Copenhagen Free Walking Tour

This is the classic first walk through Copenhagen, and it earns that reputation. From City Hall Square your guide leads you into the old town and up to Christiansborg Palace, built over the ruins of the 12th-century fortress that gave the city its start — today it houses the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Queen's reception rooms all under one roof. From there the route threads past Amalienborg, the four rococo mansions where the royal family actually lives, before opening onto the technicolor gables of Nyhavn.

Along the way you'll hear how a country with a king still balances one of the world's oldest monarchies against one of its most modern welfare states, and why the harbor houses at Nyhavn — once a rough sailors' quarter where Hans Christian Andersen lived — are now the most photographed row of buildings in Scandinavia. It's a relaxed three hours, built for anyone landing in Copenhagen for the first time.