When we planned our one week October vacation we had our struggles coming up with a destination. After a while of consideration we came up with making a little roundtrip through Denmark and Sweden.

Eventually we settled with cityhoping from Copenhagen via Malmö to Stockholm.

We bought our traintickets two months in advance via Omio. Except for the small hop from Copenhagen to Malmö as it was the cheapest one and booking long time ahead wouldn't save any money, so we chose flexibility and booked in on the go in Copenhagen.

We focused on discovering all cities by foot, so we mostly stuck to the central part and didn't visit any events or similar.

Denmark and Sweden both have a long history of rivalry marked by many wars against each other. Both countries have plenty monuments in their cities depicting important persons of their history, mostly kings, who have one against the other nation. Today they are mostly down to picking each other in many different ways.

Copenhagen [Day 1 through 4]

Our trip started in Copenhagen where we arrived by train around noon. From the central statio we started towards the city center. We weren't able to check in to our appartment before the afternoon, so we decided to do some discovering before and look out for some food. We both had our hiking backpacks and didn't leave them at a baggage locker. Next time we will definatelly do that, since it is quiet annoying touring the city with a big bagpack.

Soon it was time to head out to our apparment. We got a 72-hour ticket for public transportation, so we didn't have to worry ybout buying tickets every day. The bus took ous direct from the central station to the apparment, which was like a three minute walk from the busstation. We had a nice room in the apartment with a nice couple.

The next two days were spent with discovering Copenhagen. We started with a three hour Free Walking tour which started at the city hall an ended at Amalienborg. Our tour guide showed us many places and told us a lot about the history. Of course we paid the little mermaid a small visit afterwards, which is located just north of Christiansborg. Make sure to catch the view from the tower Christiansborg over the city, there is no admission to pay. Copenhagen also offers a variety of museums to visit, we visited the Thorvaldsens Museum. 

If you are open for alternative lifestyles make sure to pay a visit to the Freetown Christiania. It is a small district where danish law isn't enforced. Though not officially recognized the district is tolerated and coexists. Everybody can enter and leave as they please, just make sure to stick to their rules.

Copenhagen has many nice cafés for you to visit. Though we didn't eat out is a restaurant we visited with some cafés for some hot chocolate as none of us isn't really down for coffee. But no matter whether you are into coffee or not you should try some of thee sweets they have. We had some delicious cinnamon and caradmom buns as welll as plenty of other delicious snacks.

Useful links:
Our apartment on airbnb
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Free Walking Tour

Malmö [Day 4 through 6]

We got to Malmö by train, which takes about 40 minutes from Central to Central. The trains leave were often, so Malmö is also good for a single day trip from Copenhagen going there in the morning and returning on evening. What we weren't aware about was tat on that night Copenhagen would play Malmö in the european Soccer League, so many fans from Copenhagne were on the train. From the trainstation we had a twenty minute walk to our apartment. Malmö is a very peaceful city, there weren't much people or cars out on the street.

Since Malmö isn't such a big city and our aparment wasn't located far from the center we decided against public transportation. Instead we rented bikes from Donkey. They have numerous drop off loacations throughout the city, which made it very easy for us. On our first evening we biked to the harbour area where the Turning Torso is located. Is is the highest building in Scandinavia and th landmark of Malmö. The way it is constructed it is twisted around itself for 90 degrees. On our way back through the city center we met the soccer fans again who were kept in a certain place by the police. Day was finished by self made dinner we bought at a grocery store next to our appartment.

We only had one full day in Malmö. The first half was spent visiting the old lighthouse of Malmö and the Beach. Since the water is freaking cold around this ime of the year (the Baltic Eea never gets even close to warm if you ask me), we skipped the bathing part and just stuck to taking pictures of all the birds. On our way back to the city we stopped at the city library which is a nice peace of architecture. If you are in town and have some spare time pay it a short visit. In the afternoon we went on a free walking tour for two hours. Before we got some cinnamon buns to go. In Swedish they are called kanelbullars. And it actually happened to be kanelbullens dag, which is once a year on October 4th. So everyone is all about them. Plus they are super delicious. 

Our free walking tour took us through the city center. Did you know that cemetaries are a common place to hang out or even have a picnic? Since Malmö is the biggest city in southern Sweden and right at the border it has been involved in numerous wars between Sweden and Denmark and belonged to both countries. During the time the city has expanded by adding land to were water used to be. What is a river today used to be the shorline a while ago.

