Copenhagen, Denmark was always a place that was on my bucket list after seeing endless pictures of the beautiful old harbour filled with multicoloured houses, reading about  'Hygge', roughly translating to cosiness, and seeing how many healthy restaurants and juice bars were popping up.

Copenhagen is one of Europe's oldest cities and the people are said to be the happiest in the world. Starting as an old fishing harbour, it is now a metropolitan and is visited by more and more tourists every year. Two weeks ago we set sail on a cruise around the Baltic and this was one of our stops. Unfortunately we only had 5 hours to explore the city, so here are my top 4 things to do to give yourself a taster of the city if you have a limited amount of time.

1) Stroll along the cobblestone streets of the Nyhavn

Nyhavn, translated to 'New Harbour', is probably one of the most photographed places in the whole of Copenhagen and it's not hard to see why. The 17th century waterfront and old harbour is lined with the most beautiful 17th and 18th century townhouses which have been painted all different colours.

The Nyhavn is now full of bars and restaurants, however back in the day it was a busy commercial port packed with sailors and alehouses. Many of the houses were inhabited by prominent artists, including Hans Andersen, the famous Danish fairy tale writer who wrote 'The Princess and the Pea'.

2) Take a look at the Danish Crown Jewels at Rosenborg Castle 

Copenhagen is full of castles, so we chose to take a look at Rosenborg as we had a limited amount of time and wanted to see the Crown Jewels. It is a Dutch style Renaissance castle and is actually quite small compared to some of the other castles that I have seen, which made it perfect for a whirlwind trip.

The castle includes the Royal Collections and artefacts which cover a great part of royal Danish culture, from the 16th to 19th centuries. One of the most interesting things that I saw were a pair of earrings (click here) that were little hands holding pieces of a blown up cannon which were found in Christian IV's eye after he was hit and injured by a Swedish cannon ball in the naval battle of Kolberger Heide. He miraculously survived, only losing one of his eyes but could you imagine having those things in your eye?!

3) Have a look around the Torvehallerne and have lunch there

The Torvehallerne is a big market hall that has over 60 stands selling everything from fresh produce to gourmet chocolate as well as stalls where you can grab a bite to eat. A friend of mine recommended this place to me and I'm so glad that she did because you can find the loveliest things there.

Copenhagen is brimming with  healthy eateries and juice bars, which is exactly what we tried out. A place called vita boost caught my eye and my whole family and I got sandwiches and juices or smoothie bowls - even my father and brother enjoyed their sandwiches which had the yummiest rye bread.

4) Say hello to the Little Mermaid

Otherwise known as Den lille Havfure, the Little Mermaid is a statue by Edvard Eriksen at the Langelinie promenade. In 2013 she turned 100 and she was inspired by Hans Andersen's fairy tale about a mermaid who sacrifices everything to be united with a young, handsome prince on land. Everyday she swims up to the rock, sitting there hoping to catch a glimpse of her beloved prince - how sweet!



I would definitely recommend Copenhagen as a place to visit as it was so beautiful and the people were very friendly. Unfortunately I didn't have that long there but it just means that I will have to go back. I hope that you have the best time if you have the chance to visit the city.

Enjoy!