Copenhagen, Denmark

It is a long drive from Hamburg to Copenhagen so my plan was to stop overnight en route on the western coast of Denmark. I stopped in the city of Esbjerg at a campsite which was unstaffed (as it was a Sunday). The city itself is a major port although completely devoid of life when I biked around the town. I therefore decided to grab a shower and head in-land for a free spot to spend the night. In the morning I left Jutland (the mainland) and crossed Funen into Zealand - these are Denmarks largest land masses. The bridge which connects Denmark together by road has a toll charge of about £25 and the strong cross winds make it a pretty scary drive in a high-top van.

I was planning to find a hostel in Copenhagen as they tend to be as cheap as campsites, unfortunately though it would cost around £40 a day to park the van in any of the nearby streets so I went to the Absalon Campsite on the edge of town which is a really nice site.

Copenhagen is one of the best cities I have ever been to, with friendly people, low pollution and litter, and low crime - although I did have my bike lights stolen. The city centre is a mix of modern buildings and classic danish architecture with a good mix of parks and canals. It is clearly an expensive place to live though - I paid 50 DKK for a beer (about £6.30) - and there are plenty of high-end shops, restraunts and art galleries. The rest of Denmark by comparison is very quiet and rural though, so the city does not really give an accurate account of normal Danish life.

I visited the Danish Design Museum, Danish Design Centre, Ripleys Believe It Or Not, Hans Christian Andersen Museum, The Little Mermaid, Kastellet, Cristiansborg, and Opera House. All of these are easily accessable from the city centre and many of them are free to enter.

Above: The Opera House as seen from the park across the bay.

Above: Views from the Kastellet

Above: The Mermaid, one of Copenhagen's biggest attractions. Surely a mermaid wouldn't have knees though?

Above: The two-headed cow from the Ripleys museum and a scale model of the Taj Mahal made from 300,000 matchsticks.

Copenhagen has plenty of bars, clubs and cafes. On Wednesday I visited The Viking House in town which was full of German students who had just finished their studies in Copenhagen before returning to Germany. And on Friday night I went to a small blues club in town with live music and drank with at the bar, mostly for free with the bar staff, into the small hours. It seems a very friendly place with very little of the trouble that dominates drinking in the UK.

After a long sleep, I headed across the ferry into Sweden.