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TRAVEL

How to reach famous Copenhagen landmarks with the new City Ring Metro

We've checked out journeys from Copenhagen Central Station to some of the city's most famous tourist attractions using the new City Ring. Is travel through town easier and faster than before?

How to reach famous Copenhagen landmarks with the new City Ring Metro
Passengers try out Copenhagen's new City Ring. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

Using travel app Rejseplanen.dk, we put in journeys from the central station — which now has its own Metro stop following the opening of the new M3 line — to various landmarks in the city.

We also looked up journey times without the Metro, to see how much of a difference it has made for the trips we've picked out.

Before continuing, please note — this not a comprehensive study of the efficiency of the Metro, but rather a fun look at some hand-picked journeys to popular sights in Copenhagen.

The Round Tower

Photo: Søren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix

The 17th-century tower with its distinctive cobbled walkway was originally built as an observatory, and remains a great way to see central Copenhagen from above.

City Ring: To get there, take M3 from Copenhagen Central Station two stops to the east, to Gammel Strand. From here, walk around 500 metres along Købmagergade, a busy shopping street, and you can't miss the Round Tower looming on your right. This will take a total of 16 minutes including walking within the Central Station to access the Metro, according to Rejseplanen.

Alternative: Take a suburban S-Train from the central station directly to Nørreport station, and walk from there. Nørreport is closer to the Round Tower than Gammel Strand, so this journey is actually faster at 10 minutes.

The Little Mermaid


Photo: Benoit Tessier/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

The diminutive but popular Edvard Eriksen statue, depicting Hans Christian Andersen's famous, Disney-adapted character, is located a short distance outside of central Copenhagen at the Langelinie harbourside area.

City Ring: The M3 comes into its own here, as it quickly brings you close(ish) to the Little Mermaid and allows you to see another, arguably more spectacular, sight, on the way. Take the underground train to the Marmorkirken (The Marble Church) Metro station. Here you can see the splendid, domed Frederik's Church, which lends its name to the new station. From here you'll have to walk 1.3 kilometres to reach the Mermaid, but most of that walk will be very pleasant, weather permitting. Total journey time: 28 minutes.

Alternative: Several minutes can be shaved off this trip by taking the S-Train to Østerport station and then bus no. 26 to the Søndre Frihavn (Kalkbrænderihavnsgade) stop. This has the advantage of getting you a lot closer to the Little Mermaid, so you save time, but miss out on the Marble Church and harbour walk. Journey: 20 minutes

Assistens Cemetery


Photo: Nikolai Linares/Ritzau Scanpix

In the heart of multicultural Nørrebro, Assistens Cemetery is the resting place of many famous Danes, including Andersen himself along with physicist Niels Bohr, pop singer Natasja Saad, philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and many others. It often doubles as a park, with Copenhageners taking a run, walk or picnic in its quiet, leafy confines.

City Ring: Take the Metro to the west, heading eight stations through Vesterbro and Frederiksberg to Nørrebros Runddel, which is at the northern end of the cemetery grounds. Rejseplanen puts this journey at 21 minutes, but it will be shorter if you don't walk around the cemetery to the main entrance.

Alternative: By taking a regional train or S-Train from Copenhagen Central to Nørreport station, then switching to bus 5C, you can get to the cemetery in as little as 17 minutes, provided connections are well-timed.

Christiania


Photo: Asger Ladefoged/Ritzau Scanpix

Anarchist enclave Christiania was founded in the 1970s when squatters took over an abandoned military barracks, and the community is still going strong. It is a draw for visitors who are keen to experience its alternative lifestyle and contrast with the more regal surroundings of Christiansborg and Amalienborg palaces across the harbour.

City Ring: This destination gives you the experience of switching from the new Metro line to the old one. Take M3 to the now-expanded Kongens Nytorv station and then switch to M1 or M2. One station down the line is Christianshavns Torv. From here, there's a 500-metre walk to Christiania. 24 minutes, according to Rejseplanen.

Alternative: Bus 9A towards Refshaleøen drops you off right outside Christiania and therefore saves you a bit of walking, cutting the journey to 17 minutes.

Tivoli


Photo: Lasse Salling, Tivoli

Perhaps the biggest tourist attraction of all in Copenhagen, Tivoli is just across the street from Copenhagen Central Station — so save your Metro, bus or S-Train fare and spend it riding a rollercoaster instead.

READ ALSO: In pictures: A look at Copenhagen's new City Ring Metro line

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TRAVEL

Could Oslo-Copenhagen overnight train be set for return?

A direct overnight rail service between the Norwegian and Danish capitals has not operated since 2001, but authorities in Oslo are considering its return.

Norway’s transport minister Knut Arild Hareide has asked the country’s railway authority Jernbanedirektoratet to investigate the options for opening a night rail connection between Oslo and Copenhagen.

An answer is expected by November 1st, after which the Norwegian government will decide whether to go forward with the proposal to directly link the two Nordic capitals by rail.

Jernbanedirektoratet is expected to assess a timeline for introducing the service along with costs, market and potential conflicts with other commercial services covering the route.

“I hope we’ll secure a deal. Cross-border trains are exciting, including taking a train to Malmö, Copenhagen and onwards to Europe,” Hareide told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

The minister said he envisaged either a state-funded project or a competition awarding a contract for the route’s operation to the best bidder.

A future Oslo-Copenhagen night train rests on the forthcoming Jernbanedirektoratet report and its chances of becoming a reality are therefore unclear. But the Norwegian rail authority earlier this year published a separate report on ways in which passenger train service options from Norway to Denmark via Sweden can be improved.

“We see an increasing interest in travelling out of Norway by train,” Jernbanedirektoratet project manager  Hanne Juul said in a statement when the report was published in January.

“A customer study confirmed this impression and we therefore wish to make it simpler to take the train to destinations abroad,” Juul added.

Participants in the study said that lower prices, fewer connections and better information were among the factors that would encourage them to choose the train for a journey abroad.

Norway’s rail authority also concluded that better international cooperation would optimise cross-border rail journeys, for example by making journey and departure times fit together more efficiently.

The Femahrn connection between Denmark and Germany, currently under construction, was cited as a factor which could also boost the potential for an overland rail connection from Norway to mainland Europe.

Night trains connected Oslo to Europe via Copenhagen with several departures daily as recently as the late 1990s, but the last such night train between the two cities ran in 2001 amid dwindling demand.

That trend has begun to reverse in recent years due in part to an increasing desire among travellers to select a greener option for their journey than flying.

Earlier this summer, a new overnight train from Stockholm to Berlin began operating. That service can be boarded by Danish passengers at Høje Taastrup near Copenhagen.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about the new night train from Copenhagen to Germany

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