{"id":1874,"date":"2023-04-03T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2025-05-21T10:50:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T08:50:41","slug":"interrail-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/interrail-4\/","title":{"rendered":"My crazy Interrail journey – Chapter 4: Copenhagen, Malm\u00f6, Lund"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<< Introduction<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<< Chapter 3: Hamburg<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, I was heading north toward Denmark, but the journey did not start well. For this trip I had to book a reservation so I had an assigned seat, but the numbers of the coaches were all wrong, which caused at least twenty minutes of confusion among the passengers, me included, who could not find where their place was. After three and a half hours I arrived in Copenhagen and it welcomed me with a strong and really cold wind that immediately hit me as soon as I stepped foot outside of the train station. An integral part of this city\u2019s culture are the hot dogs sold by small vendors, so I just had to try one for my first lunch in Denmark, and it was pretty good. Afterwards, I went to see the lakeside Tycho Brahe Planetarium before settling down in a nearby hostel, which was so huge and modern that it felt more like a hotel, it couldn\u2019t have been more different from the small and intimate place where I worked in Greece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I immediately headed toward the city center passing by the Tivoli Gardens, an iconic, but expensive, amusement park among the oldest ones in the world. Instead, I went to the National Museum of Denmark, a very large museum with many exhibits on Danish history, archaeology, and culture, also featuring a section dedicated to the Vikings. The museum was so big that I had to really rush as the closing time was approaching and I unfortunately had to skip some parts. Just outside the museum I saw, although only from outside, the large Christiansborg Palace, a historic castle now also hosting the Danish Parliament and the Prime Minister\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the waterfront road, I walked past the historic Holmens Church and the peculiar B\u00f8rsen, an elaborate seventeenth-century stock exchange. Contrasting with these ancient structures, I saw the modern Black Diamond building of the Royal Library and the nearby Danish Architecture Center. After crossing to the other side of a bridge and past the baroque Church of Our Savior, I arrived in one of the places I was really looking forward to see: Christiania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freetown Christiania is an intentional anarchic community and self-proclaimed independent country, with no cars and almost no police presence, filled with trees and picturesque buildings. Born after the occupation of a former military base in the 1970s, it is now partially recognized by the authorities that mostly stay out of the area. Self-ruled and self-managed, this small anarchic utopia is also famous for its open trade of soft drugs, that would be illegal in Denmark, on the central Pusher Street. Despite what it may seem, it is not a shady place, but actually one of the main tourist attractions in Copenhagen, even though in most of the area photos are not allowed. Its free-spirited and nonconformist atmosphere makes Christiania really unique and absolutely a place to see. I stayed there for dinner, eating shawarma<\/em>, a Middle Eastern dish similar to doner kebab, while enjoying the famous local beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After dinner, I left Christiania and, just around sunset time, I was in Nyhavn, a famous waterfront featuring many colorful houses facing a canal, and one of the most iconic sights in Copenhagen. On my way back to the hostel, I crossed the largest square in the city, Kongens Nytorv, and the busy pedestrian street Str\u00f8get, filled with many stores of famous brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Copenhagen
<\/a>

Copenhagen Town Hall<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Christiansborg
<\/a>

Christiansborg Palace<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"A
<\/a>

A canal in Copenhagen<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Entrance
<\/a>

Entrance to Christiania<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Map
<\/a>

Map of Christiania<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"The
<\/a>

The colorful houses on Nyhavn<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"The
<\/a>

The colorful houses on Nyhavn<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I started the next day by visiting the interior of the city hall, which houses the Jens Olsen\u2019s World Clock, an elaborate astronomical clock, and then I walked to the large Frederik\u2019s Church and the nearby Amalienborg palaces, home of the Danish royal family. By that point, the light rain of the morning started becoming more intense but I kept going nonetheless, reaching the Kastellet, a former fortress now serving as a city park. I soon got to the most famous landmark of Copenhagen, the waterside statue of the Little Mermaid and, not far from there, I also saw the Genetically Modified Little Mermaid, a parody of the more popular aforementioned sculpture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to walk a bit to get back to the city center, where I had lunch with a traditional sm\u00f8rrebr\u00f8d<\/em>. I honestly wasn\u2019t expecting much from it, but the version I chose, with eggs and shrimps, was much more tasty that what I was anticipating. Around that time the rain had stopped, and I went to relax a bit in the Kongens Have park that surrounds the Rosenborg Castle. After taking a stroll through the nearby botanical garden, I visited the Rundetaarn, a former astronomical observatory with a platform on top, from which a great view of Copenhagen can be enjoyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amalienborg\"
<\/a>

Amalienborg<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Amalienborg
<\/a>

Amalienborg and Frederik’s Church<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Kastellet\"
<\/a>

Kastellet<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Saint
<\/a>

Saint Alban’s Church inside Kastellet<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"The
<\/a>

