Nyhavn

Nyhavn, (New Harbour) was created in 1671 as a canal leading from the city's main port to Kogens Nytorv. We arrived on this spot having taken the waterbus.

Havnebussen, yellow harbour 'buses', run every half hour and sail along the harbour between Norde Toldbod and Teglholmen stopping six times and costing the same as a normal bus fare. Services are cancelled when the harbour is frozen.

Nyhavn is filled with bars, cafes and restaurants

and brightly coloured, gabled houses

some of which date back to 1681.

We visited on a hot sunny day, and the place was packed

According to our guide book, 'in summer it is packed with locals drinking away the afternoon on the quayside with their six-packs of Carlsberg and tourists sitting outside at the cafes - on a sunny day here, drinking beer and snaps and eating plates of herring is about as good as it gets in Copenhagen' and this was certainly our experience. It took us ages to find a place to sit despite the large number of cafes and restaurants.

Hans Christian Andersen lived here from 1845 to 1864.

We did not manage to go to see the Little Mermaid on this trip, but saw lots of others dotted around the city, and this was one of them.

This cobbled promenade is now one of the trendiest places to live in the city, a complete turnaround from its past as a sailors' haunt and red-light district.