If you want to keep going all day in a city as vibrant as Copenhagen, you need a good breakfast inside you. And if that breakfast is tasty, too, all the better! That’s why we begin our day in Copenhagen with a hearty repast at Café 22. Located right on the inner-city lakes, this café offers a fantastic view over the water in good weather and is the perfect place to observe fashion-conscious Copenhageners as you tuck into pancakes and fruit salad – in such pleasant surroundings, there’s always time to enjoy a second café au lait. On the weekend, a well-stocked brunch buffet draws crowds to Café 22, which is a favorite with locals and tourists alike. Table reservation recommended.

No visit to Copenhagen would be complete without a harbor boat trip – after all, the city does go by the byname “Venice of the North.” And rightly so, since the natural waterways and canals of the Oeresund strait – the Sound – thread their way through extensive areas of the city. Trips begin in the harbor basin of historical Nyhavn with its colorful buildings.

A sea trip is guaranteed to make you hungry – and will often whip up an appetite for fish. At the Royal Smushi Café, you can enjoy fish in unusual and yet typical Danish style. The café’s mouthwatering mix of Japanese sushi and Danish smörrebröd is deliciously light and positively melts in the mouth. The café, tucked away in a small courtyard right next door to the Royal Copenhagen flagship store, is a tiny oasis of tranquility at the heart of the city.

How practical: You can walk right into the showrooms of the old established Royal Copenhagen porcelain factory from the Royal Smushi Café. After watching the shell painters at work, you only have to walk a couple of doors further down to shop your way through the design paradise Illums Bolighus. Stocking everything from accessories and textiles to jewelry, fashion, furniture and lamps, this department store brings the entire who’s who of Danish product design together under one roof.

Only a few steps away – just across Armagertorv Square and past the Stork Fountain, in fact – we come to the Hay building. In the stylishly appointed headquarters of the Danish design brand with an excellent export track record, you can not only view all of Hay’s furnishings and home accessories, but also, from the second and third floors, enjoy a fantastic view of the comings and goings down on Armagertorv.

Magasin is definitely the place to go if you want to see and above all to try on Scandinavian fashions. Everyone who is anyone on the Scandinavian fashion scene has designs on display at of this venerable department store, which also houses its own small museum, the Magasin du Nord Museum. Stop by and be prepared for some surprises. It’s worth it.

A meal at the Noma does not come cheap, it’s true, but then this restaurant in a converted warehouse right on the Sound it is held to be one of the best in the world. Head chef here is René Redzepi, who has two Michelin stars to his name and pampers his guests’ palates with exceptional variations on Nordic specialties, which he prepare with produce sourced locally wherever possible, such as fish, vegetables, berries and unusual herbs.

One of the city’s best-loved and most appealing music venues is hidden away inside the Pumpehuset, Copenhagen waterworks’ former pump station. Rock concerts, particularly featuring famous guitar bands, are held here all year round. In the summer, the artists also perform in the large cobbled courtyard – the ideal spot to relax with a cool drink to live music at the end of an exciting day in Copenhagen.

A must-do for first-time visitors and a must-avoid for everyone else, Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid is pretty but fairly underwhelming.

A trip to Europe’s oldest hippy commune might not sound up to much but Christiania is, in fact, wonderfully entertaining. Vibrant, quirky and enormously colourful, it’s a relaxed place to spend an afternoon.

Opened in 1843, Tivoli is the oldest theme park in Europe and boasts a roller coaster that’s a century old and still safe. Enchanting at night, every Saturday sees traditional fireworks let off over the park.

Set in a beautiful white-painted palace, the National Museum is home to a comprehensive collection of artefacts charting Danish history from prehistoric times up until the Victorian era. Most impressive of all though, is the 37m (121ft) Viking ship found in Roskilde Fjord.

Despite the name, this gorgeous gallery has nothing whatsoever to do with beer and everything to do with art. Two separate collections encompass ancient and modern pieces, including more than 40 by Gauguin.

Spread across three islets on the castle lake in Hillerød, Frederiksborg Castle is a royal home built in the Dutch Renaissance style by King Christian IV. Crammed with royal memorabilia, the palace grounds also include a beautiful botanical garden.

Along with hammerhead sharks, moray eels and other tropical varieties of fish, Denmark’s vast tanks also contain local species and offer a fascinating snapshot into life at the bottom of the North Sea.

A 35-minute train ride from central Copenhagen, the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde boasts five original Viking ships and several replicas, which come summer, are put to use ferrying tourists up and down the fjord.

A familiar sight for fans of The Killing, Copenhagen’s City Hall is a baroque, red-brick edifice completed in 1905. Inside, is Jens Olsen’s World Clock, an advanced astronomical timepiece that charts the movements of the heavens.

Get a taste of Denmark’s most famous export (other than bacon) and see how it’s made during a brewery tour.

Tucked away down a side street, it’s hard to find but the cocktails are worth it.

A super-cool Danish take on the London pub, complete with antique décor and a gin menu.

A quirky bar-restaurant-gallery hybrid in Copenhagen’s bohemian Nørrebro District.

Exotic Chinoiserie, a demi-monde feel and some of the strongest cocktails in the city have made Madam Chu’s one of Copenhagen’s coolest bars.

Owned by Denmark’s answer to Simon Cowell, this is where the cool crowd go to party.

If you can manage to book a table (not always easy to do), you’re in for a treat.

Copenhagen’s other Michelin-starred restaurant, Geranium does clean local food with a twist.

Serving up an unusual combination of Nordic and Indian food, The Standard doubles as a jazz club.

Industrial chic meets good cooking in the hip Meatpacking District. Be warned: portions are small.

Ridiculously cool décor and a simple menu of Nordic classics.