The Little Mermaid<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"The
<\/a>

The Genetically Modified Little Mermaid<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Sm\u00f8rrebr\u00f8d\"
<\/a>

Sm\u00f8rrebr\u00f8d<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Rosenborg
<\/a>

Rosenborg Castle<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"View
<\/a>

View of Copenhagen from the top of the Rundetaarn<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"View
<\/a>

View of Copenhagen from the top of the Rundetaarn<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I used my last day in Copenhagen to take an excursion into Sweden, crossing the \u00d8resund strait on the long bridge and tunnel system that connects the Danish capital with the Swedish city of Malm\u00f6. Just outside the train station in Malm\u00f6 there were already a few peculiar sculptures like The Knotted Gun<\/em>, an emblem of non-violence. I walked through the nearby V\u00e4stra Hamnen district, a former industrial area now turned into an exclusive neighborhood filled with modern and advanced buildings such as the Turning Torso. This skyscraper was the tallest one in the Nordic countries when I saw it, and just a few days later it was surpassed by a building under construction in Gothenburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I then reached the Scaniabadet seafront, from where I had an amazing view of the \u00d8resund strait and Copenhagen on the other side of it. Following the seaside road and park, I finally arrived at the Malm\u00f6 castle, that now hosts a museum of art and local history. With the same cheap ticket as the castle I could also visit the Technology and Maritime Museum, with exhibitions dedicated to science and historic vehicles. I then walked around the parks surrounding the castle and a bit more in the city center, before going back to the train station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tornhuset
<\/a>

Tornhuset and Malm\u00f6 Live<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"The
<\/a>

The Knotted Gun<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"View
<\/a>

View of the \u00d8resund strait from Scaniabadet in Malm\u00f6<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Turning
<\/a>

Turning Torso<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Malm\u00f6
<\/a>

Malm\u00f6 Town Hall<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After a quick ride I reached my next destination, the university city of Lund. I visited the Historical Museum and then the nearby cathedral. Unfortunately, its facade was undergoing restoration works so I couldn\u2019t enjoy it in all its beauty, but at least I could appreciate the impressive astronomical clock inside the church. I walked around the nice city center of Lund for a few hours, and the most remarkable landmark I saw was the gorgeous ivy-covered central library of the university. Toward the end of this day my legs started hurting a lot, the three consecutive days of walking more than twenty kilometers each were really taking a toll on me, so I soon took the train back to Copenhagen. This didn\u2019t ruin my visit to Lund, which has to be one of the most peaceful cities I have ever visited, with a lot of green spaces, many bikes, town squares with people playing music and dancing, and an overall very relaxed vibe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, I liked Copenhagen even though the rain and the cold wind made it sometimes difficult to enjoy fully. My expectations about it were really high and were mostly met, but maybe I was anticipating a quieter city while instead it was really busy, especially around the central districts. Nevertheless, my experience was really positive and it was nice seeing so many people on bikes all around the city. A more peaceful atmosphere is what I found in Malm\u00f6 and even more in Lund, with the second one surely being among my favorite places I saw during this trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Library
<\/a>

Library of the Lund University<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Main
<\/a>

Main building of the Lund University<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Astronomical
<\/a>

Astronomical clock inside the Lund Cathedral<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 5: Oslo, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Helsinki<\/a> >><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next, I was heading north toward Denmark, but the journey did not start well. For this trip I had to book a reservation so I had an assigned seat, but the numbers of the coaches were all wrong, which caused at least twenty minutes of confusion among the passengers, me included, who could not find…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3882,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":5,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Stefano Cammisa","author_link":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/author\/stefano-cammisa\/"},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Stefano Cammisa","author_link":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/author\/stefano-cammisa\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-300x100.jpg","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-scaled.jpg",2560,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-300x100.jpg",300,100,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-768x256.jpg",640,213,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-1024x341.jpg",640,213,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-1536x512.jpg",1536,512,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-2048x683.jpg",2048,683,true],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-18x6.jpg",18,6,true],"xs-thumb":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-64x64.jpg",64,64,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-300x100.jpg",300,100,true],"minimalistblogger-grid":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-350x230.jpg",350,230,true],"minimalistblogger-slider":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-850x283.jpg",850,283,true],"minimalistblogger-small":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_4_cover-300x180.jpg",300,180,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Stefano Cammisa","author_link":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/author\/stefano-cammisa\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Next, I was heading north toward Denmark, but the journey did not start well. For this trip I had to book a reservation so I had an assigned seat, but the numbers of the coaches were all wrong, which caused at least twenty minutes of confusion among the passengers, me included, who could not find...","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Travel<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Travel<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 11 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 3, 2023","modified":"Updated on May 21, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 3, 2023 3:00 pm","modified":"Updated on May 21, 2025 10:50 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1874"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12280,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions\/12280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}