Denmark Day trips

This past wednesday, July 9th, I set off on 1 of 2 planned day trips out of Copenhagen, to get a better flavor for my surroundings.

Destination: Helsingborg, Sweden.

Logic: Would be a nice scenic ride along the coast to a ferry that takes you across to Sweden, where I would drive south through the countryside to Malmo, just across the border from Denmark, and go across Öresund Bridge back to Copenhagen

Check out the video I found on youtube :)

and this one. Did i mention it was like $40 to cross it? And I thought i was being ripped off by MassPike... sheesh.



Was a great trip. Check out the photos of Malmo:
















On the ferry to Helsingborg.

København

København or Copenhaven is the capital of the Danish Kingdom. Being the largest city in Scandinavia - Copenhagen is considered as a centre of culture and arts with plenty of sightseeing and entertainment activities to offer visitors, together with multitude of shopping facilities and the longest pedestrian street system in the world.

And let's not forget: "2008 – Copenhagen no. 1 in the world. Copenhagen is ranked as the best city in the world that offers its residents – THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF LIFE – by the British Magazine Monocle and furthermore the Monocle announces that Copenhagen is also the BEST DESIGN CITY in the world amongst the world’s top 25 cities for quality life.











The editor of Copenhagen-Portal assures that every Copenhagener is surprisingly proud of the title and status their city has obtained by a prominent overseas Magazine." quote courtesy of Copenhagen portal.

Biking: Denmark and Copenhagen especially, has a HUGE biking culture. Everyone is on one. Danish cycling tradition contributes to the nation's happiness. Cycling is a good way to slow down from the stress of daily life. It's environmentally friendly, social and a bike won't kill you if it hits you. Quite some young people in Copenhagen do not even care about obtaining a driver's license. Beside all the psychological advantages, cycling is simply the quickest way to get across the city.

Here is an amusing photo archive of cycle culture in Copenhagen.

OK, down to the logistics. I did all the hotel and like planning back in the States.

Flights: Vayama.com (see link in my links list). Cimber Air (SAS/Lufthansa codeshare) flies CRJs aka regional jets between Hamburg and Copenhagen as well as Stockholm. To my surprise, on a small jet you will find no less that 3 (!) classes of service: Business, Economy Plus and Economy. Across all three, the only difference is free or paid food and beverage service that's not complimentary to Economy only. I was "upgraded" to economy plus and to my surprise for a 40 min flight was offered a meal and choice of beverages. To even greater surprise, the food was better than Lufhansa business class. Gotta love Scandinavian Airlines

Hotels: I've stayed at 2 properties.
First, Bertrams Hotel Guldsmeden was where I spent my first 2 nights in the city. According to Frommer's "This is the newer and more elegant twin of the also-recommended Carlton Hotel Guldsmeden." I would describe the place more of an inn as opposed to a hotel. The rooms have a clear Bali/Asian influence, and that's made clear from the owner's own falling in love with Bali and building a property out there. That is not to say that they forget their Danish roots. The standard room was adequate, but by no means spacious. The queen size bed was quite comfortable and the down duvet was more than amply warm, especially for the Scandinavian summer, where you never know if you are getting sun or rain. I thought the room was a bit stuffy even when left open to air. A note to all American readers, there is no air conditioning, unless you stay at a lux property (think chains Marriott, Radisson, etc) .

Breakfast was not included in my almost US200 per night rate. Not to go on a rant, but I dread the fall of the dollar. Everything from water to hotels is expensive. Almost everywhere you look, the country is comfortable with paying high taxes for the benefit of greater good. Another words, if you want free medical care and cradle to grave support, be prepared to pay US10 for a club sandwich because 25% of that is tax.

Copenhagen is thankfully an easy walking/biking city and heavily encourages everyone to do so. If you do choose to drive, prepare to pay heavily for the priveledge. That's everything from petrol to parking fees, which can easily range from US40+ for an overnight spot. I made my best to pound the pavement, and relied on my car rental from Avis for day trips. Note: as most guides advise, make your booking from the States. Local car rental agencies, including american subsidiaries do not have access to the same rates and you can avoid the dreaded taxes by prepaying for your rental.

