Copenhagen for the Childfree
While many cities can be great vacation destinations for the childfree, it can be tricky to say that one is superior to another. There are always trade-offs. On a typical downtown day in Copenhagen, Denmark, you’ll find yourself dodging large strollers on the streets and navigating traffic lanes full of cargo bikes with a gaggle of children riding in the transport box. You’ll also find a number of activities that, due to the high cost of living and the Danish culture itself, accommodate those who don’t wish to be around children. The compromise ultimately makes Copenhagen an excellent city for childfree tourism, couples-only date nights, solo sightseeing, and childless everyday life.
Aside from several fast food spots like McDonald’s and Sunset Boulevard (the Danish equivalent of Subway), Copenhagen doesn’t have many family-centered eateries. Unlike a U.S. city that might have a traditional mix of restaurant chains like Denny’s, IHOP, and Lone Star Steakhouse, Copenhagen doesn’t support a bevy of dining options with children’s menus, “kid’s eat free” weeknight gimmicks, or goofy toys and crayons on the table. Eating out can be an expensive affair for even a modest meal in Denmark, and families with children simply don’t tend to cross paths with couples looking for a cozy night out. To steer clear of the few family-filled spots in Copenhagen, avoid crowded tourist areas downtown around Central Station and Tivoli Gardens. Seek out the quieter areas around Kongens Nytorv and Nyhavn, and look for the wine bottles and candles on the tables.
It’s extremely rare to end up in a movie theater with a disruptive child in Denmark, and there are two reasons. An evening at the movies in Copenhagen will set you back 200DKK, roughly $40 a couple. Add a few overpriced snacks to the mix, a $4 bottle of water, and you simply can’t afford to bring the whole family. In addition to the high prices that often keep families from an evening at the movies, baby matinees—babybio—are a regular feature at many of the city’s prominent cinemas. Whether they’re movies explicitly geared towards youngsters like animated Disney features or flicks for adults like Revolutionary Road or Milk, shows usually start at 10am. Stay-at-home parents prefer to join fellow diaper bag-toting adults for these shows, and the childfree crowd often enjoys a quiet theater in the evenings as a fair trade.
Even just strolling the city’s narrow streets, you can take in some of world’s most interesting architecture and grab a hot dog at a pølsevogn without running into an unusual amount of little ones. If you get sick of dodging prams on the sidewalk, grab a bike taxi that only seats two. You’ll get a great tour of the city from a knowledge guide, minus the kids getting in your way.
There are also a variety of places to visit in Copenhagen where you aren’t likely to find children at all. Located downtown, the Erotica Museum is one of the most popular museums in the world devoted to sex history and erotic art. Nightclubs—usually only open Thursday to Sunday—require a minimum age of anywhere from 18-23. Copenhagen has a thriving LGBT nightlife scene, with a smattering of venues around town for drinking and dancing until the wee hours of the morning. Danish 24-hour bar culture is a bit legendary, as many bars stay open past 5am on their busiest nights. Expect the “morning bars”—morgenværtshuse—to begin opening between 5-8am on the weekends, right as the late night pubs close down. Hong Kong, a bar located in Nyhavn, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you visit the city in early June, look up CPH Distortion, a five-day festival of block parties, cheap or free concerts, and a fascinating clash of street life meets night life.
To keep your time in the Danish capital as childfree as possible, avoid family-centric tourist traps like Tivoli Gardens, the Copenhagen Zoo, Experimentarium (the hands-on science and technology museum), the Tycho Brahe Planetarium, and the normal range of child-centered consumerism: Build-A-Bear, Baby Gap, and any toy store stocked full of Legos.
With its close proximity to the ocean, impressive windmills, rich architectural history, and pedestrian- and bike-friendly roads, Copenhagen is a beautiful city to explore on your own or in a group. Danes can be quite reserved, but when you know this ahead of time—and how to avoid running into clumps of school children on field trips—your time in this temperate Nordic capital can be quite enjoyable.
Copyright Brittany Shoot. Published 1 March 2009 in The Zone.
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