Copenhagen with the kids

Regional Dining Discussions Rest of Europe
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This summer my family of four (including two kids, now ages 4 and 2) will be traveling to Greece and Denmark. I’ve done some research, and we have some local friends in most of the places where we’re going (including Copenhagen). But if anyone has advice or suggestions for great food, I’d love to hear about it. Likely not looking for high-end stuff or fine-dining, but happy to hear about restaurants, bakeries, ice cream, snacks, etc.

We had some great help for our other Europe trips to UK/Portugal and Switzerland/Italy so hoping someone here has some good info. This topic will focus on Copenhagen. My other topic about Greece is here.

We have a six hour layover in CPH on the way to Greece, which might be enough time to leave the airport and find a playground and some pastries?

But otherwise our main time is on the way back, when we’ll have 4 nights (3.5 days). We’re staying at an airbnb in Fredericksburg, sort of between Fredericksburg and Forum metro stations. We definitely want to check out some of the big food markets, which look great and easy to go to with kids. Also lots of bakeries – any thoughts on the top ones that we should go out of our way to visit? I’ve started reading some other recent reports about CPH, and I’ll continue to do this and maybe respond w/ some questions.

Thanks in advance!
Dave MP

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No kids, but we ate very well while in Copenhagen a few years ago.

I don’t know how old yer kids are, but Tivoli seems like a no-brainer :slight_smile:

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Hi! We were in Copenhagen a year ago for Christmas with our 5 and 7 year olds. I apparently never posted, so I’ll edit some experiences potentially of interest:

Our first of many cardamom buns, cinnamon rolls, and loaves of rectangular rye breads on our trip were fantastic ones at Hart, and none in the remaining two weeks in the Nordic region matched their quality.

Before and after Rosenborg Castle we went to Torvehallerne, a two-building food hall. Their best offering to us was Grod, a thick-grain porridge specialist. Mushroom porridge and the sweet rice porridges were awesome.

I nibbled on two excellent vegan smorrebrod from one purveyor, but I made the mistake of getting some seafood ones for myself from Hallernes Smorrebrod, which has locations all over Copenhagen. Their eye-candy offerings at Torvehallerne and at the Tivoli food hall had mediocre bread and too much dressing.

The lack of big crowds made Christmas the perfect day to visit the Tivoli amusement park. Food inside the park ranged from reasonably priced carnival fare to too stoic for kids, so we opted for the food hall. Lots of international options— good seasonings at the Moroccan place, which was more enjoyable than the peanut-sauce heavy Asian bun place. Ebelskivers at the food hall looked better than what we ate in the park.

A friend of a friend (a local) recommended seafood-oriented Kødbyens Fiskebar. Our only new-Nordic meal of the trip, lots of creative touches. Favorite bites were a Fish pie (cod, peas and Guldklimp cheese), fish and chips (smoked then fried cod), and a vegan hedgehog mushroom main.

Great China, near the train station, has a Sichuan focus, which isn’t a great Chinese fit for our crew, but we managed a very good meal. Spinach with ginger sauce was up to snuff and a larger portion than typical at non-Cantonese SFBA places. The ingredient quality and kitchen skills were better than a meal we had earlier at Magasasa.

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Bummer. I had quite the opposite experience, at least at Torvernehallen. I loved my North Sea shrimp smørrebrød so much I went back to get another one for my lunch the following day.

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Thank you! I’m happy to report that our Airbnb appears to be a two-minute walk from Hart Bakery. So that’ll be convenient :slight_smile:

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Nice! We stayed near the København location, which had a copy of the Tartine Bread cookbook inside, ha, so a more contemporary or French persuasion— dietary/allergy issues kept us from seeking out many of the traditional, often almond-based, pastries and desserts.

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@digga should have an abundance of recs for CPH with kids, also.

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Looking forward to living vicariously through your trip!!

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What a fab-sounding trip @vamped. Hopefully it won’t be hotter than Hades when you go (it was unseasonably warm in CPH the first time we went in 2022 and the hotel we we’re staying at was not equipped for such high temps which made for some rough nights of sleep on top of the jet lag). Greece has been our to-do list for some time now so I can’t wait to read about that part of your trip (B and I went a long time ago, pre-kid).

You’re flying from the West Coast on the first leg, aren’t you? That’s a very long travel day so even with a 6-hour layover with 2 little ones, that might be tough? Public transit into the city is very easy; I guess you could find somewhere to store your luggage/carry-ons?

You likely saw my trip reports. I tried to mention the kid friendly activities we did (our son was 7.5 and 8.5 on those trips). Denmark is remarkably kid- and family-centric. Definitely one of our favorite places to visit.

I’m under some critical work timelines at the moment but happy to answer any questions as they come up.

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Thanks so much! There’s no rush – trip isn’t until late June/early July.

For the 6 hour layover, I believe our checked bags would be sent right through to Athens, so we’d just have the carry-ons which might be manageable. And yeah, I also hope Copenhagen isn’t too hot!

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@vamped For the 6-hour layover, a low-key and nearby option might be the national aquarium (which is small and manageable) in combination with a visit to neighboring Kastrup Sea Bath. There is a beach for the kids for playing in the sand, shower facilities just in case they need them, and a small snack bar. You and your partner can meanwhile pass out on the beach (because I think I probably would!). We did this excursion in 2022, and enjoyed ourselves (albeit not during a layover).

PS If you all enjoy swimming/going in the water, I highly recommend a good dry bag, ultra-thin microfiber towels, maybe packable floaties for the kids, for CPH; swimming in the clean harbors is a lot of fun (but can be chilly, although we found it refreshing). There are several of these dedicated swimming areas that have sections just for kids. You can take breaks from wandering around the city and swim or simply laze and picnic by the water. All the locals do this—you can drink wine in the open, bring some beautiful Danish bread and cheese and you’re all set. I brought silverware and cloth napkins from our lodgings, so our picnics felt a little spiffed-up.

Can you believe that we never check bags, so I have no clue how checked bags work! We are minimalist packers, to say the least, so laundry facilities at our lodgings is a must-have.

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My information is pretty out of date so I won’t name specific cafes, but Tivoli Gardens has a surprisingly good food court. Even without the food court, you’ll want to go there with kids, but that kind of choice and quality available at an amusement park was really a lovely surprise.