Traveling in winter to an even colder place is quite adventurous. Thanks to the affordable Wizz Air, we are taking a trip to the Swedish city of Malmo for 30€. And right there, you can kill two birds with one stone. Since the impressive Oresund Bridge was built, you are just a stone’s throw away from Copenhagen. Charming colorful houses, cozy cafes, a zone with only three rules, buying tickets through a mobile app, and driverless metro – that’s just a fraction of what you can experience here. And beware, if something hits you, it will definitely be a bicycle. People here are more into sports, and the city is not congested with cars. Well, we have a lot to learn.
Contents
Day 1 – Charming and modern Malmo
Day 2 – Copenhagen part 1
Day 3 – Copenhagen part 2
Day 4 – Farewell to the North
Day 1 – Picturesque and Modern Malmö
We arrive at Malmo airport on Thursday at 12:30. The city center is 30km away, so if there are four of you, it’s worth using a taxi Taxi23 with a fixed rate of 359SEK. You need to call for a booking and the driver will be waiting for you with a sign bearing your name. For accommodation, we are using our classmate’s services from university, a great host called “Kompáč,” who has a rented apartment in Bunkeflostrand district. The rent for a modern 2-bedroom apartment here ranges from 900-1200E/month. If you prefer a standard accommodation via Booking.com, expect a price of at least 30E/night. First, we’ll drop off our things at Kompáč’s place, toast with whiskey, and then head out into the city. Our first stop is the coast, from where we will go see the Øresund Bridge. It is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe, with a length of 16km, including a 4km underwater tunnel and 4km over an artificial island. The bridge was inaugurated on July 1, 2000, and tolls have been collected for each crossing since. Hats off to this engineering marvel. After a short walk and enjoying the Swedish breeze, we head to the bus stop. We use the modern system and buy our tickets through the mobile app Skanetrafiken. You can conveniently pay by card through the app and show the activated ticket directly from your mobile phone to the bus driver. The only drawback is that you need internet to purchase the ticket; however, the activation and validity of the ticket work offline.
TIP: The Duo/Family ticket for 2 people at 40SEK is the most cost-effective option, allowing 70 minutes of combined bus/train travel
We disembark at Hyllie station, where we transfer to a train to central Malmö. In this area, you’ll find the Malmö Arena and the shopping center Emporia, where we will replenish our groceries every day. The journey to the main station takes less than 20 minutes. After crossing the bridge, you’ll find yourself right in the main square.Stortorget. The most dominant building is the town hall and in the background the St. Peter’s Church. We continue to the small square Lilla torg, where you can also take beautiful panoramas.
We interrupt our leisurely walk through the alleys with a stop at a café. The chicken burger for 10 SEK and a hot coffee came in handy to warm us up from the cold. Even though the weather here is stable thanks to the warm Gulf Stream and the temperature is around 4°C, be prepared for windy and chilly weather. Only the locals see it differently, as they bike in wind-no wind, rain-no rain, or snow-no snow situations 🙂 After tantalizing our taste buds, we head to the park Kungsparken. If you bring some bread, you can feed the ducks here, as well as our friend Thomas. We walk along the sidewalk past the windmill to Malmo Castle. The castle is built of red bricks and you can enter the courtyard for free. As dusk sets in, we have one last stop on our agenda – the stylish twisted skyscraper Turning Torso. This residential building, standing at a height of 190m, is also the tallest building in Sweden, but unfortunately due to its private nature, you cannot enter inside. We hop on the bus and head to the supermarket at Emporia to buy some groceries. The evening is filled with salmon tartare, quality whiskey, and the social game Duck Hunt. The next two days are planned for Copenhagen.
Day 2 – Copenhagen part 1
Waking up after such a demanding day is always hard. We leave the apartment around ten o’clock and head to Bunkeflostrand – Hyllie – Copenhagen central station. A round-trip ticket to Copenhagen Duo/Family costs 189SEK and also serves as a day pass in Copenhagen or Malmo. The train journey is comfortable and fast, reaching speeds of up to 200km/h across the Oresund Bridge. In our case, we slow down almost to zero in the middle of the bridge, maybe to take better photos 🙂 Be prepared for a slight pressure change in your ears as you enter the tunnel. You can reach the city center in two ways – either get off at the airport (Københavns Lufthavn station) and continue by metro M2, or simply continue by train. We choose the second option as starting from the main station suits us better. The display in front of the station shows 10:59, with slightly drizzly weather turning to light snow. First, we stop at the corner info center to pick up city maps, right across from which is the famous Hard Rock Café. Our steps lead to the City Hall, one of the tallest buildings in Copenhagen. During our visit, there is a very interesting exhibition of tram and trolleybus models. We even found our Slovak tram there. Guided tours are available at 11:00, 12:00, and 14:00. Since we were told the next one is at two, we gave up on it. We continue down the shopping street Strøget, known for hosting some of the most luxurious stores and ranking among the top 10 shopping streets in the world. It’s definitely worth popping into the Lego Store. Yes, Lego, the building blocks we all have at home, is manufactured by the Danish family company Lego Group. You can buy Lego by the gram like fruit or take a photo at Nyhavn harbor and then compare it live in a while.
