Back in May of 2018, Andrew had the bright idea to go on an Eastern European road trip covering 8 countries in just 15 days – solo. It was a whirlwind, but he also managed to do the whole dang thing for just $488 plus daily expenses like food, drinks, and gas (petrol for you Euro-types). How the heck did he pull that off? Over the next several posts, we’re going to break it down day by day, starting with 24 hours in Copenhagen, Denmark. And for the purposes of these posts, we’re only going to tally the travel expenses like hotels, plane tickets, car rentals, etc. While we’re happy survivin’ on hot dogs, maybe the rest of y’all have finer tastes.
To check out a different stop on the trip, click the links below!
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Warsaw, Poland
- Krakow, Poland
- Slovak Paradise National Park, Slovakia
- Budapest, Hungary
- Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Bled, Slovenia
- Triglav National Park, Slovenia
- Trieste, Italy
- Vienna, Austria
- Olomouc, Czech Republic
Day 1
DC to Denmark
Not a layover, a stopover.
First off, check this out: By booking my flights with All Nippon Airways (ANA), I was able to add a FREE stopover to my Washington, DC to Poland itinerary completely free of charge! For the exact same price, I was able to spend 24 hours in Copenhagen before continuing on to Warsaw, Poland. How cool is that!? If you’re in the business of checking countries off your bucket list, as I am, it’s always worth doing a little extra searching to see if you can squeeze one of these free stopovers into your itinerary. The best way to find them is to do a “multi-city” search when you’re booking flights, and just use a little trial and error until you find dates and cities that work!
Plans Change, But Never Say NEver
“I was supposed to visit Copenhagen for the first time in September 2016, but I broke my leg a few weeks before take-off and had to cancel my Scandanavian road trip. It would’ve been my first time traveling solo. Scrapping the trip was disappointing, for sure, but I never doubted I’d get another shot.
A year and a half later, it’s May of 2018 and THIS is my first-time solo traveling. I’m excited as hell to finally live at least a small portion of that original adventure. Iceland, Norway, Sweden: I haven’t forgotten aboutchya, don’t you worry. If something is important to you, you find a way to make it happen. But for the next two weeks, I’ve got other priorities.
C’mon Copenhagen. Whatchya got?
– Andrew’s Travel Journal, May 1 2018
What Did I Pack?
When packing for this trip, I knew I’d need to pack light so I could haul my things around with me more easily. I hate roller bags and have always found backpacks to be easier to maneuver – especially on the old cobblestone streets of Europe. The Patagonia Black Hole Duffle 40L is my go-to now, and I’m obsessed. You can fit loads of gear and clothes inside it, it’s pretty water-resistant, and it easily fits in the overhead bin of your plane. I also brought my Nemo Fillo Travel Pillow to make my flights a little more comfortable, and I *NEVER* miss an opportunity to break out my trusty yellow speedo. It’s important to bring the essentials.
My entire packing list consisted of the above, my camera equipment, and…
Here’s a public service announcement for ya. If you learn to wash your clothes while you travel (hotel sinks work great) you can *gasp* pack fewer of them! Ok, so we’ve got that covered. Now we’re on to the big question about my roundtrip flight from DC to Copenhagen:
What Did It Cost?
Roundtrip Flight, IAD to CPH: $121.24 and 55k ANA miles transferred from American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy
Amount Saved: $520
Day 2
24 Hours in Copenhagen
Don’t Miss:
I landed around 7 am after very little sleep on the flight. But hey, sleep when you’re dead, right? I only had 24 hours in Copenhagen and I wasn’t gonna waste ’em! My first stop was the hotel I’d be staying at that night: the Radisson Blu Scandinavia. Obviously I wouldn’t be able to check in for a while, but they let me drop off my stuff before I went to wander the city. And turns out, they were able to offer me a 12 pm check-in instead of the usual 3 pm, which was killer. It never hurts to ask for what you want! Often times you’ll get it.
My big backpack safely with the concierge, I set off on foot to see what Copenhagen had to offer.
It’s 8am and feels like 2am, but that was the FASTEST immigration I’ve ever gone through, so now I’ve got the whole gorgeous day in front of me to explore! I dropped my stuff at the hotel and started wandering.
Observations so far:
Bicycles EVERYWHERE!
People are tall.
They all wear black.
My bright orange jacket and bright yellow
day pack are not in the least bit conspicuous.Now, to coffee!
Andrew’s Travel Journal, May 2 2018
Nyhavn
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OMG climbing holds. 
I love these locks.
My intention was to hit Christiansborg Palace right off the bat, where you can climb the tower for free and see the entire in a 360 degree panoramic. But when I arrived it still hadn’t opened yet – I guess it opens around 10 am. So instead, I wandered down to Nyhavn, that famous spot you see in all the photos. I can 100% say it lived up to the hype. The sailboats, the colorful buildings, the atmosphere, the locks on the bridge – every shot was Instaworthy. If you’ve got the time and the money to throw at the pricey restaurants, I could imagine hanging out here all afternoon. Unfortunately, I was crunched for time AND money, so I grabbed a coffee and headed back towards the Palace, where I finally got to take in the view.
ChristiansBorg Palace
By then it was about lunchtime, and I’d heard about a really “mindblowing” burger joint called the Gasoline Grill. As the name would imply… it’s… literally an old gas station retrofitted into a fast-food restaurant. The menu is pretty basic – think Shake Shak in the US. And while it really isn’t as cheap as I was hoping, NOTHING is cheap in Copenhagen, so you gotta make do with what you can get.
