Denmark tour tips

Photographed in 1985, the couple below to the left typify the underclass hidden beneath the otherwise rich and culturally vibrant veneer of Copenhagen in Denmark.

It's 6 o'clock in the morning and Copenhagen is a beautiful city, but there are plenty of urchins who drink themselves into forgetting that life sometimes must be lived on the streets.

Pictured to the right is the city's famous Den Lille Havfure, better known as the Little Mermaid created in 1913 by Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen in tribute to storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. The Little Mermaid draws about a million visitors each year.

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Copenhagen is located on the east coast of Denmark on the island of Sjaelland.

About a third of Denmark's population live in the Danish capital, which is a pulsating, living museum of superbly preserved antique buildings.

Copenhagen Airport has been voted the best in the world due to its modern services and ease of proximity to the city centre. The airport provides more than 200 weekly passenger departures to 16 cities in Eastern and Central Europe, including a large number of departures to the Baltic region and frequent connections to 27 Nordic destinations.

The airport has a rail link into Copenhagen, which in turn has recently opened its first metro system featuring new, state-of-the-art, driverless trains which run 24 hours a day linking large urban areas to the east and west of the city.

Express trains into Copenhagen depart from beneath the airport's Terminal 3 arrivals hall and the journey takes 12 minutes, costing 27 krone (about US$5) in 2007. Airport buses cost the same and leave every 15 minutes. For travellers driving into Copenhagen from Sweden, the Oresund Bridge crossing toll is 220 kroners (about US$41 in 2007).

Hotel rooms cost a fair bit with a cheap hostel likely to charge about US$15 per night.

Budget bed and breakfast hotel rooms can be found for less than US$20 per night but most rooms are between US$30 and US$90 per night. Spend an average US$15 per day on food and you'll quickly realise that Denmark is not a cheap country in which to travel.

If you can travel on less than US$50 per day, you are being spartan and probably doing little. Car rentals are expensive. Bargaining and tips are not common practices in Denmark.

For cheap hotel rooms, check the area just west of the central train station.

Europe's largest city hostel, the five-star Danhostel for families and youth, opened in 2005 in the heart of Copenhagen. The hostel, located on the harbour front close to the trendy Vesterbro district, has about 700 beds with a night's accommodation just over US$20.

For cheap food it's a good idea to shop at supermarkets and prepare your own meals, although restaurants close to Central Station are a little cheaper than elsewhere if you can afford prepared meals.

If you want to check the country's stunning collections of paintings and sculptures, aim for a Wednesday visit when most museums are free.

The centre of Copenhagen is a sight-seeing nirvana with cobbled squares and streets often free of traffic.

You'll find fountains and museums throughout the city, along with castles such as Rosenborg Slot (the Denmark State Treasury containing the crown jewels) and Elsinore (enclosed by the sea on three sides and the original home of Shakespeare's Hamlet).

Copenhagen, of course, is the city of the famous author Hans Christian Andersen (although he actually lived in the town of Odense, Denmark's third largest city), and it's his Little Mermaid pictured above that welcomes ships into the harbour. The city has a history dating back 800 years.

The 1.6 metre bronze mermaid, based on Andersen's 1837 story of a mermaid who falls in love with a prince, has seen her fair share of tribulations in recent years. She was blasted off her rock by vandals using explosives, slightly damaging a knee and wrist. She has been beheaded twice, once lost an arm and has had paint poured over her six times.

English is a second language taught in Denmark schools so it's pretty easy to find your way around.

The Danes themselves are noticeably taller than average and invariably have impeccable manners.

Denmark, like most Scandinavian countries, is expensive for many travellers. Cheap hotel rooms are hard to find.

However, there are ways of cutting holiday travel costs such as avoiding the expensive taxis and instead catching buses.

Alternatively, you can view many of Copenhagen's historic sites by taking a comparatively cheap canal tour on a boat, or you can soak up much of the city via the cheapest travel mode available - walking. Cophenhagen is often crammed with office workers on bicycles and this is another cheap mode of travel. Denmark is an excellent country for cycling as there are separate cycling lanes both in the countryside and in the cities.

The landscape is flat and within walking distance are enough sights to keep you busy for days.

If walking is a little too slow or tiresome, you might hire a free City Bike which you can get from special stands that take a small, refundable deposit from an electronic dispenser for 20 krone (about US$3.70 in 2007), redeemable on return.

The bikes are mostly slow and without gears, but are ideal for navigating the bike-friendly central area. Helmets are not necessary. Denmark has an excellent network of bicycle paths and a cycle tour during summer is a superb way to stay fit and save money. About 75% of Danes own a bicycle and frequently use them.

Copenhagen is a gorgeous city, its houses mostly half-timbered with architecture dating back to the the 17th and 18th Century.

Copenhagen has approximately 3.5 million inhabitants within a 50 kilometre (31 mile) radius and is the most densely packed city in Northern Europe.

The city has low unemployment and high income per capita.

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Copenhagen enjoys a low crime rate and boasts a high standard of living. Almost 20% of Copenhagen's total area is for recreation, well above the European average for major cities.

The city has plenty of tiny public squares and the suburb of Nyhavn has many of Copenhagen's oldest and most colourful buildings dating to the early 1700s. Many are now restaurants and pubs. Nyhavn's canal waterfront is a gathering place for tourists and locals at dawn and sunset each day, and is great for people-watching or enjoying musicians and buskers.

Danish Queen Margrethe II and her husband Prince Henrik live at Amalienborg Palace, built in 1749 and nestled into a picturesque harbour setting framed by gardens, fountains and trees.

There are actually four palaces built symetrically around an octagon on cobblestones.

