to grab some Danish pastries at a nearby viennoiserie. I returned to the hotel with the pastries and my partner and I had breakfast in bed. We enjoyed a lemon bun, pistachio croissant, and an orange cinnamon bun– they were tasty enough, but I’ll say I’ve had better Danish pastries before. Nevertheless, they were filling and got us out the door to begin exploring Copenhagen for the day.

Clockwise from top left: lemon bun, pistachio croissant, and orange cinnamon bun

We headed over to Nyhavn at 8h00– thankfully, it was still early and few people were out and about. Because of that, it was the perfect opportunity for the two of us to propose to each other! We’d purchased engagement rings a few months prior and had planned to propose in Denmark; therefore, it wasn’t much of a surprise, with the exception of not knowing what our little speeches would say. It truly felt magical being by the water, against the backdrop of colorful buildings and clear blue skies as we declared our love for each other– and of course, we both said “YES!” ❤

Nyhavn in the morning

Elated, we proceeded to take a canal tour afterwards as a way to see Copenhagen from a different perspective. The ride lasted about an hour, with great weather and lovely views of some major landmarks (the Little Mermaid statue, the Opera, etc.) along the way. Aside from some annoying tourists onboard standing up to take a million selfies and group photos, it was a pleasant ride– I was impressed at the patience of our tour guide telling them to sit down every few minutes!

On the canal tour

Following the canal tour, we headed to the Danish Jewish Museum, located inside the Danish Royal Library and dedicated to the Danish Jews who were saved from the Nazis during WWII, thanks to the Danes who helped transport them over the Øresund strait to seek asylum in neighboring Sweden. Over 7500 Danish Jews were saved, one of the largest groups during the Holocaust. Given my fiancée is Jewish, it was really interesting to visit this museum dedicated to a minority in Denmark. The museum was small, but creatively-designed with its slanted walls and narrow passages to mimic the inside of a ship, a vessel which transport so many Danish Jews to freedom.

Danish Jewish Museum

We were starving after our visit, so we headed to lunch at a traditional restaurant, where we ordered smørrebrød, an open-faced sandwich prominent in Danish cuisine. We tried two types of smørrebrød each, in which I had smoked salmon and herring– frankly, they were a bit too salty for my taste and even though they were open-faced, they were surprisingly really filling. Not my favorite Danish dish, but I’m glad I got to try it, as I didn’t get to during my first trip to Copenhagen.

Salmon smørrebrød

Post-lunch, we took a stroll down Strøget, a 1.1-kilometer (0.7 mile) pedestrian shopping street that was packed with people browsing and window-shopping the various high-end clothing stores. We didn’t stop to shop, but rather passed through to reach The Round Tower, a 17th-century astronomy building with lovely views of the city skyline from above. We paid 60 DKK ($10 USD) each to take the spiraling stairs to the top, where we took our time to admire the rooftops and occasional spires that dotted the Copenhagen horizon.

Strolling Strøget

The Round Tower

Views from the top

We returned to our hotel around mid-afternoon, where we rested for the remainder of the day, still jetlagged. We also weren’t very hungry for dinner, but I did head out to grab a hot dog at a Danish hot dog stand just down the street from our hotel. Danish hot dogs are a popular street food, cheap yet filling. I usually don’t go for hot dogs back home in the US, but there’s something about a Danish hot dog which tastes so much better– I find the frankfurter is meatier, juicier, and snappier than the American counterpart, and I enjoy the toppings (rémoulade sauce, fried onion bits) a lot more. I bought a hot dog for my fiancée and I to share, and honestly, it was one of the best meals we had in Denmark– it was so good that we went back later on!

Danish hot dog for dinner (with all the fixings)!

That concluded our first day and a half in Copenhagen. I’ll write more about our visit soon! Thanks for reading 🙂

— Rebecca