Copenhagen: a fairytale trip with your children
Christmas is coming, and many of you are planning the perfect holidays to spend with your family. Today we want to dive into the magical Danish city, Copenhagen, where Christmas is full of lights, colors, rides, sweets and flea markets. Let’s find out what to do during the Christmas holidays in Copenhagen.
Tivoli Gardens Copenhagen
Tivoli is the heart of Christmas in Copenhagen. At the entrance, there are two big soldiers dressed in white and red waiting for you. The park, built in 1843 located in the city center, is an area treated in detail with fragrant gardens, fountains with water features, ponds, and pleasant weeping willows. For Christmas, the gardens filled with light and color, music, shows, perfumes, and traditions.
As you enter, you will immerse yourself in an enchanted atmosphere. From November 18th to December 24th you can visit Santa’s cave in the Pantomime Theater. Here Santa and his elves will listen to your children’s wishes and have fun with you: you can take pictures with them, get some advice on how to make your Christmas gifts, or get the latest news from the elves’ lab in Greenland. You can stroll through the Christmas markets, enjoy the desserts and traditional drinks, listen to music or have fun thanks to the 25-game attractions designed for both children and adults.
Nyhavn
Nyhavn, which in Danish means “new port,” is the old port of Copenhagen flanked by the colorful houses of the 1600s and 1700s where the writer Hans Christian Andersen, author of the fairy tale “The Little Mermaid,” lived. Here once came people and goods from all over the world. The canal was built in 1671 by Christian IV and was the center of Danish commerce for two centuries, but then the area had a slow decline and was disreputable until 1970, when the Danish state decided to reclaim it, making it a tourist center. Today it is a place visited by tourists and is full of bars and restaurants, for this reason, it has been dubbed “the Biggest Bar in Scandinavia.”
The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen
Finally, you can see the famous Little Mermaid of Andersen’s fairy tale written in 1836. The Little Mermaid stands in the magical moment when the long tail is about to turn into human legs. The bronze sculpture was commissioned by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, after attending a ballet based on the fairy tale of Andersen. Built-in 1913 by the sculptor Edvard Eriksen, Jacobsen wished the first Danish dancer, Ellen Price, to be the model for the sculpture, but she refused to pose nude; so the body of the Little Mermaid was inspired by Eriksen’s wife, Price instead modeled only for the realization of the face. It is somewhat disappointing that the sculpture located at the pier in Langelinje is just a copy, the original version, in fact, is preserved by Eriksen’s heirs in a secret place. This is because the sculpture was repeatedly damaged and even beheaded in 1964.
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Lego Store Copenhagen and Legoland
Denmark is home to the most popular colored bricks in the world: LEGO. Did you know that the lego motto is “play well”? From the words Leg and Godt. All Danes are proud of it, especially since it was named Toy of the century by the British Association of Toy Retailers. Certainly in Copenhagen could not miss one of the largest Lego Store in the world where, inside, everything, but everything, is inspired by Lego: from furniture to ceiling lighting. In this store, you will find particular materials or classic products that are difficult to find in other retailers. It is located in Vimmelskaftet 37, next to the famous Stroget pedestrian street in a particular structure that stands out for its modern architecture.
Lego Store has three main areas: the first, “‘Pick-A-Brick Wall,” allows you to choose and purchase certain loose pieces from a wide variety of colors and shapes available. The second area, “The Living Room,” is located in the center of the store and is dedicated to interactive games where it is possible to build and create. In the last section “Brand Ribbon,” where classic models are displayed, stands the company’s history. Supporters in Denmark created this latter part that also includes a complete representation of the city of Copenhagen. In addition to the store, you can visit the Legoland park designed for the little ones, captivating for fans thanks to its fun attractions, including the reconstructions of the fascinating Miniland, the world recreated with millions of LEGO bricks. To create the park, it took 60 million bricks to cover 1501 km if they were disassembled and lined up.
Amalienborg Palace
This Palace is the official residence of the Danish royals. It is a complex consisting of four rococo-style palaces, Levetzau (Palace of Christian VIII), Brockdorff (Palace of Frederick VIII), Schack (Palace of Christian IX) and Moltke (Palace of Christian VII). The four buildings place around a large octagonal courtyard in the center of which is the statue of King Frederick V on horseback. Here you can admire the particular ceremony of changing the guard accompanied by the music of the Royal Bodyguard Band, which takes place every day at 12 am on the square of Amalienborg if the Queen is in residence. The ceremony takes place equally if, in the absence of the queen, the prince consort or the crown prince is present in Amalienborg as rulers, but without a band.
Rosenborg Castle
It is a Danish Renaissance castle located in the center of Copenhagen, once used as a residence of the Danish royals and now used as a museum of the Danish Royal collections. Surrounded by a vast green park that once represented the royal gardens and where today, however, many people, especially in the summer, go to relax, be outdoors, read a book. Do not forget to visit, on the lower floor, the jewels of the royals like the crowns and the precious gems of the queen.
