July 2023 | Our itinerary
Day 1:
After 22 hours of travel (leaving Dallas, Texas at 8pm and arriving to Copenhagen, Denmark at 6pm the next day) we were exhausted yet full of energy. There’s something about traveling to a new city with the love of your life that is just so special & gives you all the endurance you need to start exploring the new place together.
Once we landed in Copenhagen around 6pm, we quickly exited the plane and headed to get our passports checked before grabbing our checked luggage. After we grabbed our suitcases, we then followed the signs to the Metro. Our hotel had emailed us saying that the best way to get to the hotel from the airport (cost and efficiency wise) was to purchase tickets for the Metro and just take that. In all it was about a 15 minute ride + a 5 minute walk which was super easy and convenient. Plus public transportation in other countries is just so much better than the U.S. The train was very clean, which made us feel super safe + was easy to use even though we don’t speak Dutch.
After we got off the train we mapped our walk to the Ibsens Hotel . Once we arrived we quickly checked in & headed upstairs to change before walking to dinner. One of the things we loved most about Copenhagen was how clean, safe, and walkable the whole city was. We had made a reservation at one of the most popular restaurants in Copenhagen, Baest. Unfortunately the reservation was for 7:45pm and by the time we arrived it was 8:45pm. Luckily Alec was able to sweet talk the waiter into still letting us have a table which we were so grateful for!
Once seated, we decided to do their Best Menu which is a 7 course meal accompanied by 3 glasses of wine. Of course I wasn’t able to enjoy that part of the experience but baby boy is more than worth it. To start they brought us their gazpacho soup followed by the freshest charcuterie board we’ve ever had. It came with 4 different meats, 2 cheeses, a fresh loaf of bread, and a Caesar salad. Next up was their broccolini topped with pesto + pistachio. It was literally to die for! Finally was the pizza of our choice, and of course we went with the most popular choice which had tomato sauce, garlic, BÆST Stracciatella, & oregano. Throughout the dinner there were 3 wine parings, the first was sparkling, the second was similar to a rose, and the third was a nice glass of red. Alec’s favorite was the sparkling white but he really enjoyed all 3. Once we paid our tab and left the restaurant it was about 11pm. As I’m sure you’ve heard before but Europeans enjoy eating late and for a long time. So it definitely wasn’t uncommon to take over 2 hours at dinner + stay past closing time. While walking back to our hotel, we decided to stop into a donut shop for some sweet treats. We ended up getting 2 donuts topped with what looked like butterfingers. From there we slowly walked back enjoying the fresh air + new scenery along the way. Such a romantic way to end the night and just soak up the skyline of a gorgeous new city!
Day 2 : Sunday morning we woke up around 8:30am and immediately decided to get ready to jump start our day! We didn’t have too much time in Copenhagen that morning because of our check in time on the cruise, but we really wanted to make the most of our time in this beautiful city.
After we finished getting ready and packing up our bags, we took them to the hotel lobby so they could hold them until we were ready to depart. Luckily the hotel had an entire luggage holding room in the basement that was locked by code, which made us feel extra safe about leaving our bags with them for the day. Another unsponsored plug but that’s a huge reason we love our travel luggage from Beis. Everything has locks on it so even if we had to leave our luggage at the front desk no one would be able to get into it without a code. Just an extra layer of safety and protection which brings us peace us mind when traveling, especially out of the country.
From the hotel, we walked about 5 or so minutes over to the Torvehallerne Market where we enjoyed breakfast at Grod. This place was highly recommended to us (through the OOO app as well as colleagues) for their incredible oatmeal, and boy it did not disappointment. Alec and I ended up sharing the Oat Porridge and the Blueberry Acai Bowl, both were to die for! I think my favorite was the açaí bowl and Alec’s was the porridge but honestly we were both obsessed with each dish. Since this Grod was located inside the market it was a less formal meal, which was actually perfect since we were kind of in a hurry to get our day going. We would highly recommend arriving at opening though because by 9:30an it was popping! Seems like this is truly the place to eat breakfast whether you are a local or a visitor!
After we finished eating our breakfast, we walked over to the Copenhagen Botanical Garden. Admission was free for this breathtaking park where you could just walk around admiring the lush greenery + downtown city views. Towards the back of the property is the Palm House (which is their green room) where you could pay extra to go inside. Since we had the time, we decided to do so which made for an even better experience. The Palm House takes you through a couple of different rooms with changing climates based on the plant’s needs. At the end you also get to walk through their butterfly exhibit where they have tons of different types of butterflies showing off their colorful wings.
Once we finished our visit at the gardens, we decided to continue walking further downtown to Nyhavn. This is probably once of the most popular sites to see in Copenhagen. There is a river that runs through the center of the downtown area where there are very bright + colorful buildings on both sides. Before we made it to that area though, we decided to stop at Taarnet for some drinks. One thing about being pregnant and traveling is it’s important to listen to your body, take breaks, and rest when you need to. This has definitely been a different trip for me because typically I am the go, go go, person on trips. I never want to stop because I want to make sure we see everything we possibly can so this has been a challenging yet refreshing new experience. After enjoying my cafe latte and Alec his Kronenberg beer, we walked across the street to Nyhavn. This is definitely more of a touristy area so be prepared for more crowds and people but overall it was still very safe and clean. After we walked all the way to the end of the street we decided to grab some ice cream from a local shop before making our way back to our hotel. All along Nyhavn there are tons of cute cafes and restaurants where you can grab a drink to go or sit down to enjoy some food with the view. As we made our way back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head for the port, we walked through the downtown shopping district which had a plethora of unique + well known stores all around.
2 things we learned about Copenhagen when visiting:
It rains a lot so be prepared and back a poncho, hat, or umbrella. Honestly it doesn’t rain too hard or for that long so it didn’t bother us at all but just something to keep in mind when outfit planning and prepping for your visit to Denmark.
The sun rises early and sets late. In total they only had about 4 hours of darkness during our visit so be sure to pack that sleep mask if you are hoping to get more than a couple hours of sleep in pure darkness. Because of this it did make it feel more like a late night city with much fewer people up and at ‘em early in the morning.
Other things to do in Copenhagen that we wanted to just didn’t have time for-
Rosenborg Castle
Round Tower
Where to stay
This was the perfect hotel for our quick stay in Copenhagen. The rooms are definitely on the smaller side (we shared 2 twin beds pushed together) but if you are needing something pretty inexpensive in the heart of the city for a short stay this place is great!
The overall aesthetic is very modern and clean with a super cute cafe + restaurant in the lobby of the hotel. Also the staff is super friendly and very helpful, we could not recommend this hotel enough!
Where to eat
Coffee + Breakfast
Grod*
Brunch + Lunch
Dinner + Drinks
*places we ate at
What to do
*things we did
What to wear
After our quick visit to the beautiful city of Copenhagen, we learned 2 things! 1. It rains a lot there, which totally makes sense because there greenery is so lush and bright. 2. It's pretty chilly there, even in the summertime. So here is what we wore when traveling to visit Copenhagen, Denmark in early July-
Day 1 | |
Day 2 |
xo, The Stegalls Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don't miss our full vlog on our 22 hour trip to Copenhagen, Denmark!
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