First escape: Copenhagen

Our first escape from the humid, dungeonesque flat (which had sprouted mould all over the skirting boards after just two weeks, long before our furniture arrived) came in mid-November 2007. I'd booked cheap flights from Berlin to Copenhagen on a whim, a couple of months earlier while we still lived in a guesthouse (and therefore had an internet connection).

September and October saw me fantasising about the trip constantly.

"How amazing," I thought, "to get away from all this, and sleep in a bed again. Oh yes, bring on a hotel!" (Two months sleeping on an inflatable mattress was taking its toll.)

About two weeks before the trip, our telephone/internet was finally connected, so, mostly using the Wonderful Copenhagen site, I could plan the trip online. Having decided that we wanted to pack in as many sights as possible, mainly because of our then 16-month-old daughter's short attention span, I balked at the high entry prices to most attractions. The hotels, too, were pricey. Even the ones that had shared bathrooms... The only cheap part of the holiday was the flights.

The CPHCard

I started investigating the CPHCard as a way to save money, and when I added up the admission prices of the places we'd like to see, plus public transport costs, I could see that the CPHCard would pay for itself pretty quickly (despite the fact that it, too, seemed very expensive, particularly when converting the price back into Australian dollars... ouch!). The CPHCard also had the advantage of being able to be used from the moment we arrived in Copenhagen and took the train from the airport into the city. Therefore, we had no need to work out the local transport ticketing system (which was much more confusing to a foreign tourist than the German system).

Our CPHCards arrived in the mail very quickly, along with a trip planner which was more user-friendly than the website. For this reason, I'd recommend that anyone planning to buy the card does so in advance, rather than picking one up on arrival.

I was disappointed when I realised that many attractions were completely closed in November, due to the weather and the short daylight hours, but I still found so many things to do that we were flat-out for the 72-hour duration of our trip, and could easily have kept busy for days longer.

Planning to get the most out of each day: opening hours and public transport

Because many attractions (castles, for example) open late and close early in the winter months, if you travel at this time, it's a good idea to check opening hours in advance, and plan the order of each day's itinerary according to the location and opening hours of each attraction. It sounds obvious, but some planning is advisable when it comes to navigating the public transport, especially if you choose to visit castles which lie a bit further afield. (I recommend using the DSB website to plan your trips in advance. Take a copy of important timetables with you, if you can, especially if visiting the city on a weekend, when transport departs less frequently.)

During the evenings, there weren't many options for a family with small children, but we solved this by visiting two attractions, both of which had entry included on the CPHCard in 2007.

The first option was Hans Christian Andersen's Wonderful World (next to Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, which we had no interest in visiting). A visit won't keep the family entertained for too long, but it was interesting, different, a welcome respite from the cold, and our daughter enjoyed it (apart from a scary giant rat in one of the displays) much more than the castles and museums she'd seen during the day.

The second option was the Tivoli Gardens. Luckily for us, it had just opened for the Christmas season, and was decorated beautifully and set up with a Christmas market (of the more expensive variety) and plenty of special displays. There was also some rather potent gløgg, a mulled wine with interesting extras, including raisins and almonds, on sale.

The lights and Christmas/winter scenes were fascinating for our daughter (even though she was too small to go on any rides), and amusing enough for us to spend two evenings there. Like most attractions in Denmark (castles included), the Tivoli Gardens have good nappy-change facilities. There is a nice little stand-alone parents' room, which was easy to find, clean and convenient, and equipped with a microwave for warming bottles, as well as chairs for feeding.

Castles

Although I'm Australian, I don't harbour any Princess-Mary-who-might-have-been fantasies, so I wasn't as excited by the sights of modern Royal Copenhagen as some of my compatriots might be. However, we did stop to see the changing of the guard outside the Amalienborg Palace, as well as the museum in Christian VIII's mansion. More interesting to me were the older castles of Frederiksborg and Kronborg (Hamlet's castle), which require a little bit of travel outside the city (though they're still within the travel zone covered by the CPHCard). The train trips are a great way to see a bit more of Denmark, even if you're in a hurry, and from Kronborg, you can stand on the roof of the Telegraph Tower (accessed via the Maritime Museum) and look over to Sweden.

If you have children who are getting bored with the castle, Kronborg, like others around Copenhagen, has been fitted out with a children's play/activity room. It's also a castle where children can walk around fairly freely, look out windows, and let their imaginations run wild. My daughter grizzled her way through Versailles (understandably), but Kronborg was fine. She didn't even mind the Casemates underneath (though I for one wouldn't like to be locked in there, even with a torch).

Frederiksborg has a stunning baroque garden, which we walked through after the castle had closed, since the garden is open much longer.

Rosenborg, which was only a walk away from our hotel, had a lovely park and even some pigs (or similar - I don't know my swine) kept near the castle, much to our daughter's delight. It's a great spot to visit, but a word of warning: if you have a noisy child, especially a screaming one, avoid the treasury (which houses the Danish crown jewels). It's been fitted with a sound-activated alarm, which, if set off, will trap everyone inside the treasury (below ground) for a couple of hours. (How do I know this? A security guard started panicking when my daughter started wailing.)

Other sights (and tastes)

• For anyone who's ever wanted to push their child's stroller up a tower (go on, you know you want to!), you can't go past the Rundetaarn. It's got a great view of the city at the top, and only a minimal number of stairs. The rest of the tower is like one giant spiral ramp (a bit steep, though - if you park the stroller, make sure to put the brakes on!).
• Nyhavn is a picture-perfect spot, lined with places to eat and drink on either side of the waterway. Nyhavn happened to play host to a free Christmas beer tasting on the day we visited, as well as a Christmas market. It's well worth checking events listings to see what the locals are up to, and maybe participate in something yourself.
• Of course, everyone feels obliged to snap a picture of the landmark Little Mermaid statue. It makes a good stop on a self-guided walking tour of the city.
• Strøget is the main (pedestrian only) shopping strip, and there are some lovely things on sale (if you avoid the tacky souvenir shops), though price is certainly an issue, especially if your currency isn't worth much against the Danish Kronor. In November we enjoyed picking up some delicious warm almonds, with their crunchy, sweet and lightly spiced coating, from a street stall here. The smell was divine and the taste was just as good. There are other warm winter treats for sale, too, such as roast chestnuts.
• Lunch in the Glyptotek is a lovely, relaxing experience. In the middle of the museum, the cafe is situated beside the Winter Garden. (The Glyptotek's exhibits are worthwhile, too, of course!)

Copenhagen: a child-friendly city

Parents' rooms, nappy-change facilities and amusements/distractions for children are easy to find in Copenhagen. Unlike Germany, I never had to worry about where I'd find the next change-table.

Breastfeeding is perfectly acceptable in public. I saw plenty of nursing mothers in cafes (which again, made a nice change from Germany, where I've seen fewer mothers nursing in two years than I did in Copenhagen in two days.)

Public transport is easily accessible with prams or strollers. Train stations are equipped with lifts.

My verdict

Copenhagen is a beautiful, fascinating, charming and friendly city. I wished I could have stayed there, rather than returning to Germany (even though my furniture had arrived by then, so at least I was going home to a real bed).

Travel there in summer would be amazing, but winter (especially the five or so weeks before Christmas) is wonderful in its own way. The crowds are small and the experience is special, especially if you're from the southern hemisphere!

My advice: if you fancy a trip to Denmark, do it while the Danish Kronor is at a low! So... now's not too bad a time!