Copenhagen - Thoughts

[JammyDodge]

I have had the pleasure of a couple days in Copenhagen before Christmas. Currently on the train to Malmö for a little excursion. Here are some thoughts and observations I have made.

Roads:
Lack of dropped kerbs, occasionally you will get some tarmac that's been formed into a ramp, but come on, basic accessibility.
Pedestrian cycles are combined with traffic cycles, which means you have to trust that drivers turning will give way to you (my experience is 95% of the time they do).
Far too much on street parking. Scrap 50% of it, and plant some trees or foliage. There are plenty of underground facilities around.
Some wide roads in the city centre. I would guess post war arterials. Narrow them, or at least remove the on street parking that many seem to have.
Copenhagen is often lauded as a cycling Mecca, and it is. But the overall lack of protected infrastructure is a disappointment. Or the classic it just merges with a vehicle lane when the going gets tough at intersections.
The street lighting is wild (at least in the central area). It's suspended from cable above. Initially I though they where for trolleybuses, but they have suspended lights and at some intersections a central traffic light unit. This creates less clutter on the footpaths, which is a nice benefit.

Rail:
The metro is great. We need to build some identical systems in cities like Bristol and Leeds, although probably with future proofed platforms (Copenhagen's metro uses 3 car trains, with seemingly no extra length of platforms to expand in future).
Suburban Rail (S-bahn type) needs some cleaning up. Trains coated in graffiti. Stations seem less cared for than the Metro. Something notable is the cycle cars, with capacity for like 10-20 bikes. I think there are a couple per train, from the couple I have caught.
Regional/Intercity rail though, seems decent.
It's weird not having barriers for any of it, even at the Central Station, but it also frees up the concourse which creates a more pleasant station.

[Big L]

Loved Copenhagen when I went maybe 15 years ago.

Underground was fantastic; next train counted down in minutes and seconds, and was pretty bang on. Pushbikes that were free to hire, worked like a shopping trolley, put a coin in to unlock it, get coin back when you lock it up again elsewhere. Incredibly clean, everyone spoke English.

[Vierwielen]

Loved Copenhagen when I went maybe 15 years ago.

Incredibly clean, everyone spoke English.

I don't know about Copenhagen, but when I got chatting to a woman in a hospital in Stokholm, she told me that TV in Sweden is sub-titled, not dubbed, so children are exposed to English at a very young age (even if it is Telly-Tubby English!). I imagain that Denmark is much the same as Sweden in this respect.

[RichardA626]

I liked my visit to Copenhagen in 2011, weather permitting.

I remember having to look out for bikes when crossing the road without using a proper crossing.

All the imported TV was subtitled, & there was quite a bit of British & American shows available when flicking through the channels, the hotel had the main Swedish channels as well.

The trains to & from the airport were good, but the ticket machines at both ends only took coins, so it meant queuing up to buy them over the counter.

[Owain]

Rail:
The metro is great. We need to build some identical systems in cities like Bristol and Leeds...

I've never been to Copenhagen, but I was born in Bristol and I live in Leeds, so I'd definitely agree with you about those places!

[JammyDodge]

Rail:
The metro is great. We need to build some identical systems in cities like Bristol and Leeds...

I've never been to Copenhagen, but I was born in Bristol and I live in Leeds, so I'd definitely agree with you about those places!

The metro is automated (like the DLR), but I don't think there is a member of staff onboard most of the time. It's a great system, with trains ever 2-3 minutes through the core sections, and is 24h (although I don't know about frequency later on). If you are building a new system that doesn't have to integrate with anything else but itself, it's the style to build.
Also the station are very simple but efficient. Also, platform screen doors.

But we couldn't build that here, because the treasury has an allergic reaction to the mention of spending money on anything that is positive for social and economic mobility

[ravenbluemoon]

For a capital city, I quite like Copenhagen*. I'll occasionally nip into town if I'm flying out of Kastrup Airport or changing trains for elsewhere.

The public transport is pretty spot on. The airport is on the same mainline as the trains to Sweden, and isn't that much more to pay for Gothenburg - Copenhagen (at least with SJ, plus they're really comfy in 1st). Most of the long distance trains stop at the central station, however AFAIK the tickets are valid to Vesterport and Nørreport also, if that's more convenient. Usually is, as SJ's trains are relagated to some remote platform a zillion miles from the main concourse. As mentioned above, the Metro is quite snazzy and works well. Although driverless, they do have ticket inspectors.

Kastrup Airport (the main one by the bridge) is well integrated. The train station and metro are all within the terminal. Even when arriving at the "cheap flight" terminal, I've made it from plane door to train door in half an hour. Sometimes I need a hand with the ticket machines, but there's plenty of stewards on hand.

