I see London, I see France.
01.10.2024 - 13:23 / lonelyplanet.com
Oct 1, 2024 • 6 min read
Venture beyond the cool capital Copenhagen and explore more of Denmark. Historic towns, fairy-tale castles, charming islands and sandy beaches are among the many places you could visit, and with relatively short distances and excellent transport links, luckily, that’s easy to do.
Most of Denmark’s cities are compact, walkable and great for biking. Not only is it fun and fast, it's a great way to immerse yourself in a quintessential part of Danish culture. Meanwhile, public transportation is straightforward to navigate. From electrified trams and metro lines to battery-powered boats and buses, it’s affordable, reliable, and often green. Trains are the best way to travel cross country, but there are also long-distance and local bus networks, as well as convenient but more expensive car rentals.
From bikes to buses, here’s our advice for the best ways to get around Denmark.
It’s often joked that Danes are born on the back of a bike. Cycling isn’t just a hobby here; it’s a way of life. Nine out of ten people own a bicycle, and across Denmark, there are over 12,000km (7456 mile) of cycling routes, with 400km (250 miles) of bike paths in Copenhagen alone. The Nordic nation ranks as one of the world’s most bicycle-friendly countries, with excellent infrastructure such as special cycle superhighways and traffic lights, bike-only bridges, and even trash cans that are angled for cyclists to use while on the move. Half of Copenhageners commute by bike, and in the capital, it's often the quickest way to get around.
For visitors, pedaling about on two wheels is not only enjoyable but also sustainable, and helpfully much of the country is rather flat.
Rental shops are plentiful, most of the bigger cities have local bike-sharing schemes and many hotels lend bicycles to guests for free. Meanwhile, the rental app Donkey Republic operates in several locations across Denmark, including Copenhagen, Aarhus and Roskilde, with its distinctive orange bikes that can handily be picked up and dropped off in different places.
Taking the train is recommended for longer journeys and is a great way to travel beyond the capital. There’s a good network of regular train services connecting Denmark’s major cities and smaller towns. Early-bird discounts or "orange" tickets are available when booking well ahead. Note you need to reserve places for bikes and strollers in advance. However, you can take your bike anytime for free on Copenhagen’s S-tog (suburban rail) network.
Tip: It's recommended to purchase a seat reservation. Trains are a very popular mode of transport, and carriages soon fill up, so it’s worth paying the small extra fee to guarantee a spot, especially for longer journeys.
For the best routes, times and
I see London, I see France.
Oct 11, 2024 • 5 min read
A single panda can eat more than 70 pounds of bamboo a day, so before Mao Sun and Xing Er, two Chinese-born bears, moved to the Copenhagen Zoo in the spring of 2019, Danish zookeepers had to find a reliable source of the treelike grass. One supplier was the farmer Søren Ladefoged, whose crop has recently benefited another local attraction: the fine-dining destination Noma. The chef Mette Søberg, 34, who heads Noma’s test kitchen, was inspired to add tender young shoots to the menu after the restaurant’s 10-week pop-up at the Ace Hotel in Kyoto last year, where thinly sliced bamboo was served in squid broth. “In Japan, and in Kyoto specifically, they’re so excited about ingredients that are in season for a short time,” she says. From late March through May, “everyone knows, ‘Ah, it’s bamboo season!’” Back in Denmark, she started grilling the shoots over pine boughs for a slightly smoky tinge and serving them with a butter and sencha tea dipping sauce. “We want to make it really simple so people can actually taste the bamboo,” says Søberg, who describes the plant’s flavor as “nutty, vegetal and a little bit sweet.” She adds that many Noma diners are surprised to encounter bamboo in Denmark, where it’s cultivated but not typically consumed. Outside of Asian restaurants, the same is true in the United States, where, at Brooklyn’s Cafe Mado, the chef Nico Russell, 36, has been pickling the shoots and serving them with razor clams in a garlicky sauce. He gets his supply of the yellow groove variety from the New Jersey-based forager Tama Matsuoka Wong, 66, who described this year’s demand as “a frenzy.” Wong, who specializes in harvesting edible invasive plants, points out that yellow groove multiplies rapidly through horizontal roots and can quickly overtake a plot of land. She works with property owners to contain the plant, while getting it into the hands of chefs like Mads Refslund, 47, of the wood fire-centered restaurant Ilis, also in Brooklyn, who has ordered over 750 pounds from Wong so far this year. This past summer, he served vertically cut salt-cured shoots with buckwheat oil-brushed uni and caviar pooled in the divots of the stems. He also preserved the majority of his supply, he says, so that — despite bamboo’s short season — he can offer it for months to come. —
At the Lodging Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, Larry Cuculic, the CEO of BWH Hotels, leaned forward, his West Point-honed posture softening as he warmed to his subject.
Oct 8, 2024 • 6 min read
One of the great hassles in surf travel is schlepping around a board. Long boards can be the size of a small airplane wing, and airport personnel, upon seeing a shortboard, sometimes hurl them, as if testing them for flight. Surfers know that it’s not uncommon to pay the oversized luggage fee, which is often north of $150 for one-way travel, arrive in some surfer’s paradise, and unzip their well-padded bag to find their board dinged badly or fully smashed.
China has now announced visa-free entry for citizens of 5 countries — Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, and Slovenia starting October 15. With this move, nationals from these countries can now visit China for up to 15 days without needing a visa.
One of the best things about running is the low barrier to entry—throw on some sneakers and you’re ready to go. But as you start to increase your mileage, whether you’re training for the New York City Marathon, a Rock 'n' Roll half, or a local 10k, you start to realize that what you wear, how you fuel, and the accessories you carry are all critical to your success—in other words, there comes a time when you'll want to upgrade your road running shoes or swap out that old gym shirt for a moisture-wicking option.
After Norway was added to China's visa-free list earlier in September, five more European countries have made the cut.
Oct 2, 2024 • 7 min read
Copenhagen was voted one of The Best Cities in the World in the 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards. To find out all the winning cities, read here.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Gabriel Escobar , a 22-year-old actor and social media content creator. It has been edited for length and clarity.