Travelling is expensive. Especially if you visit all the tourist traps. That also often comes with bad quality and shitty service because they survive off people who will never return again.
Let me invite you to my side of Copenhagen......
Copenhagen is usually associated with The Little Mermaid, Tivoli, and Nyhavn. Those can be awesome, but really expensive places, so after living in Copenhagen for more than half of my life, I decided to let the world in on my alternative spots around the city, that do not cost an arm and a leg.
This is Brokenhagen pt. 1. I would kindly ask you to let me know what you think, so I can do it optimize the next post.
Food:
Before we start the trip, I recommend to fill your stomach with a good and preferably cheap meal, so you have enough energy for the day.
There’s a spot in the city called Samos Restaurant that I like a lot. The prices are awesome, service good and the food, well - edible.
Another option is Dalle Valle - they usually have half-price on their menu, if you download their app. Both places shouldn’t cost more than 100kr pr. Person.
If you are nearby the lakes, there’s a kebab joint not so far from Dronning Louises bro ( Queen Louise bridge ) called King of Kebab that serves a lunch falafel for 15kr, 20kr in the evening.
Activities:
After eating whatever you slapped onto your plates, we are about to begin our journey.
It starts in a city 12km north of Copenhagen called Klampenborg. You can drive, bike or take the public transportation to Klampenborg station.
This is where the posh area of Copenhagen starts. Expensive houses, seaside view and fast cars are all part of the area called “The Whiskey Belt”.
Now you might be thinking - “i thought this was about NOT spending lots of money” and you are totally correct. The reason i choose to write about it is because even though the houses cost a lot, it is free to visit the beautiful woods and beaches here.
Bakken (The Hill)
First stop is Dyrehavsbakken - the worlds oldest amusement park. While very popular between locals, it somehow slipped past the eye of the foreign visitors in town. And what a shame that is.
Officially founded in 1583, it started in the beginning of 1500’s as a get-together spot in the woods, where lower/middle-class people could chill with their picnic baskets, while the rich would roam the other parts of the woods, hunting the deer in a brutal game called par-force hunt. The hunters would let their dogs chase the animals, until their fatigue would leave them defenceless, allowing the chosen leader of the hunters lodge (usually the king or alike) to kill the animal with a long sabre. Brutal!
With time Dyrehavsbakken, or simply Bakken, became a meeting spot where people could buy bottled beer, listen to music and have fun.
Since then, it has transformed into an amusement park with over 30 rides and over 70 other amusements for the kids in us.
Even though the budget for decorations and rides is not as high as in Tivoli, the entrance to the park is free and prices here are lower, so you can have loads of fun.
So yeah, welcome and let yourself go! Eat a so called “Gammeldags”(old-school) ice cream, win a giant teddy bear for your significant other, or visit Oscars Bøfbar and get the original Danish burger “Bøfsandwich”, that has been filling the Danes’ stomachs for over 60 years. They are peeling 3 tonnes of onions and cooking 60 tonnes of meat every season, so the recipe has been tested by time.
It is worth noticing, that the park has extra-low prices every wednesday, so if you want even cheaper rides, plan your stay accordingly.
If you get tired of the noise or simply don’t feel like tasting anything from the stalls and the restaurants, bring your own picnic basket with a case of beers and go chill by the little lake that is right behind Bakken.
The woods here are being guarded by the majestic fallow deer and there is a good chance you will meet some along your way.
I really recommend taking a long walk in the woods to feel the Nordic forest - it is said to help increase your immune system, which will help with all the surprise downpours you probably will experience..
At one side of the forest, there's a very iconic restaurant and hotel called "Fortunen Hotel & Restaurant", that is classically painted with deer blood, a practice that was very popular in the past.
They also have some horses that you can rent for a ride in the woods.
When done with forest picnics, arcade machines and head spinning rides, i recommend returning to the city through Strandvejen (the beach road) which has an amazing view.
If the weather is bad and you cannot find any exciting events on Facebook (just search for nearby events, that’s what the rest of us do!) here are some cheap places you can spend your time at. Beware - I like partying where i can smoke indoors because that usually brings a specific type of crowd and cheap beers! Let me know if you want to hear about other types of establishements.
Ungomshuset at Dortheavej 61, zipcode 2400 (Rock, Punk, Metal, sometimes dubstep and techno, but rarely):
The youth house of copenhagen, originally placed in a different area, is known as an underground place for very left-oriented & youth, that also arrange a bunch of events, both parties and all kinds of activities in the day time like bookcafé, self defense, folk kitchen etc.
What interests me the most are the parties, which usually are thursday through saturday where the entré prices range from 0-50kr. Beers are cheap, around 17 kroners, if i remember correctly.
Bolsjefabrikken at Ragnhildgade 1,zipcode 2100 (Dubstep, Reggae, Dancehall, Hip-Hop):
The Candy Factory is also a youth establishement that usually do club-like parties thursday through saturday. Entrance is usually free or donation and bears uber-cheap. People are usually very open-minded and chilled, so if there is something going on, i recommend visiting the place.
Nørre Bodega at Nørrebrogade 152, zipcode 2200 (Jukebox rules the music):
A classic, “brown” bodega, or a bar that is one of my favourite places in town. If you enter it, beware - you will be stinking of cigarette smoke for the next two days. If you can survive that, it will usually go well. On wednesdays they have a quiz night, so it will be packed (and in Danish), but the crowd is young and the prices are best in town, so give this place a visit, if you can handle the smoke.
Jagtstuen at Vendersgade 8, Zipcode 1411 (Jukebox rules):
Another classic, “brown” bar that is very central (right by Nørreport statoin) and has decent prices and interesting crowd. A good mix of the usual clientel that comes in early and leaves before younger people fill in the seats for some cheap shots and draft beers. Cheers!
This is it for part 1 of my Brokenhagen post, I hope you will look into it. If you enjoyed this, I will definitely make more in-depth guides of cheap thrills in Copenhagen. Have fun!