COPENHAGEN/LUND/MALMO

OVERVIEW

• When: 28 November -1 December, 2025
• Where (accommodations): Villa Copenhagen
• Transportation: Brussels airlines flight from Brussels (BRU) to Copenhagen (CPH), Train to Lund and Malmo, Sweden, SAS airlines from Copenhagen to Boston (BOS)
• Sights/attractions: Copenhagen: Olufsvej, Little Mermaid, Amalienborg Palace, Frederiks Kirke (Church), Nyhavn, Canal Tour, Church of Our Savior, Round Tower, Tivoli Gardens Christiansborg Palace, Stroget shopping street, Rosenborg Castle; Lund: Kulturen, Kungshuset, Lund Cathedral, Bantorget Square, Stortorget Square, Lilla Fiskaregatan Street; Malmo: Stortorget Square, St Peter’s Church, Lejonet Passage, Sodergatan (main shopping street), Turning Torso building
• Food/drinks: Copenhagen: Petit Cafe, Juno the Bakery, Torvehallerne KBH, Vaekst, Karla, O12 Coffee & Eatery; Lund: Coffee Break; Malmo: Spoonery

When I initially was thinking about this trip, I was looking at only one city- Copenhagen, Denmark. There are direct flights from Boston on SAS airlines, so I thought it would a quick and easy Thanksgiving trip. But the more research I did, the more interesting it got. It was actually cheaper to go to Brussels via Copenhagen, so we figured- why not? Let’s fly into Brussels and a few days later fly back to Boston out of Copenhagen. Even with an added flight, between the two cities, the price was better than a direct round trip flight. Make that make sense, SAS! Of course, later on the trip evolved even more when Brussels had a national strike, and we added Germany and Luxembourg to the mix, but it only gave us more time in Europe, which is always a good idea!

Sweden came about when I saw how close Lund and Malmo are to Copenhagen! A quick one hour train ride. Sean has been to all other countries planned on this trip, except for Sweden, so it became a MUST. He insisted to visit at least one new country, since I am adding three new ones. Well, now I will add four- win win for both :)!

DENMARK

Villa Copenhagen

We arrived to Copenhagen late on Friday evening and left Monday afternoon. For the three night stay we booked Villa Copenhagen located right across from the Tivoli Gardens and a 2 min walk from the Copenhagen Central Station. Besides location, one of the main selling points was the spa and the heated outdoor pool.

You bet I used that sauna and the pool at least twice! Location of course was impeccable. Train to the airport was less than 20 USD (while we paid over $60 coming in by taxi).

A day in Copenhagen

Because we knew we will be taking a train to Sweden on Sunday, we really only had one full day- Saturday to explore the capital of Denmark.

We started our day with delicious breakfast at Petit Cafe– I wanted to start with a savory meal before we dig into Danish pastries.

It was cozy, delicious, and though quite pricey. Overall, we noticed how expensive Denmark was. And that’s coming from Boston, one of the most expensive cities in the USA.

We debated if we should ‘sin’ and have gluten, but I am glad we made this exception. Juno the bakery already had a line, but it was just about 15 min wait until we secured their delicious pastries. Cardamom bun, donut, and another pastry- it was very glutenous and VERY worth it.

When we left the line was just getting longer, so I am glad we came around 10am and somewhat beat the rush.

Close walk from the bakery there is a quaint and colorful Olufsvej street. Basically a row of cheerful houses that serve no other purpose but to take cute pictures. So we did.

It is a very adorable street, and besides us, there was only one more couple taking photos.

Little Mermaid statue was next on our tour and it was as underwhelming as the Peeing Boy in Brussels. There were lines of tourists climbing closer to the statue (and risking of falling into the icy cold water). We snapped a pic and left- ok, we have been to Copenhagen now, check!

In fact, the statue not far from the Little Mermaid was much more impressive, but nobody was lining up near that one to take pictures.

Amalienborg Palace is popular around noon when the change of the guards ceremony is happening, but we got there a bit earlier and didn’t want to waste the time waiting. We saw the guards walking around and that was good enough.

Frederik’s Church (also known as The Marble Church) has the largest church dome in Scandinavia (31 meters/102 ft). When we came first, it was closing for service, so we returned an hour later, because it is impressive inside and I wanted to see it.

Apparently, you can go up top at the certain times of the day, which we didn’t know, so didn’t get to do that. We’ll just have to come back I guess!

While we waited for the church to reopen, we checked out Nyhavn Christmas market and hopped on a canal tour that was just about to leave. We loved canal tour in Bruges a few days prior and Copenhagen one was just as lovely.

It was a full hour long and there was a lot of information about the city, the buildings we were passing, and the history. We ended up seeing some of the sights we planned to walk to on foot during the boat tour, and so it actually left our afternoon more open and relaxed.

We went by Christiansborg Palace, saw the Church of Our Savior with its spinning roof and really enjoyed the quiet boat ride in the artsy Christiania neighborhood.