In Malmös recent history the city struggled a lot economically and many people moved away. Today the city is on the rise again and popular for immigrants. It's proximity to Copenhagen is a big factor, especially since both cities are now interconnected through the Öresund Bridge. After the Walking Tour we settled for some hot chocolate and cinnamon buns. The public demand for those is high on October 4th, one café was already sold out before 5 o´clock. We then got lucky at St. Jakobs, a nice Café in the city center.

Back in our apparment we started packing since we had to leave early the next morning to catch our train to Stockholm. The apartment was actually really nice and well decorated. The kitchen featured little labels showing the swedish vocab for the coressponnding object. A really nice feature. Being only a short stop in between Malmö is a nice city for a day trip, you don't really need much more time.

Useful links:
Our apartment on airbnb
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Other accomendations
Free Walking Tour
Rent a bike on Donkey Republic

Stockholm [Day 6 through 9]

The train took us from Malmö to Stockholm in about four and a half hours through the nature of Sweden. At the central station we again bout a 72-hour ticket so we were all set for next days. We got a card we needed to actually get on the train plattform. This way it is harder to get on the train without a ticket. From the central station we traveled south to hour aparment. The train ride was about 20 minutes. Once we made ourselves comfortable in our room we headed back into the city to look around and get some food. The train took us directly to Gamla stanl, which translates to old town. It actually happens to be a small island within the city. It was way colder here than the days before in Copenhagen and Malmö, so extra clothes were needed. The old town is really nice and we walked through here quiet often. We eventualy settled for some delicious italian food in a small but nice restaurant.

The next day we started of with a free walking tour again. This one was actually held in German and would take us through Gamla Stan. We started at the central station and walked over a bridge into the old town. The oldtown featues many narrow alleys and most are for pedestrians only. On the north side you find the Stockholm Palace, however the royal faily isn't using it as their main residence. Once a day the guards change duties, which is quiet a spectacle to watch. A few blocks from there you can find Järnpojke. It is a little metal figure constructed by a swedish artist. It is told that if you rub his head three times or leave him a little gift will make you lucky. In wintertime some people even bring out a little head for him. All gifts and money collected will be given to charity.

  

Stockholm is home to the Svedish academy which awards out the Noble Price in Physicy, Chemistry, Medicin, Literature and Economics once a year. The Noble Peace price however is awarded in Norway. By the time we were there there was a little exhibition inside the academy building telling about the history of the Noble Price. It was nice to visit We later topped of the day with another Free Walking tour, this time through the new townpart in Norrmalm. This wasn't as cool as Gamla Stan, though we got to Learn some Background of the still unsolved murder of Olof Palme and saw the Bank which gave birth to the name Stockholm Syndrom. 

Stockholm has many museums. On our second day we visited Fotografiska, the Museum of Photography. However, it is not really about photography itself and its history, instead it is a museum which features exhibitions of different photographers. Though not quiet what we expected, it was still nice to visit. As said before we also visited the Noble Price Museum that day and toured some sovenir shops. Of course we didn't skip the cinnamon buns around here and paid the Expresso House, a swedish coffee house chain, a daily visit.

Most subway stations in the city center are underground. Instead of building them like any other station Stockholm had different artists design a whole station each. The result is a great network of many differen designed trainstations you can visit for free, as long as you bought a train ticket.If you have some spare time or it is a rainy day I advise you to check some out. There are a lot of them.

Before leaving the next day we finished of with some grilled sandwiches in a nice café in Gamla Stan. The prices for food are rather expensive around this area, but that is pretty common for Sweden. after packing up that night we even had some time to play with the little cats which lived in our airbnb apartment.

Useful links:
Our apartment on airbnb
Save 25€ on your first airbnb booking
Other accomendations
Free Walking Tour

Planing

We had planned almost everything in advance regaridng bookings. Except for the train from Copenhagen to Malmö we had all train tickets as well as our airbnb apartments booked beforehand and I would do it again as it takes much stress of your shoulders. Plus I am a person who likes to have plalled things beforehand. The local traintickets were bought on arrival at the central station. In stockholm we had some issues with the ticket machines, so we just visited the counter, which made things way easier. In our planning we studied some traveld guide books beforehand to get an idea where we wanted to go.When it cam eot what we were going when we mostly planned our days the night before. During the day we were also spontaneous when we came around a place we liked. The free walking tours were all booked online the day before, we didn't make a daily schedule before. When coming here in fall make sure to bring warm clothes as it can get pretty cold, especially in Stockholm as it is way more north.

Both Denmark and Sweden have their own currency. The only time we paid cash however was in Copenhagen and only because we had some leftover, the rest was all paid with credit card, which is very common in Scandinavia. Even small amounts are paid with card, so don't bother with exchanging money. 

 

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