river cruise boat in Nyhavn

For what turned out to be our one full day in Copenhagen since our flight got cancelled the day we were supposed to go and we had to spend a night in Seattle (at the airline’s expense) and fly out the next day we started out intending to take the hop on hop off bus tour, which we had booked the night before. We walked out toward the waterfront where the map showed stops for the HoHo bus, but when we found one the driver said he was doing a different tour that day and that the regular one wasn’t running. So we just ended up walking around town instead, which probably worked out to seeing more than we would have on the bus anyway. (We did get a refund for the bus tickets, but through the card, not the booking site whose help link went nowhere.)

little mermaid statue

After not getting on the bus we walked along the waterfront a bit and came across Copenhagen’s famous little mermaid statue. She more has what looks like legs with some fins at the foot end than a full mermaid tail as they are usually depicted. The statue has been there since 1913. It has been vandalized and restored a few times. Shortly after the mermaid statue we walked by Saint Alban’s church.

Saint Alban’s Church

Later we came across the king’s palace when it was nearly time for changing of the guard so we stayed for that. They had two little rocket shaped booths at each door, one on either side. Only one door had two guards, and both booths were facing with the open end forward there. The other doors had one or no guards, with the back of one facing forward if there was just one, and both booths turned around for any door with no guards. These guards would alternately stand in front of their booth or march a bit away from it and back. They all did the standing and marching in unison regardless of how far their door was from any of the others.

palace guards

When it was time for the change some cops cleared a path where the new ones needed to go. They came in with quite a large group, some of which were also a marching band. The newcomers marched nearly all the way around the square before stopping for a bit. Then the band members played some songs while the others stood stock still. After the band marched away some of the others marched to each door where two would surround the current guard while one of the two inspected the booth. Then they went back to the line and a different soldier (or two for the door that had 2 guards) came out and stood facing the guard who’s time was up before taking their place. The one leaving joined the group which then marched to the next post and repeated the whole thing until a replacement was left there. That was done over again at each door until every guard was changed.

Nyhavn

After that we walked some more and came to Nyhavn, a canal with colorful buildings along the edges. One side had a whole row of cafes, each of which had outdoor seating just like all of the other ones we had seen around town. Indoor seating was also available at some if not all of them. The story we heard on the colorful houses was that illiterate sailors of old would know which house they were to stay in when they came to port because of the color.

river boat restaurant in Nyhavn

There were also ticket booths where people could book canal cruises in long, wide, flat-looking boats. Some of the bridges aren’t very high above the water which is why the canal boats can’t be very tall. There was more than one company with that sort of boats. We booked with the one at the end of the canal right after one of their boats had just come in so we got right on as soon as the previous group disembarked. It had both indoor and outdoor seating. We picked indoor since it was very cold. There was a heater running along the side of the ship by the floor under the windows, which was great for hand-warming. I needed that badly since my hands were so cold all my fingers had turned red even though I was wearing gloves.

inside the canal boat

The boat sat there a bit while more people got on and was nice and warm inside until it was ready to leave. Then in spite of the fact that outdoor seating was available, several people opened up the window next to their seat and let in all the cold. One of them eventually went outside, but left the window wide open to keep on freezing all the people inside who would have preferred to be warm.

replica of Michael Angelo’s David

The boat sailed up the canal passing all of the things we had walked by on the way there, though this time there was narration to say what they all were. It stopped near the mermaid statue so people could see it, but the view from land for that one is better than from the water. As the boat passed by the replica statue of Michael Angelo’s David the guide commented about it being a perfectly proportioned man. When we walked past that same statue earlier we had thought the head, hands, and feet looked overly large and other bits of the naked statue kind of small compared to the rest of the figure.

bridge over the canal

Then the boat turned around and seemed to be going back to where we started from until it took a turn into a side canal and went through a bunch of other little canals past things we had not seen before.

about to go under a bridge

It cruised under a whole bunch of bridges of various heights. Some of them it barely squeaked under while others had a bit of room to spare. One rather tight corner just past a bridge had a series of tires hanging on chains to prevent boats from scraping the sides.

the rules only apply to people who follow them

The tour guide said if the tides are too high then they can’t do tours as the boats won’t fit under the bridges. Regardless of how many times he warned people they could not stand up outside when passing under a bridge he had to tell someone (often the same person) at each and every bridge to sit down if they wanted to keep their head attached to their body, though he did not put it quite that bluntly. By the last bridge he did say that one last photo would be their very last photo if they didn’t sit down, though he managed to say it without showing too much frustration.

we passed by buildings the guide identified as luxury apartments

The canal tour lasted for one hour and was a good way to see a bit of the city and get a different view of things than you see from land. Also a chance to warm up sitting next to a heater on the boat after walking around town in the cold. Things it passes by include the Geiflon Fountain and a bunch of buildings on land – The Citadel, the opera house, Amalienborg, the Royal Danish Theater, Christianborg Palace, Christianshavn, Church of Our Savior, and Freetown Christiania.

canal in Copenhagen

The longest bridge we saw crossed a very wide canal. We walked over that bridge later. It had separate lanes over most of it for bikes and pedestrians, but in some places they kind of crossed. Watching out for bikes is very important because they go very fast and don’t stop for pedestrians. In some spots it’s amazing they avoid crashing into each other.

watch out for bikes on this Copenhagen bridge

When we walked across the bridge we saw boats passing under it, including canal tour boats.

canal tour boat about to pass under the big bridge

The canal tour company we sailed with is called Stromma. They also have sailings from another nearby dock, including longer tours. In addition to providing canal tours, the company also has 2 Seabins Ocean Dustbins in Nyhaven that suck down litter out of the water including particles as tiny as 2 millimeters. These bins collect 2 tons of garbage each year. They also installed 20 biohuts within the Copenhagen harbor to provide food and shelter for small fish for a greater survival rate of those fish.

walking across the bridge

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