No trip to Copenhagen is complete without a visit to Nyhavn. If you’ve ever looked at pictures and guides from Copenhagen, you’ll surely find at least one picture from here, because Nyhavn is a real pearl, which you have to visit, maybe before all the others when you’re in the city…
Since I don’t know how to pronounce this name in the Serbian language, I will write it in its original form, and if anyone knows, let me know so I don’t make a mistake.
Nyhavn is located in the very center of the city, next to Kongens Nytorv square.
With its colorful 17th-century buildings and canal by the water, Nyhaven attracts crowds of tourists all year round, so it’s always crowded.
Numerous restaurants and cafes, as well as the possibility to ride boats of various sizes, are a lure for all those who visit the city.
But it’s not just hedonism that Nyhavn offers. There’s plenty more to see and do while you’re here. While researching Nyhavn’s wheelchair accessibility, which is highly debatable, I came across some very interesting things. They enriched my visit to Nyhavn.
So let’s see what makes Nyhavn so special.
The first thing you come across when you walk down Nyhavn is the famous anchor. It comes from a frigate named Finn and is dedicated to the Danish sailors who lost their lives in World War II.
Nyhavn, when translated, means new harbor. This part of the city was built in the 17th century by the often mentioned king Christian V.
It was built by Danish soldiers together with prisoners from the Danish-Swedish war, which was fought between these two countries in the 17th century.
The canal was built to enable fishermen to more easily deliver their cargo to the future city center on Kongens Nitorv, and later to improve the performance of the Danish transport fleet and thus affect the competitiveness of the Danish economy. Progress brought wealth but also problems. Although it is hard to believe, until almost 1960, Nyhavn was not a place that Danes were proud of. Sailors gathered there in search of alcohol and women of the night.
Today, Nyhavn shows a completely different image. Colorful houses are full of restaurants and bars. The boats make this street the most interesting in Copenhagen. Although at first glance it seems that the neighborhood to which Nyhavn belongs is large, the street, if there are no crowds and cobblestones, you can walk through it in 15 minutes because it is 600 m long in total.
As for the cobblestones, I have to say that they are terrible, but there are two paved lanes in the middle of the path that you can ride on.
The problem is that there is a lot of crowding, so people occupy that part of the passage.
The other side of the street, which is the side in the shade, is paved and nicely passable, and in my opinion, the view of Nyhavn is much better from here and it is less crowded.
It pleased even the most famous Danish, Hans Christian Andersen, who lived on this side of the street on several occasions.
The famous author of unforgettable children’s classics such as: The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid or The Princess on a Pea lived for almost 22 years in three houses with the numbers 18, 22 and 67 in this neighborhood.
Although he constantly complained about the noise and the picturesque surroundings, his imagination was so strong that he managed to write exactly the opposite of what was happening around him.
Who knows, maybe Nyhavn is his strongest inspiration.
If you want, you can extend your walk to the Little Mermaid, which is not far from here.
In Nyhavn, every house can tell its own story.
So here in one of the houses was the headquarters of the White star company, which sold tickets for its ships, one of which was the Titanic.
It remains recorded that 14 Danes bought a ticket for that fateful journey. Only two women survived the tragedy, one of whom immediately returned to her homeland and died at a very old age. Legend has it that she was buried in a nightgown from the Titanic.
Other companies also sold tickets here, but the ships left from another place in front of Amalienborg, which I wrote more about here. Because the canal in Nyhavn is small.
The Hong Kong building has housed a pub for 100 years.
In this house from 1700 there was a tavern.
Legend has it that a miller lived there with his wife. Unfortunately, the miller started gambling and lost everything. Depressed and ashamed, he hanged himself in the attic. Since then he has been disturbing all the tenants. Today there is a restaurant here.
In the house number 17 there is the oldest tattoo studio in the world.
It has been working since 1884. One of the most interesting customers of this studio is the Danish king Frederik IX, who was tattooed here several times.
King Frederick spent a lot of time in the navy traveling a lot in Asia and hence his love for motifs such as dragons, parrots, anchors etc. He also loved body building. All this together earned him the nickname “Sailor King”. Even though he was colored like a comic, it did not diminish his royal demeanor and dedication to his calling. On the contrary, it was accepted as a sign of the modernization of the monarchy.
While you are in Nyhavn, you are in danger of looking at the houses and not paying attention to the ships.
Old and authentic ships, which have been carefully restored, are parked in the canal next to the bridge that divides it into two parts.
After the bridge, all the other ships were converted into restaurants.
In Nyhavn you can board canal boats. However, none of them are wheelchair accessible. A worthy alternative, and much cheaper, is the use of Havnebus transport, water buses, which cruise up and down the main canal, and for which a city pass card is also valid.
You can really see a lot with these water taxis.
The best way to end a walk around Nyhavn is to head to where all the connoisseurs are, which is across the bridge to Broens Island.
Here you will find a variety of food at an affordable price.
Conclusion
A visit to Nyhaven is a must. Colorful houses full of history will take you back in time to the past. I can’t imagine that there used to be a red lantern quarter here, but the whole quarter has been carefully reconstructed and today represents the most important picture you can bring back from Copenhagen.
Have you visited Nyhavn?
Did I miss something?
Traveled and enjoyed,
Marko Velickovic