I once had to drive into central Copenhagen on a Saturday evening - it was when you needed a PCR covid test to cross certain borders, and I had missed the one out of town - the only one open was right next to the main Rådhuspladsen/City Hall Square. Absolute doddle driving in and out at that time of day, parking was a pain. Although there is on street parking, it is very well used. I ended up at an underground car park at Nørreport, which wasn't expensive.

Cyclists are nuts, probably on a par with Amsterdam. Everyone is amazingly friendly though - English is spoken perfectly by most, and seemed preferable to my poor spoken Swedish. I'm not sure if Danes themselves understand Danish

Top Tip: Use the Metro/Bus to get to the Little Mermaid. I walked from the centre and it took ages, even with sensible (for me) shoes on!

Hopefully you enjoyed Malmö - it's a cracking city. There's a decent bar/alternative scene there nowadays, and it's done well to clean up its image from yesteryear. I think the Bridge has helped a lot. Lund further down the line is another decent city, an old university town that contrasts well with Malmö.

* Much as everyone raves on about Stockholm, it's... ok. I like the area around Gamla Stan and Sodermalm where my OH's family grew up, but it doesn't seem as friendly as Gothenburg or even Copenhagen. And driving around there is weird as you end up in tunnels that spit you out in unexpected places!

[trickstat]

I spent a few days in Copenhagen in 2006. I had to Google the Metro as I wasn't sure there was one when I was there. Turns out it was quite new and hadn't reached the airport then. I stayed near Tivoli Gardens and walked everywhere other than taking the train for the flight home.

I remember there being quite a few bikes but there were more in Amsterdam that I visited the next year.

[Debaser]

Everyone is amazingly friendly though - English is spoken perfectly by most, and seemed preferable to my poor spoken Swedish. I'm not sure if Danes themselves understand Danish

These documentaries highlight this tragic problem.

[FosseWay]

Pedestrian cycles are combined with traffic cycles, which means you have to trust that drivers turning will give way to you (my experience is 95% of the time they do).

This isn't just Copenhagen/Denmark - this is normal for everywhere in northern Europe IME apart from the UK and Ireland.

It builds on the basic premise that priority, and the lights/signage that go with it, depends on where you're going, not your mode of travel. Everyone going straight on at a given junction gets priority at the same time; if you wish to turn across someone else's lane, you either have to wait for an explicit signal or you must give way to traffic using the lanes you wish to cross. And a "lane" includes pedestrian and cycle paths that are separate from the motor lanes.

[KeithW]

I worked with BWSC (Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian contractor a/s) aka Power Technology back in the late 1980's and they exclusively used English in all their documentation as their major products were packaged power stations in the Caribbean and Africa. Even the panhandlers and beggars in Copenhagen spoke English. One of my colleagues mentioned that as youngsters most of the TV programs they watched were in English as producing Danish language versions was expensive. As others have said some programs had Danish subtitles.

[Nwallace]

The most confusing thing about Cycling in Copenhagen is also the one that explains the lack of protected lanes.

You turn left, by turning right and doing a uey into the stop box.
Everything can be done from a lane on the right of the carriageway without conflict.

I failed to understand this from watching people and was confused as to why no one was turning left when there were so many bikes about and important places like the railway station were to the left.

[Mark Hewitt]

I have had the pleasure of a couple days in Copenhagen before Christmas. Currently on the train to Malmö for a little excursion. Here are some thoughts and observations I have made.

Roads:
Lack of dropped kerbs, occasionally you will get some tarmac that's been formed into a ramp, but come on, basic accessibility.
Pedestrian cycles are combined with traffic cycles, which means you have to trust that drivers turning will give way to you (my experience is 95% of the time they do).
Far too much on street parking. Scrap 50% of it, and plant some trees or foliage. There are plenty of underground facilities around.
Some wide roads in the city centre. I would guess post war arterials. Narrow them, or at least remove the on street parking that many seem to have.
Copenhagen is often lauded as a cycling Mecca, and it is. But the overall lack of protected infrastructure is a disappointment. Or the classic it just merges with a vehicle lane when the going gets tough at intersections.
The street lighting is wild (at least in the central area). It's suspended from cable above. Initially I though they where for trolleybuses, but they have suspended lights and at some intersections a central traffic light unit. This creates less clutter on the footpaths, which is a nice benefit.

Rail:
The metro is great. We need to build some identical systems in cities like Bristol and Leeds, although probably with future proofed platforms (Copenhagen's metro uses 3 car trains, with seemingly no extra length of platforms to expand in future).
Suburban Rail (S-bahn type) needs some cleaning up. Trains coated in graffiti. Stations seem less cared for than the Metro. Something notable is the cycle cars, with capacity for like 10-20 bikes. I think there are a couple per train, from the couple I have caught.
Regional/Intercity rail though, seems decent.
It's weird not having barriers for any of it, even at the Central Station, but it also frees up the concourse which creates a more pleasant station.

