culture | copenhagen
also offers tours focusing on other hit Danish TV series, Borgen and The Bridge, as well as literary walks. The Killing tour varies in its itinerary but centres mainly on the Vesterbro area of the city in which much of the action in the series takes place. Not quite as edgy as Christiana, the once-radical hippy colony on the city’s east side, Vesterbro is an old red-light district that might now be better described as an eclectic mix of
Clockwise from right, the 19th century terraced houses of Humleby, in the Vesterbro district; Istedgade at dusk; the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel; the Axel Guldsmeden.
Sleep at …
Splurge The five-star First hotel Skt petri is located in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Flowers, abstract art and exclusively designed furnishings fill the light, airy rooms. The sunny atrium offers a wonderful view across medieval Copenhagen. Room prices from €165. (Krystalgade 22; sktpetrihotel.com) MID-prIce Environmentally aware from its food to its furnishings, the Balinese-themed axel guldsmeden hotel is ideally situated close to the transport hub of Central Station. A 100 per cent organic breakfast sets you up for the foot-rush ahead and there’s a pleasantly
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relaxed spa to unwind in. €130-190 a night for a double room. Breakfast is an optional extra at €25. (Helgolandsgade 11; hotelguldsmeden.com/ axel/) BuDget The small, Copenhagen-dedicated company hay4you offers high quality home apartments for long and short stays at very reasonable prices. If stylish domesticity is your preference for holiday accommodation, this is the place to go. The livedin feel of the apartments, the standards of service and quick response times to queries add up to a pleasant and authentic experience of life in the city. (Vimmelskaftet 49; hay4you.com)
december 2013/January 2014
old reputations and new aspirations. Our tour begins at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel (Hammerischsgade 1; radissonblu.com) on the corner of Hammerichsgade and Vesterbrogade, Vesterbro’s busy main traffic artery. Conceived by Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen, the hotel displays examples of his iconic chairs – the Drop, the Egg and the Swan – in its lobby. The panoramic shots over the night city that punctuate the series and combine so effectively with the spiralling tension of Frans Bak’s score (Forbrydelsen Montage on soundcloud.com) were filmed from its top floor. From Vesterbrogade, by way of Central Station, we head towards the parallel Istedgade, where some vestiges of its seedier past remain, though the area has now been largely gentrified. Cool cafés, design and clothes shops predominate. Among its restaurants is Sticks’n’Sushi (Istedgade 62; sushi.dk), which offers a uniquely Danish take on Japanese food. Along the connecting streets between Vesterbrogade and
Istedgade, much of the first series of The Killing was shot. The Larsens, whose daughter’s murder forms the central plot, lived here and were in the process of moving to the nearby but more affluent Humleby enclave of Frederick Bøttger-designed