Just a few days before I made my way to Athens, Greece for the first time, my airline asked for volunteers to take an alternative flight. Cue heaps of stress.
In my head, this meant my flight was certainly going to be canceled and I didn’t want to wait around to and ultimately be forced to find a solution at the last minute, so I checked the other flights offered by the airline and volunteered myself.
A flight leaving 2 days earlier offered a 5 hour layover in Copenhagen, Denmark and I knew it was an opportunity to add a country to my newly growing list.
After a quick bit of research, it seemed like a 5 hour layover was the perfect amount of time to run out of the airport and get a quick exploration of the city. And I am so glad that I did!
Having had my bag checked through to the final destination, I had just my single backpack and as soon as the first flight landed, I grabbed my bag and headed out for my mini-adventure.
Navigating the airport was very easy. Simply follow the signs for the exit, and then head towards the train. Leaving the airport was as simple as waiting in line less than 5 minutes and having my passport scanned.
From there, I headed over to grab a train ticket to take me into the city.
The train ride from the airport to Kongens Nytorv was only about 15 minutes, and cost 36DKK, or about $5 USD.
When I arrived, I made my way over to the canal for a boat tour that I had booked previously.
For roughly $20 USD, I got an incredible one hour boat tour of the beautiful Cophenhagen.
The tour was offered in a few different languages, English being an option. We rode around the water for just over an hour and saw some of the most incredible parts of the city.
We were told about the history of the buildings, who designed them, what they were used for, and even some funny stories relating to different parts of the town.
Did you know that the original Little Mermaid was written here in Copenhagen? You’ll find a lovely statue of her both in the airport, and in the water.
Apparently it’s an often vandalized statue, and she’s even been decapitated! Ah! Poor girl!!
After the boat tour finished, it was time for a little walk over to grab some lunch.
I found that Copenhagen had a handful of vegan options, but I went with 42 Raw. The food was great, but I did find the price tag of about $23 USD for a coffee and some fancy avocado toast to be quite steep.
After stretching my legs a bit, enjoying some sunshine and admiring the architecture, it was time to head back to the airport.
I made my way down to the train, and within 20 minutes was making my way through security.
I’ve been a big fan of TSA PreCheck in the US and have become immensly spoiled with how easy it is for me to get through airport security. Of course that doesn’t transfer in other countries and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but there is no exageration when I tell you I made it from the doors of the airport to my gate in under 5 minutes.
I did go through in the middle of the day, so you may find longer wait times at peak travel hours, but I was presently surprised with the speed at which I got through.
Overall, though it was a short stop, I had an incredible time in Copenhagen and would absolutely recommend it to anyone wanting to travel a bit.
Everything was incredibly clean, each person I interacted with was very, very friendly, and I didn’t have a single problem using only English.
So! Tell me! Have you been to Denmark? If so, what did you think? If not, will you be going now??
Let me know in the comments below!
