Copenhagen: Sharks, Vikings, rashes & tantrums

All good things must come to an end – both my long weekend in Copenhagen and the string of posts about it. There’s so much (inevitably) that we didn’t get to do, although before we jetted off, I did manage to see two more of my top things to do in Copenhagen with kids: the National Museum of Denmark and Copenhagen aquarium.

Which still leaves plenty on my wishlist for next time: an attempt to squeeze in a fleeting visit to see the polar bears at the zoo was foiled by the rain, we didn’t find time to walk across the Bryggebroen padlock bridge (never quite sure about padlock bridges), and I didn’t see a single historic palace (almost unheard of for me on a city break).

While I eyed up a few shops as we wandered around Stroget, including some very cute kids’ clothes, the exchange rate and the lack of time meant I never made it inside, let alone checking out the city’s vintage scene, with tips on my master list including Emmeline Othine in Osterbro and Damernes Magasin in Norrebro.

Check out my complete guide to Denmark with kids here

Then there was harbourside restaurant Toldboden near the Little Mermaid which I didn’t have opportunity to eat at. The same goes for Sporvejen, a burger restaurant in a tram. I’m possibly most upset that we missed that, to be honest…

Partly because I have an over-optimistic idea of what can be done in a long weekend, let along what can be done with a baby in tow. And partly because the baby in question wasn’t well.

After her unexpected temperature just before we left, we’d been battling broken nights and an intermittent fever for a few days – mostly Calpol and cuddles, plus plenty of naps (for her. None for me) saw us through.

But these were combined with long sessions stuck in a buggy and mealtimes that were something of a battleground (thankfully you can buy Babybel in Denmark, otherwise I’m not sure what she’d have eaten), resulting in a few fraught moments.

One of which came on our second attempt to see the Viking exhibition at the National Museum. On day 1, Minnie had been asleep and I hadn’t wanted to take her out of the buggy to put in the museum’s strollers. On day 2, she was on the verge of meltdown.

Once we had to leave the exhibition queue, in the hope she’d be in a better mood a bit later.

When she wasn’t, there were tantrums. Er, from me. Not actually drumming my heels on the floor with fury, but some distinctly stompiness at maybe missing the one utterly non child-friendly activity on the list.

My mum, no doubt secretly wondering why it was her 30-something daughter and not her toddler granddaughter who was acting like a baby, pacified both of us, then held a place in the queue while Minnie stretched her small legs until we managed to make it inside.

Centering around the 37m long Viking ship Ægir, found at Roskilde in 1997, it was hugely impressive, and deserved far more time than I had – although the scrolling touchscreens detailing the exhibits collected from various countries, including the UK, kept Minnie surprisingly entertained.

With everything from gold and clothing to weapons, there was something from every part of Viking life, all beautifully laid out in different cabinets with maps, explanations, videos and puzzles and dress-up for older children.

In the event, I managed a quick scuttle through, marvelling at the size of the longship based on the recreated metal framework, although much of the original wood had vanished over the centuries.

Unfortunately the exhibition is only a temporary one so I can’t go back to revisit it, but even a flavour of the artefacts was worth it. It’s tempting to do an entire Viking visit to Scandinavia – or perhaps more realistically, a trip to York for starters.

Needless to say, I didn’t get even a very quick glance at any of the rest of the museum, from Danish prehistory to Egyptian mummies, let alone the children’s museum.

Before we left the city, we did manage to squeeze in a visit to the Copenhagen aquarium, the Blue Planet – northern Europe’s largest aquarium, it’s the perfect place to go on a rainy Monday morning.

Unfortunately, we weren’t the only people who thought that.

With at least one school trip and innumerable other family groups visiting at the same time, there’s no question it’s fantastic for kids. Perhaps it was just the time of year, and we’d managed to coincide with Danish half-term, but it was heaving.

Surrounded entirely by water, out towards the airport (close enough to visit on a long stopover), it’s divided into ‘branches’ showing different ecosystems, with a steamy rainforest, a coral reef, the cold oceans and a fantastic clear tunnel where enormous eagle rays would swim overhead so convincingly I almost wanted to duck and small hammerhead sharks prowled past.

There’s also feeding time with the sealions, tanks where you can interact with the fish, prehistoric coelacanths, seahorses, piranhas, eye-poppingly bright reef fish, beautifully deadly lionfish… It’s a wonderful aquarium, if only (selfishly) it had had about half as many people enjoying it.

As we prepared to escape the throngs into the rain-lashed capital, the final upset of the holiday – I discovered Minnie was covered with a rash. Following sheer, heart-stopping panic (despite a rational voice pointing out she seemed pretty cheerful) a glass confirmed it wasn’t meningitis, the thermometer that she hadn’t got a temperature.

After having taken off in high winds (the first part of the St Jude’s day storm hitting Copenhagen, on its voyage from the UK), the following day a doctor confirmed it was just a virus.

I really can’t help hoping that our next trip is germ-free though.

Check out my posts on the other things you really should do in Copenhagen with kids

PIN FOR LATER: VISITING COPENHAGEN AQUARIUM

Viking helmets copyright MummyTravels, all other images courtesy of Depositphotos

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