Shopping in Copenhagen: Where to Go and What to Buy

10 things you can only find shopping in Copenhagen.

A set of cutlery commissioned by Stanley Kubrick, vegetarian hot dogs, an encyclopedia on porcelain and a church where they screen David Lynch and play backgammon, to name a few.Denmark is not only the happiest country in the world to live in, it's also an extremely prolific land in terms of design, does a certain Tiger ring a bell?

Also read: Best International Schools in Copenhagen

The giant chain of low- cost objects is in good company: if you have a house to furnish in Copenhagen you can run and plunder Hay, an instutution of fancy objects since 2002, or Søstrene Grene, Tiger’s chic cousin.  Here, in addition to anything you can think of for the home, you can also find Made in Denmark culinary goodies, such as licorice powder to give yourself a chef's aura, and decorate sweet and savory dishes.

Also read: Where to live in Copenhagen

The Danish love for design is palpable in every corner of Copenhagen and a place where you can find a set of cutlery made for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

Wandering around the city you will come across a myriad of small stores and boutiques where you can satisfy your design dreams.  Clothing and jewelry are no exception, just check out the atelier of Meette Saabye, where rings that look like yo-yos and would perfectly complete avant-garde looks.

Also read: Best Museums in Copenhagen

For a taste of royal customs, a mandatory stop is Royal Copenhagen, where you will find a porcelain table service on which there is an entire botanical encyclopedia and eat right next door at Royal Smushi Cafe.  If, on the other hand, you get hungry while you're out and about, all you have to do is look for the traditional food trucks that sell hot dogs: not wanting to sacrifice health, but not wanting to give up their favorite snack either, the Danes dine on organic hot dogs and, if you want, even vegetarian ones.

Also read: News in Copenhagen

For your digestion, how about a Caribbean rum flavored with German liqueur?  In Nørrebro, one of the coolest emerging areas of the city, you can find this at Den Sidste Dråbe - Spiritushandel, a tiny bar that is a paradise for spirits.  If you happen to be there during the day, take a look next door, in the atelier of Søren Ulrich, where you'll find everything you need to work with wood, from axes onwards.  The craftsman makes furniture that is unique.

At this point you'll have your arms full of bags, but we recommend a stop at CMYKkld: they sell prints, paintings and drawings.  Certainly not something new, but among the many artists who deal for their atelier, you will also find some particularly cheap pieces.

We mentioned Tiger, but what we haven't talked about is what its founder has done in a deconsecrated church, the Absalon CPH, which has become a social space with a bar, a cinema, a canteen and yoga or backgammon classes.  It's worth a visit, what makes the Danes so happy here is palpable.

Royal Smushi Cafe

Here, and only here, do you encounter the fusion of one of Denmark's oldest culinary traditions, that of smørrebrød, and the most recent food trends.  Since design is king in Denmark, what the eye wants is also on display.  The classic "open sandwiches," usually made of black bread, have been part of the Danish diet, legend has it, since the 15th century.  Here the classic is reinvented, even in a sweet version.
Address: Amagertorv 4, Strøget

Georg Jensen

Those who manage not to get sucked into the ground floor of this gigantic concept store, and make their way to the basement, will be able to equip their kitchen with a piece of design that has also marked the history of cinema.  Like a set of cutlery, for example, that was commissioned from designer Arne Jacobsen by none other than Stanley Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Address: Amagertorv 4, Strøget

Meette Saabye

Danish designer Meette Saabye sets out to understand the essence of desirable objects, and creates collections that demand compliments. Address: Studiestraede 25B

Royal Copenhagen

A botanical encyclopedia, but painted on porcelain.  The exclusive pieces of the Flora Danica table service are on sale at Royal Copenhagen, which, more than a store, is a porcelain atelier where the pieces of this mammoth collection are the stars of the show. Commissioned in 1802 by the Danish King Christian VII for the Empress Catherine II of Russia, it was originally created by Christoph Bayer, an artist who replicated the entire Flora Danica, a complete work on all the botanical species present in Denmark.Address: Amagertorv 6

By Søren Ulrich

In the tiny shop of this cross between a woodcutter and a hipster, you can find design pieces made strictly of wood: beds, sofas, chests of drawers (also made to measure if desired) and not only, here you can also buy saws, axes and everything you need to work with wood.  All of the highest quality craftsmanship.Address: Jægersborggade 4, Nørrebro

Den Sidste Dråbe - Spiritushandel

A Caribbean rum flavored with German liqueur: the result is a very special blend to be enjoyed in one of the most peculiar shopping streets of Denmark.  An unmissable stop for a nightcap.
Address: Jægersborggade 6, Nørrebro

CMYKkld

Amazing prints and paintings, but low cost.  In this tiny atelier, inside you really have to pay attention to where you put your feet because it is literally overflowing with artworks, you can find real gems in terms of graphics.  The peculiarity? Particularly low prices.Address: Jægersborggade 51, Nørrebro

Organic hot dogs

And, in some cases, even vegetarian.  The typical Danish snack also considers health, and offers alternatives to the usual sausage.  Copenhagen is full of food trucks that supply the Danes with the most popular snack.

AbsalonCPH

The recognizable staircase belongs to a church.  Which is now deconsecrated and hosts a whole range of recreational activities: yoga, concerts, backgammon courses, a bar and a canteen service. You could stumble into a showing of a David Lynch film, for example.  To transform the abandoned church into a social space, was the owner of the giant of low cost objects, Tiger.Address: Sønder Blvd, 73

SØSTRENE GRENE

This is Tiger's chic cousin, the Danish giant of affordable gifts.  Here you can find everything from the most varied shades of paint, to cups and glasses, to various foods.  Pick up a wide variety of delicacies, starting with licorice, which in Denmark is certainly in the top five of the most consumed snacks.  Here you can find it sweet, salty or even powdered.Address: Amagertorv 24, Strøget

Illums Bolighus

Of the many goodies scattered throughout the three floors of this department store that brings together the best of Danish design, a favorite is Molécule, the perfume essence that changes from person to person depending, precisely, on the composition of its molecules.Address: Amagertorv 10, StrøgetPh: Devteev / Shutterstock.com