Copenhagen - Surroundings

On the east coast of the island of Amager lies the little town of Dragør, a popular holiday resort which has retained the character of a rural fishing community - more than 50 houses are listed buildings. A visit is recommended to the Local Maritime History Museum at Havnepladsen.

North of Copenhagen in Charlottenburg will be found Denmark's Aquarium (Akvarium), with about 3,000 brightly colored fish and other denizens of the deep, which is very popular with visitors. The fish include fluorescent fish, sharks, electric eels and exotic species such as the notorious piranhas.

Near Lyngby is the Open-Air Museum (Frilandsmuseet), which belongs to the Danish National Museum. Within its area of 35ha/86 acres are farmhouses, dwellings and mills from all parts of Denmark and some from the Faroes, each building furnished with old fittings and utensils. There are also old houses from Schleswig-Holstein and Sweden, as well as picnic-sites.

North of Nærum, a Karen Blixen Museum (Karen Blixen Museet) was set up in 1991 in the Rungstedlund mansion. The Danish authoress (also known by the name of Tania Blixen and other noms de plume) was born in this house and after her return from Africa lived here until her death in 1962.

On display are books and pictures, including portraits of members of the Kikuyu tribe, which she painted.

Her grave is in a far corner of the gardens.

A maritime history museum with local interiors and needlework.

This museum documents much of the cultural history of the last 200 years and traces suburban development from 1900.

This museum traces the history of the telephone from it's roots in the workshop of Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 to the modern day. Old phones and switchboards are on display.

Denmark's pivotal airport is Kastrup International Airport. This is about 10km/6mi to the southeast of Copenhagen on the island of Amager and half-an-hour from the city center.

In recent years the airport has been made far more attractive, mainly through the construction of a highly modern zone in the departure and transit area. The duty-free shop has also been enlarged and is now one of the cheapest in Europe.

The Lyngbyvej highway leads from Copenhagen to Lyngby. There, in a park, stands Sorgenfri Palace, built in the 18th C. and since 1789 the property of the Royal Family (entrance to the southern part of the park).

North of Copenhagen, on the E47 northwest of Dyrehave lies the little village of Nærum, with the interesting Sommers Oldtimer Museum. The collection consists of more than 20 vintage cars (1923 Bugatti, 1925 Bentley, 1937 Jaguar, etc.) and numerous oldish model cars.

This museum displays a collection of Italian, Dutch and Danish paintings from the 15th to the 19th century.

A museum outlining the history of transport in Copenhagen. On display are horse-drawn trams, a double decker tram and Denmark's oldest bus.

Off the island of Amager near Copenhagen, to the east is the island of Saltholm, a bird sanctuary, linked to Kastrup by ferry.

Store Magelby, in the south of the island of Amager, was once known as "Dutch Town", as its first inhabitants were 16th C. Dutch settlers who drained and cultivated the land. A half-timbered 18th C. building houses the Amager Museum, which exhibits, for example, costumes worn by those early Dutch immigrants.

This museum houses a collection of French art, mainly impressionism, and a series of 19th and 20th century Danish The collection is housed in a beautiful old house in the middle of a scenic park.

The Zoologisk Museum provides information about animals through dioramas, animal sounds, and films about animals. It is an institute of the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen. The history of animals and their living conditions over 200,000 years can be seen.