For an intimate look at Denmark's history, museums are built into the royal residence and you can even look at Denmark's crown jewels at nearby Rosenborg Palace.

Every day at 11.30am, the Royal Guard troops from Rosenborg Palace to Amalienborg Palace for the changing of the guard at midday. If Queen Margrethe II is in residence, the guards are accompanied by the Royal Life Guards Band. Yes, it's worth bringing your camera.

In the heart of Copenhagen is Christianborg Castle, built in 1441 as a royal palace and now home to the Danish Parliament.

A tourist magnet is Kronborg Castle, which is located about 50 kilometres directly north of Copenhagen overlooking the Oresund, the waterway dividing Denmark from Sweden. The enormous Kronborg Castle, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000, is where Shakespeare set his tragedy Hamlet and has survived intact since 1574 and you can nowadays tour its labyrinth of hallways and dungeons.

It's worth noting that Denmark's royalty has an annual summer tradition of touring throughout the country to stay in touch with common folk. You can coordinate your holiday travel with a Crown tour if you want to catch a glimpse of royals such as Crown Prince Frederik and his Australian wife, Princess Mary.

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Copenhagen has a hip cultural ambience and a stylish common architecture of classical period buildings.

The famous Tivoli Gardens are just as you've heard, providing eight hectares of ballet, restaurants, pantomime and circuses.

The Tivoli Gardens entry fee is about US$8 but if you visit on a Friday night, you're likely to have a rock concert thrown in for the price - past performers including Phil Collins, Cher, the Pointer Sisters and Sting.

The Tivoli Gardens date back to 1843 and flank Copenhagen's central train station. Tivoli has some fascinating attractions but prices are very high.

Hans Christian Andersen is probably the world's favourite author of children's fairytales and a new H.C. Andersen House has opened near Copenhagen's famous Strget Mall. A Fairy Tale Museum opened in 2004.

The Kingdom of Denmark covers 42,930 square kilometres and has a population of almost 5.5 million. English and German are widely spoken by Danes and the State religion is Lutheran.

Citizens of most western countries don't need a visa to enter the country for a holiday. Foreigners seeking a Danish passport must live seven years in Denmark before they can be naturalised.

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Winter provides somewhat cold and bleak weather and the most comfortable time to holiday is between late April and October. The country is at its most picturesque during early summer. Summer temperatures average 17 degrees Celsius with the warmest temperatures in the high 20s.

The days are short in winter with temperatures around zero. Overcast skies and showers are common any time of the year with an an average annual rainfall of 630mm.

The Denmark tourist industry buzzes during July and August with plenty of festivals, outdoor concerts and longer opening hours, although the tourism crush can make accommodation scarce and expensive. Musical festivals are a hallmark of Denmark.

Denmark is one of the richest countries in the world, its income mostly from fine quality manufactured goods, fishing, shipping and farm produce. Danish currency is still the krone, not the euro. The krone is divided into 100 ore.

The Danes are a modern, liberal society with literacy levels among the highest in the world and an extensive welfare system largely financed by a 25% tax on everything you buy during your holiday.

A reliable and comprehensive rail and bus system is available and cars are driven on the right side of the road.

Sandy swimming beaches are available along the 7,300 kilometre Danish coastline, along with hundreds of islands, streams, lakes and picturesque inland fjords for people who like water to be a part of their holiday. Nowhere in Denmark is further than 52 kilometres from the sea.

Denmark has more than 400 named islands, the largest being Zealand and Funen. Many of the main islands are connected by spectacular bridges.

A wide variety of clean beaches, marinas and forests can be found in the Oresund region.

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The flat but picturesque North Zealand region north of Copenhagen is home to Fredensborg Castle, an 18th century white Baroque palace where Crown Prince Frederik lives with his Australian wife Mary. The castle grounds features Menagerie Island, which is carpeted with roses, the Nordmandsdalen, a valley peppered with statues, the Reserved Gardens of the royals which are normally open free to the public during July, the Orangery with its nursery of Mediterranean plants, and Chancery House where the royal couple live. North Zealand has a gently undulating landscape with sweeping fjords, picturesque fishing villages, kilometres of sandy beaches forming the Danish Riviera and a plethora of landmarks dating back to the days of the Viking. Others must-see sights in North Zealand include the Louisiana modern arts museum and the north coastal holiday towns of Hornbaek, Gilleleje and Tisvildeleje. You can drive around North Zealand in a day.

Kronborg Castle, made famous by Shakespeare's Hamlet, is a World Heritage site to be found further north near Elsinore.

Denmark's northernmost town is Skagen, a favourite holiday destination for Danes who enjoy its beaches, dunes, stretches of heath and charming local houses, typically yellow with red tiled roofs. Skagen envelopes a working fishing boat harbour which is brimming with masts during summer thanks to visiting sailors from Sweden, Norway, Germany and Britain.

Denmark is a small, flat country punctuated by low hills with a tiny German border to the south, the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east. Separating Sweden to the north are straits peppered with about 400 islands.

Mon is a 30 kilometre long island providing an attractive hideaway from Denmark's more established tourist routes. Like most Danish islands, Mon is connected to the mainland by bridge. Another alternative Danish travel destination is the small island of Aero, where the community aims to be totally self-sufficient in energy by 2008. Mon's main attraction is the cobblestone 17th century town of Aeroskobing, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The ferry from Svendborg to Aero takes just over an hour.

Travel tip: Danish churchyards always have drinking water and clean toilets.

Take note that camping in Denmark is only allowed in designated campsites. Prevailing winds blow from the west and south-west.

A study by Cambridge University academics published in April 2007 found Danish people were the happiest with the greatest life satisfaction among the 15 states that were European Union members in 2004.

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