If you have one activity to choose while in Copenhagen, I would do a Nyhavn canal tour.

Since we didn’t see the city from the top yet, we walked over to The Round Tower passing by the busy Stroget shopping street.

There was a little line to get into the tower, but it moved quick, and I am glad we waited. The view from the top is gorgeous and the walk up is easy- instead of steps, it’s a circular incline walk! Did not expect that at all.

We saw Rosenborg Castle from the top of the tower and having short amount of daylight left decided that we won’t go inside – yet another thing we can do in another Copenhagen visit.

For late lunch we walked over to Torvehallerne KBH market and had delicious local food.

We tried variety of the open face sandwiches and it reminded me of home (Lithuania). I think there is no other country that I had herring besides Lithuania and now Denmark. It was delicious!

Since our hotel was right near by, we simply could not leave Copenhagen without visiting one of the oldest amusement parks in the world- Tivoli Gardens. Luckily, I had a hunch to buy tickets online during the day, because when we came to the park at 4.30pm the lines were forever long! If you had the ticket though, the line was much shorter, so we got in in less than 15 minutes.

We didn’t go on any rides (it was too cold for that), but we totally enjoyed the park decorated for the holidays. It felt like a giant Christmas Market.

I got some hot wine, Sean – a hot chocolate, and we walked around for a good hour.

And that is our one full day in Copenhagen! We came back to the hotel with enough time to enjoy the sauna and the pool followed by an incredible dinner at Vaerst restaurant.

Unique interior design (looks like a greenhouse inside the restaurant), amazing multi course dinner, great service- book this place in advance, because it fills up quick.

The next day (Sunday) we went to Sweden and only returned back for more sauna/pool and dinner. We didn’t have reservations, but were able to get into Restaurant Karla and had less fancy, but no less delicious last dinner in Denmark .

To finish up with Copenhagen, our last breakfast was at O12 Coffee & Eatery– about 12 min walk from the hotel. We just beat the rush, but it was still taking a bit of time for the food to arrive, so we nearly missed the train to the airport, but hey, we had amazing breakfast!

I am glad we did, because SAS airlines forgot to get our GF meals, so we basically starved on the flight home.

SWEDEN

“Sunday in Sweden” would be the name for the post if I was writing a separate one for Lund and Malmo. But because it was only a quick day trip from Copenhagen I feel like separate post is not necessary.

We bought train tickets the day before at the machine in the Copenhagen Central train station. There was a ticket covering certain area for 24 hours so we didn’t need individual tickets to Lund or Malmo- just used the same one ticket throughout the day (very convenient).

LUND

We started with the town further away (1 hour train ride) and began our Sweden adventure with a leisurely breakfast at the Coffee Break.

The morning was chilly and rainy so we enjoyed a slow breakfast before wandering outside. When we were ready to brace the elements we walked by Lund University and Kungshuset (King’s House).

To learn more about old Swedish houses, traditions, and culture we explored Kulturen– open air museum with replica and real houses from various decades.

It reminded us of Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts and one of the open air museums in Lithuania that I am yet to take Sean to.

There was a little Christmas Market with local vendors and there were no tourists (at least not English speaking ones) that we could see. It felt like we are part of the Swedish community somehow, we loved it!

Lund Cathedral is a 12th century Romanesque church, and one of the main attractions in this city. On Sundays at 1 and 3pm the zodiac clock inside has a little show, so we made a point to attend it.

It only lasts one minute, so if you are late, you missed it! Besides the clock though, the church is worth visiting. Very grand and impressive.

Bantorget Square, Stortorget Square, and colorful Lilla Fiskaregatan Street were the other points of interest in Lund.

Not everything was open on a Sunday and the city seemed pretty quiet, but we really enjoyed it. Time to check out Malmo– a bigger city, 20 min train ride closer to Copenhagen.

MALMO

Malmo probably deserves a bit more than a few hours, but that’s all we had, so we made the most of it.

Train arrived close to the Stortorget Square– the main market square and we walked over to the St Peter’s Church passing by the Sodergatan (main shopping street).

Lejonet Passage was quiet on a Sunday, but most of the center of the city was hustling and bustling. We saw more Christmas Markets and overall liked the ambiance of Malmo.

It would not be right to leave Sweden without trying the Swedish meatballs! Spoonery served delicious lunch and our adventure in this country was complete!

We saw the Twisting Torso building from a distance, but it was time to take the train back to Copenhagen, so we didn’t go closer.

CONCLUSION

What a great Scandinavian weekend! Only one full day in Copenhagen (three nights though) and one day in Sweden, but with our pace it once again felt a lot longer. We loved Copenhagen and really liked both Lund and Malmo, so I would say there is a good chance we’ll return to both of these countries again, maybe for a bit longer time. As for now, this was a great ‘tasting’ trip- both figuratively and literally! There is nothing like Europe during the holiday season. We look forward to doing it again!