I have travelled to most parts of the world alone. Why alone? I have found that it is the best way to immerse oneself into an unfamiliar society. It can be dangerous: I have been held at gun point, had tear gas thrown in my vicinity, and I have barely missed regions that have now been decimated by war. Below are some highlights of my trips.

Copenhagen in Summer: Design, Water, Walkability, and the Ease of Being There

I didn't leave Copenhagen thinking about one landmark or one meal. I left thinking about the way the city looked and felt — clean, calm, stylish, layered, and unusually easy to move through alone.

That feeling is harder to photograph than a famous canal or a palace gate. But it's the thing that stayed with me longest, and it's why Copenhagen ended up being one of the most visually satisfying cities I've ever visited.

What the City Actually Feels Like

There's a version of "beautiful European city" that can start to feel performed — like the whole place is arranged for Instagram rather than for the people who live there. Copenhagen isn't that.

It feels genuinely lived in. People bike everywhere, not because it's trendy, but because it's simply how the city works. The streets are clean without feeling sterile. The architecture is considered without being showy. The canals and waterways aren't backdrops — they're part of the daily rhythm, places where people sit, eat, and move alongside each other.

Copenhagen felt polished without feeling cold, stylish without feeling flashy, and calm without being boring. That combination is rarer than it sounds.

Christianshavn: Where the City Slows Down

If you only walk through central Copenhagen, you'll miss what makes the city interesting.

Christianshavn was the neighborhood that shifted the trip for me. Cross the bridge out of the main city and the visual texture changes immediately. Narrower canals, older buildings, boats tied up along the water, bridges you can stop on without getting swept up in foot traffic. It has the feel of a neighborhood that's been layered over time rather than designed all at once.

I spent time here with no particular plan — camera in hand, moving on foot, stopping when something caught my eye. That kind of wandering is only possible in a place that rewards it. Christianshavn does.

Christiania: The City Underneath the City

Freetown Christiania sits inside Christianshavn and couldn't feel more different from the rest of Copenhagen.

Much of the city is clean, orderly, and design-forward. Christiania is the opposite: colorful, alternative, rough around the edges, and visibly self-expressive. Murals cover the buildings. The main drag — Pusher Street — operates by its own rules. The energy is looser, louder, and less curated.

That contrast is exactly what makes it worth visiting.

Christiania reminded me that Copenhagen isn't just a polished Nordic capital that made it onto a design blog. It has subcultures, complicated history, creative communities, and places that actively resist being tidied up. A city that contains both Amalienborg Palace and Freetown Christiania in the same afternoon is a more interesting city for it.

The Classic Copenhagen Moments

Nyhavn delivers exactly what you expect, and that's not a knock. The colored townhouses, the boats in the harbor, the waterfront energy in summer — it's iconic for a reason. Early morning or early evening is when it earns it most. Midday can get crowded, but the light in summer Copenhagen is worth navigating around.

The central areas around Strøget, the streets near Magasin du Nord and Illum, and the space around Amalienborg gave the trip a different register — history, retail, everyday city movement. These are the parts of Copenhagen that run on their own momentum. You don't need to plan them. You just walk, and the city fills in around you.

Traveling Solo Here Is Easy

I want to say this directly because it matters: Copenhagen is an exceptionally good solo travel city.

I didn't feel like I had to over-plan every hour. I could wander, stop for photos, browse shops, cross bridges, sit near the water, and keep moving without the day feeling aimless. The city is walkable in a way that many European capitals claim to be but aren't. Everything connects logically. You don't lose an hour to logistics.

For solo travelers who want to move at their own pace and let curiosity drive the day, Copenhagen is close to ideal.

On the Food (Brief, Because I'm Not a Foodie)

I'm vegan, and I was genuinely surprised by how easy Copenhagen made that. It didn't define the trip, but it made it smoother.

What I'd Tell Someone Going for the First Time

Don't try to hit every major sight in two days. Copenhagen rewards a slower pace more than most cities.

Cross into Christianshavn. Walk Freetown Christiania, even if just once and briefly. Sit near the water somewhere that isn't Nyhavn. Let yourself get a little lost between neighborhoods. Bring a camera or just use your phone — but pay attention to what the light does in the late afternoon.

The city will do the rest.

Would I Go Back?

Without hesitation.

Copenhagen is the kind of city that doesn't demand too much and gives back more than you expect. It's beautiful in a way that feels earned rather than staged. It's easy in a way that lets you actually enjoy being there instead of managing the logistics of being there.

It made me a better observer. And sometimes that's exactly what a trip is supposed to do.

Photos from Copenhagen, summer 2024. More from the Go series coming soon.

Cape Town, South Africa

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

This was my first trip to Istanbul. It was just before the city became the tourist hub that it is today. I was just as exotic to the Turkish as they were to me.