In hind sight, I wish I avoided the rental and just did organized tours through rail and bus. As much fun as a car is, navigating in a foreign city with all it's quirks is no fun. And the cost of gas and parking hassles are just too much.

The second property where I spent an additional 2 nights, was a Scandic Webers. This property is not recommended. The sister Scandic tower competes with Radisson SAS down the street. I got a pretty decent rate though of DKK695 inclusive of taxes and breakfast. That's pretty cheap for Copenhagen. Cheap for a 4 star property, which after my stay I can confidently say that it's not.

New post, please ...

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I made it a point to blog here about my travels through Germany and Scandinavia. Below is the tidbits of the travel experience, that I will pepper with photos once I get back to the other side of the pond on Saturday.


The flight experience with Lufthansa from beginning to end has mostly positive. We set out of Boston over July 4 to Munich, in a mostly empty cabin. The long haul business class product was better than originally expected but not particularly thrilling. Much like Asian carriers, the crew keeps to a tight schedule and makes and effort to synchronize the experience from every vantage point, whether you sit in the beginning or the front of the cabin. I do remember previous travels on Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class and British Airways Club World, that allowed for various creature comforts like a bar and a masseuse on Virgin, and "raid the larder" or as it is now called "club kitchen" that allows you to help yourself throughout the flight. Lufthansa takes the more traditional route in this respect, and expects the customer to ring the call button. I couldn't be bothered, frankly.

I also felt that Lufthansa has cut down on inflight options, especially on alcohol (surprise!), where you had a choice of 1 champagne, 2 whites, 2 reds and port. There could have been other options, but I didnt bother reading the menu fine print and the trolley didnt look very imaginative. Not to digress, but clearly all the cellar in sky, adds weight to the payload and in today's cost of fuel, i can see them and others cutting where they can.

The onward connection and flight from Munich to Hamburg was virtually seamless. I was more interested in the layout and options of the Munich airport and the exclusive Lufthansa terminal that provides easy access to connecting flights.

Impressions of Hamburg

To quote travelocity.com overview of Hotel Haffen Hamburg:












"In a unique location, directly above the pier of St. Pauli, the Hotel Hafen Hamburg presents itself in a harmonious mix between tradition and modern life. All 353 rooms, either in classic-hanseatic ambiance or modern-light flooded architecture, are equipped with shower/bath, WC, hairdryer, telephone with voicemail, cable and Pay TV, mini bar and safety deposit. The restaurant Port offers regional and international cuisine in a stylish ambiance with view across the harbor of Hamburg, the hanseatic-rustic bar, the piano bar in a mediterranean atmosphere and the Tower bar at 62-meter height with a breathtaking view invites you to relax. Since spring 1998, the restaurant offers a terrace where you can enjoy a nice dinner or just a drink and have the possibility to sit outside all day long. The hotel also offers eight modern meeting rooms where meetings and parties for up to 300 persons can be given. "

Here is my take. The property only offers a few rooms with air-conditioning, which on a humid July day made the room unbearabely stuffy without it constantly running. My room had a built in unit resembling the one I have in my apartment in Boston, except the control settings were literally screwed in so that the unit can be only turned on and off. The unit was also unbearably noisey, and after a call to reception, a technician had to come do some tweaking to make the rattling noise stop. So much for a 4 star property, right?

Overall, 3 days in Hamburg, air conditioning issues aside, (thank god for ear plugs) were festive. I have made a good effort to be a tourist and take the double decker bus tour that made a stop right across from the hotel. Everything was going well until a point when an overly eager ambulence driver, literally side swiped our shiny red bus, and put a nice gash in it. Thank god no one was hurt. We were moved to another bus while the 2 parties were doing paperwork and taking photos of the damage.












As I write this, I'm in Copenhagen taking in 3rd night of Danish hospitality. I shall return tomorrow hopefully and comment some more on my impressions of this wonderful city.

Upcoming blog

I will be travelling from July 4 for a week. I expect to post some interesting observation from Munich, Hamburg, Copenhagen etc... Watch this space :)