The Danes are very bike happyIf you follow the tips below you can do it on the cheap!
I will cover:
- Getting there for cheap
- Staying there for cheap (couchsurfing, HW)
- Eating for cheap (nettle, 28 crowns for burger, bring your own!)
- Free transport
- Cheaper public transport
- Cheap phone calls
Getting there on the cheap:
Have you seen the prices for flying direct to Copenhagen these days? they are insane!! In my case I needed to get from Athens to Copenhagen, and the price I was offered SAS airlines was the ridiculous price of 280 Euros!! No thanks.
So I split the journey into two parts. I used Aegean Air to fly from Athens to Berlin (pretty much next door to Copenhagen) for which I only paid 80 Euros, and then I used Eurolines for 38 Euros. A total of 118 Euros, saving me over 100 Euros (http://www.eurolines.com/).
The other option you have to get their quickly and cheaply is hitchhiking, through well known hitchhiking spots listed on this site http://www.hitchbase.com/index.php?LANG=eng . Obviously be very careful if you are going to use this option.
The other option you may want to try if you are dead set on getting the absolute cheapest deal possible for cheap flights can be found here.
Staying in Copenhagen for cheap:
The cheapest way to stay in Copenhagen, if you have not already considered it is through http://couchsurfing.org . The Danes are the friendliest people I've ever met (them and the Dutch), so feel free to stay a night or two.
Otherwise, the two cheapest hostels can be found on http://hostelbookers.com - A note on this - hostelworld.com is the most popular booking site and because of this, it decides to take advantage of its client base by charging them an extra US$2 booking fee on top of the 10% booking fee which they keep. If you want to avoid it, use hostelz.com or hostelbookers.com.
A note on one of the hostels: avoid the one located near the airport! It may be cheap but its dirty!!!
Eating for cheap in Copenhagen
Here is a tip for eating cheaply in Copenhagen: Don't eat!!
Just kidding, it is possible but difficult. Here are my tips:
The cheapest eat out place you can find will often be the Arabian burger shops. Satisfy your hunger pangs with a mouthwatering burger for about 26 crowns.
The other option is to cater for yourself, and the cheapest way to do that is through shopping from the two discount supermarkets - Nettle, and Aldi. Nettle is cheap by DK standards, but not incredibly cheap. Buy yourself some bacon and eggs and have a tasty fry up back in the hostel kitchen.
The other option is to bu food from the country you were in before hand as I did, because I guarantee that unless it is another Scandinavian country, it'll be cheaper!!
Free transport
Back in its happy camping everybody loves each other days, (ie pre- the Conservative government) the Danes decided they wanted to set up a system that could get people around their beautiful city without polluting the earth, and for free.
So they created citybike :)
The way it works is this: there are stands all over the city with these bikes, just waiting for free use. Once you put in a deposit of 20 crowns to unlock your bike, you get to use it and take it wherever you want.
When you are finished with the bike, simply return to the nearest citybike stand, reattach the lock, the pop! out comes your deposit. Neat hey? You can find more info here.
Cheaper public transport
Since the Conservative government got into power in DK, the price of using their metro system has become insane! I'm talking about AU$10 for maybe 5 stops on the train!! This compares to the 1 Euro you pay in Athens to go as far as you want as many times you want on their brand new metro for 1.5 hours!
Your best best is to buy in bulk from one of the ticket stands, which saves you a fair bit!
Cheap phone calls
Unless you plan on paying an arm and a leg, don't bother trying to find 'cheap' calling cards in DK. Bypass the system all together by buying some Skype credit, find an internet cafe, and make a call!!
Lastly, despite the prices, Copenhagen is a beautiful city with warm and fuzzy people, so enjoy :)
Also, if you're looking for more comprehensive tips on saving money wherever you go, you might consider the following two books:
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