The Berkeley Guides:
Berkeley Guide to Europe:
Denmark:
Copenhagen
With more than a fifth of Denmark's population and more than half of the country's businesses, schools, and museums, Copenhagen (København in Danish) is a booming cosmopolitan center. The city's café culture, nightlife, liberal laws, and generous student discounts make it a haven for the young. Particularly in summer, the city throbs with action as Danes flock outdoors to enjoy their few months of sunshine. In the city center, pedestrian streets and the Nyhavn Canal turn into a massive orgy of bicycles, boats, and beer whenever the sun shines. The music scene, too, is surprisingly impressive, featuring several annual summer festivals as well as regular live bands in cafés and parks.
Originally called Købnhavn (Merchants' Harbor), Copenhagen retains the feeling of an intimate harbor. Seventeenth-century palaces and churches (and even a 12th-century castle) sidle up to canals filled with rickety boats; timbered houses, ancient street signs, and cobbled sidewalks evoke the city's medieval past. The ever-visible sea, ancient thoroughfare for Viking ships, counterbalances Copenhagen's prim tourist-oriented quarters, while fresh air and soul-stirring vistas make this an eminently livable place.
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