Couple of summers ago, we spent a week in Denmark. My son is a big Lego fan and when reading around, I saw so many reviews to say it was a very kid-friendly country! Coincendentally, my daughter was learning about Vikings so bingo! Booked our flights, booked our Airbnbs, did out itinerary so we can cover the whole country and off we went.
We landed in Copenhagen and were planning to stay around the capital for a few days before we headed north. Our Airbnb was a couple stops from Copenhagen in a town called Gentofte. The train was a bit confusing but the Danish people are so friendly that people guided us through the station and the way. As we arrived late in the afternoon, we just wanted to settle down and explore the local area. The flat we were staying in was so cozy and nice however it had a communal shower in the basement! Apparently, old buildings have communal showers due to plumbing issues but it is slowly getting better! Our first shopping trip was exciting! Here's the 3 of us with barely any Danish between us trying to lead a Danish life. We were adamant to try and use the little phrases we used but the shop assistants and cashier were so nice about it! Denmark is however extremely expensive! I easily spent £50 in Netto for a 3 day shop! Oh well! The rest of the evening was spent strolling the streets and getting ready for the next day.
The next day, I invested in a Copenhagen card (there's an app where you can download the card and you have the option to choose for how many days you need it for). This was the easiest and cheapest way to travel and see places in and around Copenhagen. It around and wanted to save as much money as I can. Here's what we did while while we close to Copenhagen (mostly using the Copenhagen card):
- København V - Tivoli Gardens - the 3rd oldest theme park in the world! It was charming with a mix of new and old rides, beautiful gardens and great atmosphere. It is situated right outside the station.
- Roskilde - famous for its cathedral where many kings and queens are buried but also for the Viking Ship Museum. We spent hours in this museum as there was so much to do and see. We did a couple of activities such as painting with paints used by Vikings, we tried to build a model Viking ship, played Viking games. The museum with actual Viking ships was immense. The play area was great for role-play. However, the highlight was the boat ride on a replica of a Viking ship. Laksha was made captain of the boat while all of the other sailors had to row! It was such a beautiful memory.
- København - Rosenberg Castle. A small but charming castle where the crown jewels are. We didn't visit the museum as the kids weren't interested so we just pretended to be king and queen and enjoyed the gardens and the play areas.
- Nørreport - The Workers Museum was a fantastic museum especially for kids as they had so much to play with and learn about the danish working class. Not too far away was the Botanical Gardens which also housed the National History Museum of Denmark and The Geologisk Museum.
- København Ø - Zoologican Museum. Where have we ever gone and not visited a couple of dinosaurs? They even had skeletons for us to handle.
- Lyngby - Open Air Museum, Frilandsmuseet. There's no better way to learn a country's history but an open air museum. Rather than the usual museum, we find open-air museums more informative and kid-friendly. We saw how houses and way of living from different Danish eras was. It was wonderful! The big green space was so inviting!
- Odense - how can we not go to the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson. There was a festival going on which was our added bonus with Anderson's tales being played out. We also visited the museum where we learnt so much about his life. We also visited his childhood house near the museum and loved the coloured houses. Just around the museum, was another great placed called Tinderbox. This was such a great place for kids to be kids with so many different rooms to do role-play and basically be a child. It was like entering a mythical world where you can be anything. I even turned into a child and played.
- Billund - Lego City! Legoland was Legoland. We spent the entire day there. The campsite that we stayed at, provided us with discounted tickets and we made the most of it. Lego House was huge and on each floor there was more legos and opportunities to play around.