We are currently looking at visiting in April but having trouble finding decent accomodation for a reasonable price.

We have seen some places eg out near the ferry terminal and Little Mermaid statue, but don't know if that is too out of the way.

Let me know how Malmö goes as we would want to have at least one day out of the city and that seems interesting.

[Debaser]

The most confusing thing about Cycling in Copenhagen is also the one that explains the lack of protected lanes.

You turn left, by turning right and doing a uey into the stop box.
Everything can be done from a lane on the right of the carriageway without conflict.

I failed to understand this from watching people and was confused as to why no one was turning left when there were so many bikes about and important places like the railway station were to the left.

The so-called 'Copenhagen Left'.

[ravenbluemoon]

We are currently looking at visiting in April but having trouble finding decent accomodation for a reasonable price.

We have seen some places eg out near the ferry terminal and Little Mermaid statue, but don't know if that is too out of the way.

I'd check that you're not visiting around the time that Eurovision is being hosted in Malmö - you may find Copenhagen is busy too.

As I mentioned above, The Little Mermaid is a bit of a slog by foot to/from the city proper, but there is decent buses between the two, and the walk does have a few decent touristy bits on the way.

Everyone is amazingly friendly though - English is spoken perfectly by most, and seemed preferable to my poor spoken Swedish. I'm not sure if Danes themselves understand Danish

These documentaries highlight this tragic problem.

Ha, the first clip was the one I was thinking of. I was probably sent it as an introduction to "friendly Danish-Swedish rivalry"

[Debaser]

Ha, the first clip was the one I was thinking of. I was probably sent it as an introduction to "friendly Danish-Swedish rivalry"

And never mind the language - Danish maths looks like it's near impossible.

(I once made an attempt at learning Norwegian and our tutor gave us these links to show the [humorous] difference in the Scandi languages).

[JammyDodge]

We are currently looking at visiting in April but having trouble finding decent accomodation for a reasonable price.

We have seen some places eg out near the ferry terminal and Little Mermaid statue, but don't know if that is too out of the way.

Let me know how Malmö goes as we would want to have at least one day out of the city and that seems interesting.

I stayed at a Hostel called Steel House, which is a bit more upmarket than your stereotypical hostel. I believe they do double rooms. Was very good for the price. They don't have luxuries like included breakfast or a restaurant, but it is very close to the city centre and central station, and there are some nice cafes and restaurants nearby.

I would say, as long as you are nearby one of the metro stations you will be fine. I bought the City Pass (Small) from the airport. It covers zones 1-4 which gets you bus, harbour ferries, metro and Suburban trains. It's available in increments of 24 hours, up to 120h (5 days) from time of purchase. I had a 96h pass which was 250kr (~£28)

My day trip to Malmö was good. The train was about 45-60 mins from centre to centre and was roughly £24 return for myself. Had a wonder around and went to the museum at Malmö Castle.

[Peter Freeman]

I loved Copenhagen. I spent a few days there in September last year.

Great English speakers. It would help if they officially adopted the Euro.

I too did a day-trip to Malmo. A very pleasant city, but I mainly wanted to experience the Oresund Crossing. For a good view, I had the front seat on the upper deck of the FlixBus, which departs Copenhagen near the station.

I didn't drive at all, but did spend enough time on the roads to see these divider chevrons at many points -
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@55.6284 ... ?entry=ttu
It seems to me that they are, universally, upside-down. Does anyone agree?

[RichardA626]

We are currently looking at visiting in April but having trouble finding decent accomodation for a reasonable price.

We have seen some places eg out near the ferry terminal and Little Mermaid statue, but don't know if that is too out of the way.

Let me know how Malmö goes as we would want to have at least one day out of the city and that seems interesting.

I stayed at a Hostel called Steel House, which is a bit more upmarket than your stereotypical hostel. I believe they do double rooms. Was very good for the price. They don't have luxuries like included breakfast or a restaurant, but it is very close to the city centre and central station, and there are some nice cafes and restaurants nearby.

I would say, as long as you are nearby one of the metro stations you will be fine. I bought the City Pass (Small) from the airport. It covers zones 1-4 which gets you bus, harbour ferries, metro and Suburban trains. It's available in increments of 24 hours, up to 120h (5 days) from time of purchase. I had a 96h pass which was 250kr (~£28)

My day trip to Malmö was good. The train was about 45-60 mins from centre to centre and was roughly £24 return for myself. Had a wonder around and went to the museum at Malmö Castle.

If I had been there a day longer I would have had a day trip to Sweden, probably to Ystad as me & my then Girlfriend were Wallander fans.