How to spend 36 hours in Copenhagen

After 12 years working on urban development projects in the UK, US, Australia, China and Norway at Gehl Architects, Jutland-born van Deurs comes to her job at a time when the city is in the grip of expansion and green transition. The past 20 years have seen a new Metro, a new bridge to Malmo in Sweden, a larger airport, 400km of new cycleways and new pedestrian zones.

“Copenhagen is a turnaround story,” she says. “Young people are moving here. The population is growing by 10,000 annually, 6,000 of whom are children. They want access to parks, air quality and safe cycleways. The average size of household in Copenhagen is 1.8 compared to 2.1 nationally. Young people want to spend more of their lives living out and about. We see requests for more community-oriented living.”

Copenhagen has set itself the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2025, shifting mobility “from black to green”, and experimenting with reusable building materials. Going cold turkey on the candles and wood-burning fires that Danes so love will be a wrench, but, as van Deurs says, “People understand that they have to make sacrifices, but they expect the city to provide attractive alternatives.”

How to get about town? The traditional bicycle holds its own for the 49 per cent who commute to work and school on two wheels, but the new Metro is easier. “It takes you to the city’s boroughs, where you get a sense of Copenhagen life.”

Van Deurs would begin her 36 hours with breakfast at Granola in a “perfect little street” in Vesterbro, the old red-light district which has “sprung into life with restaurants, design boutiques, art galleries, public spaces and a skating rink”. After waltzing through an exhibition at the BLOX architectural centre by the harbour, she would take a water bus to Refshaleøen, the old ship yard, for its art galleries and food markets. “I would then walk to CopenHill to the Amager Bakke, the city’s waste incinerator, which has a 450m ski slope on top.”

In the evening, if she was “very lucky” and had booked, van Deurs would dine at Noma restaurant, which she describes as “theatre for the senses. Visually and in terms of taste, it is 18 courses of wonders, rather than the best meal you will ever have.”

The following morning, she would aim for the King’s Garden, which Christian IV built in the medieval centre of the city. “It used to serve as a vegetable garden for the royal court,” she says. “Today it is once again used for farming. It is a lovely park in the centre of the city.”

For places to eat, van Deurs recommends Il Buco near her office; Aamanns Deli & Takeaway, “the best place for open sandwiches”; and for “food, views and architecture”, Trio, which sits atop the Axel Towers.

Looking for a day trip out of Copenhagen, van Deurs suggests taking the train to Humlebæk, 40 minutes north of Copenhagen, to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art – “the most visited museum in Denmark, on a beautiful setting along the seashore”.

The land of everyday wonder

Danes consistently rank among the world's happiest people, and it’s not hard to see why. From the cosiness concept of hygge to a true appreciation of nature, they’ve perfected the art of putting heart and soul into everyday life. Experience it for yourself on a trip to its buzzing capital of Copenhagen and you’re bound to bring that sense of wonder back home with you. 

Find out more about the spectacular city of Copenhagen at visitcopenhagen.com.