The verdict? The burger was…… fine. Honestly, nothing to write home about, and not particularly local or unique. So if that’s something you’re after, feel free to skip this one unless you want the novelty of eating a burger served from a gas station. Lol.
The King’S Garden
After lunch, take a stroll over to The King’s Garden to take in some more sun and sights. The King’s Garden is a beautiful sprawling park in the middle of Copenhagen, highlighted by Rosenborg Castle. I stayed outside and just walked the grounds, as I don’t believe this one was free to enter. But I could be wrong, though, so it’s worth an ask. I was fortunate to even see the guards practicing military drills in the courtyard! I have no idea if this was a real drill or if it’s just a show for the tourists, but either way, it was cool to watch!
Dinner Time At Karla’s
After a nap at the hotel, I got a message from an old friend who’d seen my posts on Facebook and also happened to be in the city! We decided to meet up at a restaurant called Karla’s for dinner before heading out to explore the Copenhagian (I’m sticking with that) nightlife. Here are a couple of journal entries from the next morning.
Last night was… Everything.
First, I serendipitously met up with my buddy Alex for some *authentic* Danish food: Pickled herring with lard, smoked salmon with marmalade, fried flounder with tartar sauce, all built on little slices of bread. Pork with red cabbage and pickles, warm liver paté with bacon, beets and mushrooms. Brie and fruit. And BEER. Danish brown ale. It felt like a meal described in a Brian Jacques book, STRAIGHT out of Redwall. Alex was here on a work trip, and we’d lived mere blocks from each other in New York when that was my home base. It was absolutely crazy running into him in Copenhagen of all places!
Andrew’s Travel Journal, May 2 2018
The food at Restaurant Karla was good ![grabbing a beer in Copenhagen, Denmark]()
The beer was great
The Free Town of Christiania: Not for the Faint of Heart
After dinner, we met up with some locals and made our way to the free city of Christiania, which – according to them – is not a part of the EU, and is its own sovereign city-state. Booze, smoke, young people, ruffians, scallywags, and a WHOLE lot of fun. I don’t think I’ve ever been in seedier bars in my life. My clothes will carry that smell the rest of the trip. But it was amazing to see this little bohemian village that doesn’t doll itself up for tourists’ sake. Christiania is good, bad, ugly and awesome all tied up together in the name of freedom. Definitely an experience. You absolutely cannot come to this city and skip it.
Afterward, we went to another bar where an old man (with fewer teeth remaining than he’d lost) was ATTACHED to the jukebox. He became our DJ for the evening. And let me tell you: If you haven’t drunk beers with new friends in an old-school pub-style bar in Copenhagen at 1am while being serenaded by the dulcet tones of the Spice Girls and Enigma, you haven’t really lived.
And just like that, it’s on to the next stop: Warsaw, Poland! Thanks Copenhagen. Pretty sure we did this exactly right.
Andrew’s Travel Journal, May 2 2018
So What *is* FreeTown Christiania?
Christiania is a settlement founded in 1971 when a group of hippies, squatters, and vagabonds decided to set up a commune on an abandoned military base. Their goal was to create a separate, autonomous, sovereign city-state, independent of Denmark’s laws and government, where they could live freely. They declared themselves a true Democracy, complete with their own currency and flag, and… things didn’t go well.
Over the decades there have been police raids, riots, drug busts, you name it, but today the commune still stands. In 2012, the Danish government officially gave the land to the people who lived there, but since it’s against the local philosophy to own land, they agreed that the property would belong to the collective.
The rules
Christiania is an amazing place full of life and grit and art. There’s music everywhere, murals on every wall, art installations dotting the streets, and the smell of cannabis in the air. But it’s also got a *lot* of rules. After decades of tumult and fear of police raids, the locals can be pretty easily triggered, so you better not take photos of any of the locals. To that end, I just kept my camera put away all night long. So if you want to get an idea of what it really looks like, you can check out this article here, or – better yet – you can visit yourself! Even if you’ve only got 24 hours in Copenhagen, you *have* to make it a priority.
After a truly crazy evening that stretched well into the morning, I made my way back to my fancy-shmancy hotel at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia. Did… Did I mention it was free? Yeah. That’s gonna be a theme for this trip.
Hotdogs
Listen, I know I promised hotdogs, so I owed you at least a single photo of the best hotdog on the planet. John’s Hotdog Deli. You’ll never, ever regret it. And they’re like, a thing here. So… it counts as a sampling of the local cuisine! Or something!
You see, I’ve heard that if you’re trying a local dish in order to become better acquainted with a culture, it doesn’t count against your caloric intake or your regular-life dietary choices. That’s a free pro tip for ya. Yer welcome.
I grabbed this wonder before heading to the airport on the morning of Day 3, en route to Warsaw, Poland. And that was it! 24 hours in Copenhagen! I’d go back in an instant.
24 Hours In Copenhagen:
What Did It Cost?
Hotel for One Night: $0 and 44k Radisson Rewards points
at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia
Amount Saved: $212
Total Trip Cost Through Day 2: $121.24
Total Saved Through Day 2: $732
Thanks for posting this, it was unbelieveably informative and helped me a lot