Pied À Terre in Copenhagen
Currently living the hygge life to the fullest
Hi Friends,
I am currently typing this from my Pied à Terre in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It has been a whirlwind couple of months. In July/August of this year, I was working on narrowing down where in the world to go beginning in October. I had long decided to leave the US during the last quarter of 2022, as I did last year, and while I was certain that Italy would be a big chunk of that time my inner voice was calling me to explore somewhere new as well.
As I can only stay in the Schengen Area for 90 days (out of 180) on a tourist visa, and all of the places I was interested in ended up being in the Schengen (if you don’t know what the Schengen is or how it affects travel, I have linked here) I needed make sure that I felt really called to this new place to take me away from Italy for the whole 3 months. Last year was my first visit to Italy. I was similarly called to travel and Italy was the place I kept dreaming about. I booked an apartment in Puglia for the first month and decided to let my experience unfold without worrying about the rest of the time before I left the US. I ended up being based in Florence for the rest of the time and to say it was dreamy is an understatement.
I actually booked my apartment in Florence, beginning in November, this past July but knew I would leave the US no later than my birthday on October 16. But where was I going? I’ve been leaning into listening to my inner voice, my intuition if you will, more and more these last few years and it kept telling me there was somewhere else for me to go.
For a while, I thought this was going to be Mallorca, Spain - a small island in the Balearic Sea. Beautiful scapes of Mallorca kept showing in my Instagram feed this past spring, while it was cold and rainy in Oregon, and I bookmarked several places I was interested in. I also began a wishlist of apartments in Palma, the capital city, on airbnb. I have to be honest, I had pretty much settled on Mallorca as the first month destination of the three and then fate intervened.
An editor I follow on instagram (and who I am friendly with) posted about a book she had worked on that was coming out called ‘Everyday Sisu’ about Finland and the Finnish folks practice of Sisu. I have been very intrigued about the Finns (they are some of the happiest people on earth) and in particular Helsinki, their capitol. I looked up the author of the book and found she had another book already published called ‘The Finnish Way’. Reading an excerpt about the book, I was hooked - I wanted to know all about her life as an expat in Finland and how the Finns live and approach life. I bought the book and devoured it and during this time I started contemplating Helsinki as a destination as well as Oslo, Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark. Very happy people live in all these cities and all of them had appealing aspects for me. My dreams started to show components from each of these cities (scenes from accounts I followed). I also started the practice of taking 30-45 second ice cold showers (as per Sisu) and saw massive benefits both physically and mentally. Traveling and spending a month in this part of the world was becoming more and more appealing.
As I explored these cities online I found so many interesting things about all of them but I like to make one place “home” for at least 30 days and really immerse myself into the heartbeat of the city and neighborhoods, get to know people and just live, rather than travel from location to location.
Copenhagen was climbing to the top of the list due to the abundant cultural offerings, “green” living, and its food and wine scene. One of the online publications I regularly reference for all my travels is Citizen Femme, a luxury female-focused travel/culture/fashion online magazine. Their insider guides are some of my favorites and I have discovered many fantastic places through them. I also use Citizen Femme (or CF) as a place from which to create mood boards and lists for inspiration overall. All of the guides are from stylish, interesting women who live in the destinations - their recommendations are local, luxurious, and pretty wonderful. Other great resources that I use are Time Out and Eater - they help me put together my lists of where I want to eat, drink and visit.
Choosing Copenhagen and My Apartment
As I made my decision to make Copenhagen the destination for the first month, it was time to book an apartment. I exclusively have used Airbnb for the last several years and have excellent luck. I picked my apartment in Christianhavn after making a wishlist of several different apartments in neighborhoods I had read about and found desirable. I kept coming back to this one because of the location in the city in relevance to walking to restaurants I planned on visiting and Airbnb reviews. I always start a conversation online with the host of a potential apartment before booking. If they are hard to communicate with before I book then that place goes off the list. I need to feel comfortable with the host before I even consider booking. Also, I read at least 10-15 reviews to get a sense of how other people have enjoyed their stay and how they feel about the neighborhood. It’s really incredibly helpful. I have found out that the apartments that I was looking at don’t have a lift/elevator and are 6 flights up from reading reviews! I don’t expect old buildings to all have modern lifts but I do make my decision on how I will be able to manage on my own with luggage and carry bags and such up so many stairs - it is incredibly helpful to read reviews pretty thoroughly. Many people will also describe their interaction with their host as well and I find this very helpful. My host here in Copenhagen, Aske, is a gem. Just a GEM of a person. I feel so lucky. The apartment is just how it is described on Airbnb and I find it very cozy and comfortable - full-on HYGGE is happening here. Christianhavn is an excellent neighborhood - honestly, so many people I have met here have said I picked the perfect location. I feel very lucky, again, because I almost booked in a neighborhood called Østerbro, which does look lovely but is much further away from everywhere I have been visiting, 99% on foot which is how I prefer to explore.
