… two weeks ago, the lovely people at Visit Copenhagen.com invited the Boy (and lucky me) to visit for the weekend to do a ’48 hours in… ‘ feature for the Magazine he works for.

Yes we got FREE flights, FREE accommodation in the 4 Star Kong Arthur Hotel and a FREE Copenhagen Travel and Attraction Card. In our defence, It was ‘work’, it was the weekend before my birthday and the one after our first anniversary, so we deserved it…anyways, all the free stuff needed because this has to be one of the most expensive cities in the world…and that includes London and Tokyo…well for booze that is, and if you are a regular reader then you’ll know I love my booze….Anyways, I’m rambling again my reaction?

Copenhagen is ‘Cool’, the Danes are ‘Very Cool’.

Capital letters on the ‘Cool’ are a must; this is no longer the home of the stereotypical Viking Dane. Copenhagen today is all about style and function and efficiency and correctness (Dane’s even scowl at you if you cross the road when there is no traffic coming!), everything is clean, and works, and on time; Copenhagen is Scandinavian efficiency in over drive.

But, this is as far from the Ikea vision of Scandinavia as you can get. Whilst the Danes may love their skinny jeans and nonchantly thrown scarves, nothing is identikit in this quirky city.

For shopping, the is Edith and Ella selling 20s, 30s and 40s inspired clothes, where i bought a coat or Quirki Monki (ok, its Swedish, but we’ll ignore that) where there are no prices on anything or mannequins as they think you should out outfits together how you want not how they tell you to… or for more mainstream fashion Copenhagen has the longest shopping street in Europe with about 5 H&Ms down its length (plus Topshop and Urban Outfitters too!).

Café culture in Copenhagen is a way of life and the quirkyness doesn’t stop at the shops. One of the best bars in the city was right round the corner from out hotel… Cafe Bankeraat is stuffed to the gills with well stuffed animals and freaky displays… photo below of what greets you on the way to the loos…! The burgers are well worth a little fright, if you can get over the £15 price tag that is!

….and then there was the booze…and here the transformation from the Viking with his yard of ale can be seen the best, instead of bierhalls, Copenhagen has style bars aplenty. Good spots to take your Prada handbag are the Cuban Barbarellah for Mojitos or the super stylish K-Bar (just watch out for the bar bill!) for more cocktails.

Once your hangover has passed (try the smorsmaborg – open sandwiches – for lunch) check out the Copenhagen Zoo, with the new elephant house designed by our Norman Foster. to see the happiest elephants you’ll ever see; take in some history and Viking swords at the National Museum and of course for all us children out there, we visited the historic Tivoli Gardens with its rides and singing and dancing and generally far too crazy for our English sensibilities school children.. (Btw all of the above are free with your CHP card).

But the best bit of the weekend for me? Standing in the main square watching Denmark V Sweden with out 11kr cans of Carlsberg, dodging flares and fireworks and frisbies and balloons as Denmark scored to win! The madness after was well worth the trip alone to watch Danes in full party mode, they do let down the ‘coolness’ occasionally!

So, while the Boy will write this up better than I can, I can say that Copenhagen is perfect for 48 hours, but be prepared to spend through the nose to do it..

Photos in the gallery below