Copenhagen or Amsterdam for a week in August?

[Anonymous]

We had a trip planned to Copenhagen but now I am expecting and its too late to travel the week we had planned so we cancelled. We were going with a very high-energy elementary school kid so all the museums have kid-featured and/or hands-on features.

Go to Copenhagen for me <3

There's the Copenhagen card, you can do bike tours, the weather is fabulous if you like warm but not hot, swim in the canals, Viking Museum, coffee and pastries and its essentially become a gastro capital of Europe.

Tivoli Gardens- check dates, the card gives you access but not to rides
Konditaget Luders- its a gym on top of parking garage
Canal Tour- you can see the Little Mermaid from specific ones
Experimentarium Museum
Lego store copenhagen
Round Tower
Danish Architecture Centre
Planetarium
Viking Ship Museum
National Museum of Denmark
Kastellet
Traffic Playground
Valbyparken
Amalienborg
Rosenborg Castle
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (out of main city but highly rated)


Theres Reffen Street food, the Torvehallerne food market, and Meatpacking District.

[Anonymous]

Copenhagen. We loved it, went to open air dinner markets, boat trip, Tivoli, great restaurants. We like Amsterdam but were definitely ready to leave after three days.

[Anonymous]

^ open air dinner market was Reffen street food

[Anonymous]

We did a very interesting food tour in Copenhagen

[Anonymous]

I generally advise against those cram-too-many-places-into-one-trip ideas that are quite popular with Americans going to Europe, but in this case I would say - do both!

Both Amsterdam and Copenhagen airports are close to city centre and affordable to get to by local public transport. Flight between the two is only 1 hr 20 mins and you'll get a one-way flight for $100.
With Play, you can also fly into Copenhagen and fly out of Amsterday (or the other way around) for the trans-Atlantic flights.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried Solvang, CA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are looking to travel to one of these two cities for a week in early August. It would be 5 nights there after 2 days spent in transit. This would be a much awaited getaway from young children. For those who have been to both recently, which is better for a trip of this duration? Which is more expensive (lodging and food)? Has better weather?

We are planning to take it easy on this trip, and enjoy urban biking/walking, good coffee and food, and antique/vintage shopping. Interested in a couple of art museums here and there but that would not be the focus of the trip.

On a related note, there are a lot of indirect flights on Play to either city with a 1 or 1.5 hour layover in KEF. For those who are familiar with these routes, is that short of a layover risky in case of delays on the first leg of the trip?

Thanks for your recommendations!

So a couple of things… regarding layovers - these 1 hr or slightly more are way too short, and I would advise against it, but know from experience that Icelandair truly waits for its passengers on these connections (booked with them on one ticket), so they are an exception! I haven’t flown with Play and I don’t know if they do the same.

Amsterdam and Copenhagen are both great, you can’t go wrong with either! I’d recommend to treat yourself to a travel guide for both or a trip to a bookstore, check on flights, and then go with one and save the other for next time!

Some more thoughts: They will likely have similar weather, summer is a very good time to go, slight edge goes to Copenhagen, because Amsterdam is beautiful in late Spring, and might be more crowded in summer. Copenhagen is perfect for August.
Price: for the past years I’ve seen flights to Copenhagen consistently cheaper than to Amsterdam, but Copenhagen is more expensive in terms of food and lodging - it might even itself out - you’ll only know if you add up a sample itinerary/budget for each. From Amsterdam you can reasonably and quickly day trip to some surrounding gems by train - perfect for your 5 day plus flights trip!
You love to bike - Amsterdam is the world biking capital. Both cities are beautiful and worth it!