My home in Christianhavn is highly walkable to many of the places on my list (within 30-40 minutes at most), is full of incredible bakeries, cafes, and restaurants, and is vibrant and gorgeous.
Located on the colorful canals everything I could want is within minutes of walking and the very convenient underground is literally at the end of my street. On a daily basis my neighborhood feels local, not touristy (the weekends seem to see an influx of visitors). The “walking lifestyle” is what really appeals to me about a city that I’m considering living in and Copenhagen has that as well as being a very prolific bike culture. Most people have bikes and use bikes and the city is set up for bike transportation that feels very safe and considerate for and from the bikers.
I also love to train to other places close by and on my first weekend here I took the train up the coast 40 minutes to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. I will be writing a post about that visit because it is a magical, wonderful place but let me just say now that I think it is my favorite museum I’ve ever been to. Getting there from Christianhavn was relaxed and beautiful - I even saw a giant herd of white-ish colored deer during the trip. Simply wonderful.
Overall, I picked well. I am so happy to be here. It is no surprise that these are some of the happiest people in the world. It shows. I love the beautiful bright buildings that are so elegant; the waterways; the bikes; the people(!); the doggos; the cozy spots with candles burning everywhere; sitting outside with blankets; the flower shops; the houseboats….so many things.
For now, here is the list of some of my favorites in and around Copenhagen (so far) for you below:
- Alice Bakery (also has kind of a secret, excellent little bottle shop, and ice cream!)
- Sankte Annae 8 - cannot express enough how much I love this cozy and delicious spot in my neighborhood
- TorvehallerneKBH - the most epic food halls and farmers market - everything lovely. I’ve dined here and gotten an epic take-away. One of my favorite spots in the city.
- Hart Bageri Christianhavn - so lucky to have a location in my neighborhood. Excellent coffee and also a small curated wine selection. Excellent Spandeaur. Yum.
- Pompette - in the ‘coolest neighborhood in the world’ Nørrebro this wine bar and shop has the greatest vibe and selection. The staff rocks.
- Darcy Kaffe in Fredriksberg - lovely coffee, pastries and people. The neighborhood, Fredriksberg, is actually its own city within Copenhagen. It is gorgeous. Beautiful homes, parks and cafes. A perfect place to spend time.
- Walking from Christianhavn, on the water, to Refshalevej - beautiful homes, a stunning campus, noma….this 40-minute walk is one of my very favorites.
-Lille Bakery - the nicest people, the most delish of all of the baked goods, excellent filter coffee and cozy space
- Smørrebord - I am obsessed. I’ve been making these local open-faced sandwiches of sorts on the daily. Delicious.
AMASS - one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, They do lunch service only once a week, on Saturdays, and I had one of the very top experiences of my life here last week. [UPDATED: I was so sad to hear they closed permanently. The food, wine, service, and generosity of the staff exceeded my high expectations. A loss.]
POPL Burger - run by the chefs from Noma, POPL became so dangerous for me as it was only a 12-minute (lovely) canal walk from my flat and from the first visit I was obsessed. The beef burger is so delicious. You must order the side of peppers - just trust me. I liked the veggie burger but it wasn’t the draw. Fries are also excellent. And they have a sweet wine selection for take-away.
Restaurant FRANK - Michelin Star restaurant in the center. Open kitchen concept and oh so cozy. The hygge is dialed way up on a rainy day. I went for a long lunch and had the tasting menu with paired wines. It was fabulous and I wish I had eaten here more than once.
Do you have questions about travel, apartments, the Pied À Terre Life? Reach out to me with a message. I would love to hear from you!
I would love to have you as a subscriber as I share more about Copenhagen, travel, living a nomadic life in Pied À Terre’s around the world. If you would like to get regular updates and be a member of a growing community hit the button below.
Thank you so much for reading!