Copenhagen named world’s top city to visit by Lonely Planet

Architecture and food culture are among the things highlighted by travel guide giant Lonely Planet, which has named Copenhagen at the top of its prestigious Top 10 Cities to Visit list.

Published: 23 October 2018 12:14 CEST

Copenhagen named world’s top city to visit by Lonely Planet

A postcard image of Copenhagen. Photo: sepavone/Depositphotos

Lonely Planet published its Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2019 on Monday night.

“Denmark’s capital of cool is unstoppable. New-Nordic Noma has gourmands swooning with its new digs, urban farm and groundbreaking Scandinavian menus. The city’s booming street-food scene is smashing it on Refshaleøen, where a former shipyard is now rebooted food and craft market Reffen,” Lonely Planet writes on its website.

Other Copenhagen attractions cited by Lonely Planet include iconic 19th-century amusement park Tivoli, the rooftop ski slope installed on the top of the waste management facility at Amager Bakke, and BLOX, the new harbour-front building which houses the Danish Architecture Centre.

Next year’s planned opening of extensions to the city’s Metro system are also noted for easier travel within the capital as of next year.

Editor Gemma Graham explains in a three-minute video on the Lonely Planet website why the city was chosen for the top spot on the list.

“Copenhagen is full of beautiful old architecture from monuments to Rosenborg Castle with its gorgeous gardens, to the Round Tower, and of course there’s the iconic Nyhavn Harbour,” Graham says.

“There’s plenty of cutting-edge design and modern architecture to see too,” she adds.

Tourism organisation Wonderful Copenhagen said it welcomed the positive attention from Lonely Planet.

“Lonely Planet’s selection of Copenhagen is a huge reward for all of the good energy that goes into making Denmark’s capital worth travelling to all year round,” Wonderful Copenhagen CEO Mikkel Aarø-Hansen said via a press statement.

“The things Lonely Planet highlight in the new guide reflect the core narratives on which we have promoted Copenhagen internationally for a number of years,” Aarø-Hansen added.

Shēnzhèn in China is number two on Lonely Planet’s list of cities to visit, followed by Novi Sad, Serbia; Miami in the United States and Nepalese capital Kathmandu.

Mexico City, Dakar, Seattle, Zadar and Meknés complete the top ten list.