Our happy place - in the air!
|
Goodbye pandemic...we finally got to travel abroad again!! We decided to get ourselves in the Christmas spirit this year we would head towards some of the best Christmas markets in Europe. Our first stop - Copenhagen's Tivoli Christmas Market - where there is just 7 hours of daylight, mixed with rain, wind and chilly temps...but a beautiful market and tasty gløgg to make it all worth it! And if you have California blood like we do, we highly recommend the Ororo heated vest...what a lifesaver for some warmth.
We made it
|
Out and About in Copenhagen
Tivoli Gardens
- Tivoli Gardens had a beautiful Christmas market with lots of festive lights and holiday decorations, amusement rides, food stalls as well as restaurants, along with some retail vendor stalls to browse. Surprisingly to us though the vendors were selling mostly store-type items versus the hand-made the Christmas items we were hoping to find (like in Germany). So while we didn't accomplish any of your Christmas shopping, we still had fun getting in the Christmas spirit and enjoying the great food and warm drinks. We went back a couple times during our short stay, to fully explore the area and would highly recommend a visit if you are looking for something truly unique!
**On mobile device, click any photo to enter gallery with captions
Nyhavn Christmas Market & Canal
- This was a great area of town to walk through - not just for the iconic colored buildings running along the canal, but it was very festive to walk through the street markets smelling all the delicious foods and hot beverages being sold throughout. It was here we learned that to stay even warmer they add a shot of rum or whiskey to their glogg! Highly recommend the whiskey! :)
- There aren't many vendors here, but you can use it as a starting point to weave through town a bit and see additional Christmas markets. It's also the launch point for a boat tour we took on our last day in town.
Other Christmas Markets & Things to Do
- Leaving Nyhaven market, you can head not far over to Kongens Nytorv (1050 Kobenhavn K) for the King's New Square Christmas Market - best food options we found, and then keep going down Stroget pedestrian street through the shops. Be sure to take a photo with the world's tallest man statue! As you continue you'll end up in another market area around Stork Fountain and 1200 Kobenhavn K. It was a very nice walk and you can easily make you way through all 3 markets a couple times with ease. Walking across the Canal bridge
- We ended up walking about a mile back to our hotel to enjoy what small window of daylight we had this time of year. We crossed the Canal Bridge and stumbled upon an ice skating rink (although we didn't partake...I was freezing cold!).
- In a city full of cyclists, I was fascinated with the rails for the bikes to get up and down the staircases. Brilliant! Also the volume of bikes parked at the local bar on the night of the World Cup was beyond impressive.
- Stromma Canal Tours - This was a great thing to do on a cold, rainy day - to still get a bit of exploring in, yet staying dry and mostly warm. The only tough thing was that the windows on the boat fogged up so much you could barely see anything. Still worth the short ride.
Food and Drink
- Tivoli Food Hall - on our first night arriving in Copenhagen we headed out to Tivoli Gardens for an evening walk and dinner. While most of the restaurants had a wait, we stumbled upon the food hall and headed in for a quick bite. It was crowded but had a lot of tasty options to choose from. We ended up selecting Wakha - sharing a delicious chicken and chickpea flatbread with sweet potato fries.
- Glogg - Of course we had to try some Glogg while at Tivoli Christmas market. Surprisingly to us they added in some raisins and nuts to the drink with a wooden spoon to eat them. Not sure if we loved the add ins, but the drink itself was good and warmed the belly on a very cold evening! There was a different version we preferred that was less sweet and didn't include the add ins. I can't recall the names of them though!
- Feed Bistro - we had a wonderful dinner here on their 2nd floor dining room that overlooked the street near Tivoli. It was the night of the FIFA World Cup so after the win we were entertained by the mobs of fans parading down the street after Argentina won. The restaurant itself was very nice. We weren't starving, so we shared the Cutting Board - a variety of 4 starters. The quail lollipops are a must have!
- Nyhavns Kroen - After our canal boat ride we stumbled upon a quaint restaurant along the canal to get out of the rain and enjoy some warm goulash soup for lunch.
- Last but not least, have to give a shout out to the amazing breakfast buffet in the lounge at the Coppenhagen Marriott Hotel. European breakfast is the best!
Feet
Well, I think I'm going to chalk it up to the cold that I didn't take any feet photos in Copenhagen! But here are our girlies enjoying the canal instead.
