Copenhagen Restaurant Recommendation

[MACKINAC]

We just returned from the Star Princess May 15 Baltic Cruise. By chance, we came across a wonderful small restaurant in the Nyhavn area. It's half a block down a street called Toldbodgade that runs into the bottom (port side) of Nyhavn.

 

The place is called "Restaurant Biblioteket" and is run by a couple who opened the restaurant last autumn. The food was gourmet quality for reasonable prices. We had a full mean with wine and desert for the equivalent of about USD $65 each. The address is Toldbodgade 5

1253 København K 9email: mail@restaurantbiblioteket.dk).

[Juliadlf]

Thanks for the information.

 

So, how was your trip?

 

Julia

[MACKINAC]

The cruise was terrific, Julia. We did the Eastern Med a couple of years ago, too. It's hard to say which cruise is nicer. After I have had a chance to catch up at work, I'll try to get back to you on this thread with some comments for you. Mike and Sharon.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks. Would be very interested in hearing your comments about the ports.

 

Julia

[MACKINAC]

Julia. Here are some of my impressions.

 

Dining Times. We chose “Anytime Dining” for flexibility with eating times, but we liked it even more because it was so easy to meet different people. We would just tell the maitre d’ that we were willing to share a table. We met many more interesting people than we did with set dining times and tables. We strongly recommend it.

 

Good things about Princess (compared to Holland America): Booze was reasonably cheap from room service (unlike Holland America). I took aboard some special Polish Vodka, figuring they would take it from me until the end of the voyage, but they didn’t. The stateroom we had (mini-suite with balcony) was wonderful. And, of course, Anytime Dining is better. Internet was less expensive and faster than on Holland America.

 

Bad things about Princess. The regular coffee on the ship was the worst I’ve ever had on a regular basis. It tastes like old fashioned Nescafe instant coffee. Someone said that they use a coffee syrup instead of beans. In any event, we bought the cappuccino/café latte card and drank coffee in ports. The lounges were large and not particularly charming. The string quartet plays in a cavernous main area. The food in the dining rooms was fine, but we thought the breakfast in the Horizon cafeteria was mediocre. We never did have a chance to try breakfast in the dining room.

 

Our favorite ports, in order, were: Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Gdansk, Oslo, Talinn, Stockholm and Helsinki. Except for St. Petersburg, we did the ports on our own, but we did use the Princess bus to get to Stockholm (“Stockholm on Your Own”).

 

We shared a Den Rus private two-day tour for Russia with four other people and liked it. It seems to me that both Den Rus and Red October are better choices that the Princess tour. The guide was a charming lady and very knowledgeable about history and the arts. It is difficult to do St. Petersburg on your own because of visa issues and the fact that it’s such a large city. You are taking a chance with a smaller group that everyone is reasonably compatible. Our group was fine although we only “met each other” over the Cruise Critic board.

 

We walked Copenhagen. We tried the hop on hop off bus, but didn’t like it. It took too long to run the circuit and, even though they say they run every 20 minutes, we ended up waiting for about 45 minutes a couple of times. If you can walk, walk. The city is a perfect place for it. It must be very comfortable to live there. We did like the harbor boat cruise. There are two of them and one costs twice as much as the other. We took the cheaper one and it was fine. Both leave from the Nyhavn area canal. The expensive one is at the end nearest Kongens Nytorv square. The one we took is a short way away along the south side of the canal.

 

Do Oslo on your own. A short walk away from the dock, you can get Tram #12 to Frogner Park. Get the day pass for about $6 or $7 each. It covers trams, busses and ferries and is one of the few good values in expensive Scandinavia. We went to Frogner Park first, because the museums weren’t open yet. The Vigeland statues at Frogner is a must. On our return, right near the tram stop is the ferry for three museums – the Viking Ship Museum, the Kon Tiki Thor Heyerdahl museum and the Rouald Amundsen Arctic Ship Museum. We did the first two and they’re nice. We also liked the art museum – with The Scream and other Munch paintings.

 

We also did Helsinki on our own. You can take a public ferry to the fort (a World Heritage Site). It was OK, but I expected more for a WHS. There is a nice circle tram that easy to take and shows you the city. Talinn is charming, but tiny. It’s also very easy to do on your own. It’s only a ten or fifteen minute walk from the pier, so we didn’t even take a bus or taxi.

 

We took the Princess bus to Stockholm because the port is so far away from the city. Once we got there, it was easy to get around. The old town is nice, but too cutesy and a bit boring compared to Talinn and Gdansk. However, if you walk to the south part of the old town, you can catch a ferry to see the Vasa museum. The 16th century ship Vasa is unique. We also very much liked the City Hall. It is an early 20th century building, but is wonderfully designed. An architectural gem.

 

Gdansk is easy to see on your own once you get there from the port city of Gdynia. I speak some Polish, so we took the electric train (it was very cheap). If you’re feeling adventurous, you can do the same. However, you have to take a cab to the train station (about 5 or 5 Euros). The cabbies will all try very hard to convince you to hire them to take you from Gdynia to Gdansk and return and show you around. Some speak English; most don’t. We met one couple who hired a great guy for the day for $60 and somehow they seemed to bridge the language gap. Gdansk surprised me. I knew from photos that its old town was pretty, but I didn’t realize how large the rebuilt historical area was. It’s terrific.

 

I hope this helps. Have a good trip. With this itinerary, you can’t help but have a great time.

[VicKen]

We want to do Copenhagen on our own but according to Rick Steves at Rosenborg Castle "nothing is explained in english". Has anyone done this on their own or with a guide? We will be there on a Wednesday so Richard Karpen's tour is not a possibility for us.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks for the review. We are excited about the trip and from everything we are hearing, this will be a great cruise to the Baltics.

 

Julia

[MACKINAC]

We want to do Copenhagen on our own but according to Rick Steves at Rosenborg Castle "nothing is explained in english". Has anyone done this on their own or with a guide? We will be there on a Wednesday so Richard Karpen's tour is not a possibility for us.

 

We did Rosenborg Castle on our own. It's a nice castle, but probably doesn't deserve too much attention (it's no Edinburgh Castle, for example). I don't think we missed anything too significant and you can probably do it better than we did by searching the internet for info. Also, while a lot of people rave about Rick Steves' book, we found it too geared to college age backpackers. I probably would have liked it in 1970, but not so much now.

[afireball]

We want to do Copenhagen on our own but according to Rick Steves at Rosenborg Castle "nothing is explained in english". Has anyone done this on their own or with a guide? We will be there on a Wednesday so Richard Karpen's tour is not a possibility for us.

 

Just returned from the Baltic on Star. We did Rosenborg Castle on our own. Although the castle is interesting, the highlight for us was the treasury.

 

As for English explanations, the tour is self guided - they give you a handout with a brief description of each room. My group of four was standing in a room and talking about some items. The room "monitor," apparently overhearing us, came over and gave us some great information. Being brave, we asked another "monitor" some questions in another room - he too gave us some super information. The moral: ask and ye may receive :)

 

BTW, many Danes speak great English. Have a super time!

 

Al

[easy22]

we had a really good meal right on the canal at Sahil. it's a Pakistani restaurant and is not in a touristy location at all. no tourists in there but us and it was packed with locals. it was recommended to us by locals. if you like Indian food, you'll like Pakistani food. it was delicious and VERY reasonable by Copenhagen standards. about $20 per person! for bread, rice and 2 curries and 2 beers.