What started out as a “what the heck should we do today?” date afternoon turned into probably our most amazing experience in Copenhagen so far.
And Frederiksberg Have, this amazing public park in the middle of Copenhagen (Frederiksberg, pardon me), wasn’t the only place that made our day amazing.
Our Answer to the ‘What Should We Do’ Question
We would spend our afternoon together, that was the only stable point in our program. Then my wife came up with her idea that she heard about a cookie place near Copenhagen Central station, why shouldn’t we check it out.
Thus at least our direction was set, we headed to the lively neighborhood of Vesterbro to see what Cookie Crush, this trendy little pastry shop, had to offer.
Cookie Crush is a tiny little cookie and coffee shop on Vesterbrogade. It has this surprisingly charming, almost beachside feeling: light colors, cozy seating, beautiful cookies in the display counter, and that lovely “let’s just sit down for a moment” mood. Their specialty is not the regular cookie you quickly grab and forget, but more like a small cookie dessert with different toppings, creams, nuts, fruits, and all those dangerous little things that make you suddenly very happy on a gray Copenhagen afternoon.
Because that’s what it was: a gray afternoon with just a hint of sunshine here and there, while fast-moving clouds rushed across the sky as if they were preparing for their audition later that day.
Let’s Take That Street… To a Mountain Forest??!
Coming out of the pastry shop, we could have turned right and called it a day, but instead we took the other way to explore what this never-before-seen part of Vesterbrogade had to offer.
After a mix of some charming and also run of the mill buildings, walking along many hair salons, bicycle stores, some more hair salons and bike stores, at once we found ourselves at the corner of what seemed to be a park with a lot of trees from the outside.
On the inside, it was the most amazing green experience we’ve had so far in Copenhagen. Søndermarken, as we later learned its name, felt nothing like the Copenhagen parks I had in my mind. Instead of the usual flat, open, perfectly organized city park feeling, this place was hilly, green, dense, and almost mysterious.
It felt as if we had somehow walked into a small mountain forest in the middle of the Danish capital. Old trees, narrow paths, little slopes, wet leaves, small bridges, water, and that deep green color everywhere that only happens after rain. You know you’re still in the city, because of course you are. But for a few moments, it really didn’t feel like that.
The funny thing is that Søndermarken sits just across Roskildevej from Frederiksberg Have, so it’s not hidden somewhere far away. But the atmosphere is completely different. Frederiksberg Have feels elegant and royal (more about that later); Søndermarken feels wilder, quieter, and much more like nature is allowed to do its own thing.
And then, as if this wasn’t unexpected enough, there is a whole underground world under the park: Cisternerne, the former water reservoirs that now serve as an exhibition space. We actually went down there that afternoon to see Marina Abramović’s Seven Deaths, a cinematic opera installation shown in the dark underground chambers of Cisternerne. And somehow, after that wet, green, almost forest-like walk above ground, stepping into that cold, dark space below made the whole afternoon feel even more surreal.
Then Came Frederiksberg Have
Coming out of Søndermarken, we only had to cross Roskildevej, and suddenly we were in a completely different world. Frederiksberg Have (Frederiksberg Garden) is not wild and forest-like in the same way. It’s more open, more elegant, more arranged — exactly the kind of park where you immediately feel that this was not just a random green area left between buildings.
This is one of the most beautiful public parks in Copenhagen, with wide lawns, old trees, canals, small bridges, and the kind of calm atmosphere that makes you slow down without even noticing it. After the darker, almost mysterious feeling of Søndermarken, Frederiksberg Have felt like the softer, more graceful second chapter of the same afternoon.
Or should I say quieter? Because that’s what we suddenly felt here at Frederiksberg Have this afternoon. When we looked down to the park from beside Frederiksberg Slot, once a royal summer residence and now home to the Royal Danish Military Academy, one thing stood out at first glance.
No one was in the park except us.
Quietness wasn’t just a metaphor here. It was the actuality of the park that afternoon, when rain finally started drizzling from the by-then surreal gray clouds. The two of us, some geese toddling on the grass, and a few pigeons and seagulls now and then.
A Dreamlike Experience
Frederiksberg Have is generally full of sunbathing Danes and laid-back tourists, so don’t expect this extraordinary moment to happen the next time you visit.
But what we experienced there that afternoon felt like being on another planet. Something we’ll never forget.
We meandered through what felt like kilometers of green paths between lakes, waterways, blooming bushes, and a beautiful fountain in the background. During our whole walk through this huge park, we saw maybe three people. Definitely not many more.
But the birds, the real emperors of the lonely park in the drizzle, felt like close friends walking and flying next to us. Here a duck literally talking to me from just a couple of meters away, there a seagull flying right beside us over the lake. If someone had wanted to film a world after humans, with nature flourishing and animals taking over again, they could hardly have found a better setting.
Our Afternoon Came to an End
Everything comes to an end. In an instant, we crossed the gates of the fabulous Frederiksberg Have and found ourselves back on the humming streets of Copenhagen.
The city woke up after the rain, and the sun came out again, as if to signal the change of scenery. But that afternoon in Frederiksberg Have is something we’ll never forget.
