Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Copenhagen Encounter

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The positive thing about this book is its compact size, which makes it easy to tote around with you all day. It's got all the info you need to quickly make new plans as you go from one place to another--however, there are some inaccuracies, as I describe below. Like the other city "encounter" books, it is organized by neighborhood, with listings for "see, shop, eat, drink and play." The beginning of each section has a neighborhood map with the location of all the listings. There is also bigger pull-out map in the back of the book.

One negative thing is the same as what I found for the Stockholm encounter book: the maps are bad. You can pick up a much better map for free in a tourist information shop. (We found *that* map actually quite useful - it has a couple of suggested walking routes that guide you through most of the major sights).

The main reason for my low rating, though, concerns the description of the Slotsholmen neighborhood. We needed something to do for a few hours on our last day, and we hadn't been to this area yet. According to the book's description, this area would provide a "treasure trove" of "quirky delights" and would be "a beguiling place to walk around, with numerous interesting nooks and crannies to explore, not least a beautiful 'hidden' garden." Now, doesn't that sound like a great place to pass a few hours?! Would that it had been so! The whole island is made up of huge sprawling buildings with a few inner courtyards. Walking through it, it is nothing but imposing concrete and stone and bare pavement exposed to the hot sun with very little shade or greenery. (It didn't help that we were there during a bit of a heat wave; perhaps in different weather, it would have been more enjoyable.) The so-called "hidden garden" is quite an ordinary small, formal garden with a fountain in the middle, and very little shade or seating. To find it, you have to make your way around the surrounding sprawling buildings, a bit like a rat in a concrete maze. It is not worth the effort. In addition, the parliament ("Folktinget") is in this area, and according to the book, there are free tours daily at 2:00. We walked all around the building and and found no way in (nothing but doors with coded entry) and no mention of any tours. It may be that we somehow missed a major entrance, but certainly the book provided no help, and it's quite frustrating trying to make your way through this area. The single enjoyable thing about our time in this neighborhood was visiting the super-modern Royal Library - the "Black Diamond" - which is very nice if you're into architecture. To describe this area as "quirky," and "beguiling," with "interesting nooks and crannies" is incomprehensible to me. It makes me wonder if the author's sense of "beguilement" wasn't perhaps chemically induced (maybe a quick trip to Christiania beforehand...?). :) I should perhaps note that we did *not* go to any of the museums in this area, as it was Monday and they were closed, but the description of the neighborhood led us to believe that just walking around the area would be pleasant in itself.

I also found the description of getting to the Louisiana museum to be not as helpful as it could be. The museum is a 36 minute train ride from central station, and then, according to the book, "10 minutes on foot." It would be more helpful if this were described in terms of *distance*, since people walk at different paces. For us, it was more like a 15-20 minute walk. This walk is along a fairly busy road, with very little shade. Because the museum is described as being in an "affluent coastal town," we imagined a more pleasant walk. There is nothing at all to see along the way, and just one little nondescript cafe. Having said all of the this, the museum itself is *lovely*. It is right by the sea, and you can walk in and out of the museum at will in various places, including in the cafe, where you can take your food outdoors and sit with a view of the water. I would judge the experience as "worth it", but it's a close call. (Again, our experience was probably colored by experiencing a rare Danish heat wave, and the fact that the train we took had neither air conditioning nor windows that opened. To follow this with a longish dusty walk along a street with heavy traffic was not great).

This was my first purchase in the Lonely Planet Encounter Series but I loved it. It was perfect for the person who wants to the information, but doesn't need every detail and cumbersome hotel and restaurant recommendations. It fit my style of traveling with the details of the neighborhoods, museum, attractions, and sights I wanted to see without overburdening me with unnecessary information. It was a perfect reference to keep in your back pocket as you explore Copenhagen on foot or with the public transportation.

Definitely recommended for short term stays in Copenhagen.

There is just so much to see in this exciting city that you could probably have a lot of fun without a guide. But it was so great as a young, curious camera-happy tourist to have Lonely Planet's tips on cool bars and restaurants and even the notes on culture. I like the clear maps and tips on metro directions. It's also a very compact size that fits well in your back pocket. Be forewarned that this came out a couple years ago so we discovered some other new buildings not listed in the book.

This guide provides just the right amount of detail about Copenhagen, and is sized to fit conveniently in my small travel purse. So I could carry it around with me and frequently reference it while I walked around town. Copenhagen is a delightfully condensed city, and this guide is exactly the right size for it.

Don't buy the guide for the map, however. It is small and hard to read. Instead go to the "Wonderful Copenhagen Tourist Information Office" across the street and down about a block from Tivoli, and pick up one of their nice, large font maps.

I love Lonely Planet guides and own several. However, this one is completely worthless. We bought it for it's compact size and low price. However, I'm now ordering the Denmark Lonely Planet instead. There are several nice photos, but the guide is not well organized and contains almost none of the useful information normally contained in Lonely Planet.

An update... after reading the Denmark Lonely Planet reviews, we've opted for a Copenhagen Rough Guide. Apparently, the Denmark guide is also poorly organized and not as useful.)

We were constantly lost due to probably half the streets on the map not being named, as well as stretches where we found the streets to be misnamed. Since the book was just updated a couple of months ago, the material was generally reliable but it was not easy for us to get anywhere on bike due to the terrible map.

I have three guides to Copenhagen now, also Frommer's Copenhagen Day by Day and Rough Guides Copenhagen. This is easily my least favorite of the three.

Pros:
1. It's the most compact of the three, though the Frommer's is just an inch taller.
2. Lots of color pictures.
3. Neighborhood map on an early page is color-coded into the following sections that describe Copenhagen by neighborhoods

Cons:
1. The text is super tiny and even with my glasses on, I find it hard to read.
2. Included map is mostly central Copenhagen
3. Neighborhood descriptions are only about 10 pages each, including pictures, which means there's not really much there.

It's a lightweight book that might be good for a quick trip, but I really like the other two books better. (The Frommer's is similarly structured, and although I'm more of a Lonely Planet type than Frommer's type, I like the Frommer's much better. The Rough Guide is just different, with lots more text and few full-color pictures. I haven't had a chance to much go through that one yet.)