Here is a square with a fountain, where we turn right. On Slotsholmen Island, we have another point of interest Christiansborg Palace. The Danish parliament, the Prime Minister, and the Supreme Court are located here. Besides touring the courtyard, you can also go for free to the 106m high tower. The views and panoramas are worth it, so don’t miss it. At the end of the shopping street, we also stop by the Guinness World Records store, where we are greeted at the entrance by a wax figure of the tallest man in the world, Robert Wadlow. King’s New Square was under reconstruction during our visit, but one attraction is the Happy Wall where you can leave a colorful message for someone. Right behind the square starts the idyllic harbor of Nyhavn with its irresistibly picturesque houses. So, get your camera ready and you won’t know which house to photograph first. Particularly beautiful is the panorama of houses Nyhavn 9-17. We return back on the other side of the harbor. If you have enough time, you can also take a sightseeing cruise from there.
It’s time for a late lunch, and we are looking for something to eat. The TripAdvisor app leads us to the Sporvejen restaurant. Surprisingly, we find ourselves inside an old tram with original Danish vintage timetables. We sit in a “carriage” and have a beef/vegetarian burger with fries (10E) and a local small beer (5E). The price-performance ratio matches the reviews, and we leave extremely satisfied. Our next stop is the towerRound Tower. Originally a 17th-century observatory used by the famous Dane Tycho Brahe, it now serves as a viewing tower. From the top, you can see the parliament, town hall, and the Copenhagen Cathedral. To end the day, we will take a train from Nørreport station to Østerport. From there, Copenhagen’s top attraction #1 is the Little Mermaid. Few people know that this bronze statue, inspired by the fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid, recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. You’ll have to queue up to take a photo, and even though it was getting dark and drizzly, the line was still long. On the way to the metro, we pass through the star-shaped fortress Kastellet. It currently serves as a military barracks, with a square in the middle featuring a church and the waving Danish flag. We just managed to see all of this before dark, and now it’s a straight shot to Kongens Nytorv station. We board the M2 metro to the airport and then transfer to a train. In Hyllie, we’ll do some evening shopping, and tonight our host will treat us to pizza. As a social game, today we’ll learn about the Seven Wonders of the World. It can be challenging at first, but the next day it will be a breeze.
Day 3 – Copenhagen part 2
We wake up around 9 and get ready by 10. We activate our tickets in the mobile app and head to Copenhagen along the route Bunkeflostrand – Hyllie – Københavns Lufthavn – Kongens Nytorv. Our first stop is the changing of the royal guard, which takes place every day at 12:00 in front of the Royal Palace Amalienborg. Since we arrive a little early, we take a look at the nearby church Frederik’s Church.
TIP: To the left of the church, there is an interesting painted wall where each ancient painting humorously incorporates something modern.
Today, it’s drizzling again, and the wind is blowing. Despite the weather, people start gathering in the middle of the square in front of the 4 identical buildings of Amalienborg. The new guard with infantrymen arrives precisely at 12 from the alley near the church. This is followed by a short 5-minute performance, and then we would like to find a place to warm up. Just around the corner is the cozy Cafe Oscar, where we stop for coffee and a small beer. On this street, there is an interesting Russian church Alexander Nevsky Church with gilded spires.
After a coffee, we will head to Rosenborg Castle. We don’t feel like paying the 12E entrance fee, so we’ll enjoy a walk in the royal garden and Tomáš will, as usual, feed the swans and ducks. Passing by the castle, we continue to the botanical garden, where it is confirmed to us that the best things in life are free. The garden is part of the natural science faculty at the University of Copenhagen. In the outdoor area, there is a lake surrounded by a park and two hills where you can admire Japanese gardens with small waterfalls. Surprisingly, in February, it’s bustling with flowers and blossoming trees. The interior consists of greenhouses and the largest main pavilion, the Palm House, which is open to the public. Here, you can see palms, bamboos, cycads, cacti, and even a cacao tree. By climbing the spiral staircase to the top of the dome, we can admire all this beauty from a bird’s-eye view.
After visiting the pavilions, we head back to the center for a late lunch. TripAdvisor recommended Mormors Café, where we enjoy a generously filled sandwich and taste typical Danish pastries. You won’t find a traditional lunch there, but we wanted to try Danish cuisine. For the rest of the day, we have the Christianstown district reserved. As we were warned, it may not be possible to pay by card there, so we choose to bring some cash. It’s just one metro stop away, then you walk past the Church of Our Saviour and on the corner is the entrance to the free town of Christiania. It’s a really peculiar feeling because right at the entrance a sign warns you that only 3 rules apply here – “Have fun, do not run, no photos.” Marijuana and hash are sold in stalls on a street called Pusher Street, freely translated as Dealer’s Street. In stalls resembling jewelry stalls at a fair, you can buy selected hemp derivatives, similar to Dutch coffee shops. We are easy-going and want to find a place to sit down for a beer.
TIP: Café Nemoland is probably the only place where you can pay by card, and that’s where we settled.
If you behave normally, there really is nothing to fear. It’s a cool experience that something like this exists in Copenhagen. Pleasantly tired, we return to Malmo with a stop at Emporia. Our last evening is approaching, and even though there were suggestions to go to a nightclub, we quickly dismissed them. We will play 7 wonders of the world and fall into bed.
Day 4 – Farewell to the North
The irony is that on the day of departure, the weather cleared up, and the sun is shining to bid us farewell. If only we could move the flight by a day and trick the weather. As a farewell, we will play some Duck Hunt and call our Taxi23 to the airport. We depart from Malmo at 13:00. Our parked little car awaits us in front of the terminal in Budapest. It’s really convenient, and the parking for 4 days cost us just under 22E. We can conclude another successful and super trip behind us.
