Somewhere for the weekend....Copenhagen

Denmark's capital is the perfect Christmas destination, says Michael Booth, with a dazzling light festival that renders it part theme park, part beer garden

Why Go Now?

Short of a spurious trip to Lapland to see a fat Swede pretending to be Santa, there are few better places for Scandinavian Yuletide cheer than Copenhagen. The Danish capital gives great Christmas, from lavishly decked shopfronts to bracing open-air skating rinks and the cockle-warming glogg (mulled wine) served in every café.

The heart of all this indulgence is Tivoli Gardens' annual Christmas Market, Vesterbrogade 3 (00 45 33 151 012, www.tivoli.dk, open 11am-9pm Sunday to Wednesday and 11am-10pm Thursday to Saturday until 23 December, admission DKr40-55/£3.50-4.20). The rides are hibernating now, but the magically illuminated park – part beer garden, part Disneyland – is packed with festive stalls, chestnut and waffle vendors, costumed staff and tableaux of Santa and his nisse (elves) and all your Hans Christian Andersen favourites. Schmaltzy maybe, but if you don't get the Christmas feeling here, you really are Scrooge.

Down Payment

Go (0870 607 6543, www.go-fly.com) flies daily from Stansted and has return fares this weekend from £113. SAS (0845 6072 7727, www.scandinavian.net) has a fare of £116.40 return this weekend from Heathrow. Maersk (020-7333 0066, www.maersk-air.com), quotes £126.90 return from Gatwick. British Airways (0845 77 333 77, www.ba.com) also offers a £129.60 return fare, from Heathrow this weekend, booked through its website.

A rail link whisks you from the airport to Copenhagen's Central Station in just 12 minutes (a single is DKr21/£1.80), or get off at Orestad, the first stop from the airport, and take the spanking new Metro to the eastern side of the city centre. A taxi into town costs about DKr200 (£17.50).

Instant Briefing

If I told you how much tax Danes pay, you would go rather quiet. The pay-off for visitors is efficiency in all matters municipal: safe, clean streets, perfectly preserved historic houses and palaces and world-class museums, most of which have one free day a week. The city is compact and easily explored on foot. The historic centre is Slotsholmen; facing it over the Slotsholmen Kanal is the medieval Indre By. On the other side is the island of Christianshavn with its canals and gabled houses.

The Wonderful Copenhagen tourist office (00 45 70 222 442, www.visitcopenhagen.dk) is opposite the station (Bernstorffsgade 1, open Monday to Friday 9am-4pm, Saturday 9am-1.30pm, closed Sunday).

Rest Assured

Accommodation is a problem, despite several new openings. Rates tend to be at London levels. The 1960 Radisson SAS Royal (Hammerischsgade 1, 00 45 33 426 000, www.radissonsas.com) was designed down to its door handles and, of course, the chairs by Arne Jacobsen. Doubles cost from DKr2,350 (£202). Also close to the Town Hall square is Park Hotel (Jarmers Plads 3, 00 45 33 143 000, www.copenhagenparkhotel. dk). Doubles cost from DKr1,000 (£86). Probably the best value/luxury compromise is Kong Arthur (Norre Sogade 11, 00 45 33 111 212, www.kongarthur.dk); doubles cost from DKr1,320 (£113).

Must See

Denmark's Nationalmuseet (Ny Vestergade 10, 00 45 33 134 411, www.natmus.dk) has Viking treasure, Renaissance riches and much in between. Nearby are the Henning Larsen-designed Design Center (HC Andersens Blvd 27, 00 45 33 693 369, www. ddc.dk), and his extension to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek art collection (Dantes Plads 7, 00 45 33 418 141, www.glyptoteket.dk). Across town, Christian IV's former summer palace, Rosenborg Slot (Oster Voldgade, 00 45 33 153 286), houses the royal collection of art and furniture and the crown jewels. Don't waste your time with a visit to the Little Mermaid. She sucks. Instead check out the Marmokirken (Frederiksgade 4), a majestic domed cathedral that would make a far more fitting symbol for the city.

Recycling, alternative fuels and the toleration of soft drugs are hardly radical today, but a visit to the hippie community, Christiania (Prinsessegade, Christianshavn), still raises a frisson of excitement, and its alternative Christmas market is fun. The 17th-century canal quarter Christianshavn is always worth a wander, and the winding copper spire of Vor Frelsers Kirke has stunning views over the sea to Sweden.

Must Buy

Copenhagen is as perfectly designed as you'd expect. It's like Wallpaper* made flesh. Its quirky, independent shops brim with exquisite stuff. The pedestrianised shopping area is made up of cobbled lanes, café squares and 18th-century townhouses. Kronprinsensgade is a veritable catwalk thanks to its designer stores and model agencies. The Royal Copenhagen shops on Amagertorv are a tourist honeypot, selling glass and silverware and the famous Royal Copenhagen porcelain. Their Christmas displays are the most elaborate in town.

Vesterbro's infamous "sex street", Istedgade, is now so cool it hurts. Another once grim, grimy 19th-century workers' district, Norrebro, boasts a mix of trendy clothing stores, ethnic grocers and antique shops.

Must Eat

A revolution in Danish cooking has seen the Michelin man dole out stars to top restaurants. Kommandanten (Ny Adelgade 7, 00 45 33 120 990, www.kommandanten.com) and Kong Hans Kelder (Vingaardsstraede 6, 00 45 33 116 868, www.konghans.dk) are worthy recipients (you'll pay DKr1,000/£85 or so a head with a cheaper wine). Slightly less costly, Passagens Spisehus (Vesterbrogade 42, 00 45 33 224 757, www.passagens. dk) is best for Nordic treats such as reindeer and musk ox. Cafés serve food and alcohol; the standard is usually high, prices are reasonable and the atmosphere cosy. They epitomise the Danish concept of hygge, or conviviality.

Into the Night

Cafés are the mainstay of the city's nightlife. Many, such as the trendy Cafe Ketchup (Pilestraede 19, 00 45 33 323 030) and Barstarten (Kapelvej 1, 00 45 35 241 100, www.barstarten.dk) become restaurants and DJ bars at night. Of the proper clubs, Rust (Guldbergsgade 8, 00 45 35 245 200, www.rust.dk) in Norrebro, is one of the best. The modernist Stereo Bar (Israels Plads) is Helena Christensen's favourite. Vega (Enghavevej 40, 00 45 33 257 011, www.vega. dk) remains the daddy of them all, attracting major international bands and DJs.

Outside summer's festival, jazz is mostly limited to the – admittedly fantastic – Jazz House (Niels Hemmingsens Gade 10, 00 45 33 154 700, www.jazzhouse.dk).