Before the summer is over, we want to share some more fun from Tivoli Gardens, the century-old amusement park in central Copenhagen, Denmark. We’ve already talked about the rides and interesting architecture. Something else that was different from any American park we’e been to was the work on sustainability.
Sustainability
Tivoli is located in the heart of Copenhagen, across the street from the main train station (Hovedbangard) and with a plethora of bus stops and bike racks surrounding it. Copenhagen is after all one of the most bike friendly cities in the world, and local Tivoli visitors take advantage of it. We had a smooth quiet commuter train ride from southern Sweden, over the bridge, passed the Copenhagen airport before arriving in central Copenhagen. It’s a totally different experience than riding the diesel train from the suburbs to Chicago. (At the airport, the train stops right under the check-in area!)
When ordering a coffee, I was first a bit shocked to have to pay five Danish crowns (almost one US dollar) for the cup. However, it turned out that I got the money back when I returned the mug to a refund machine. They used the same cups for hot and cold drinks, including beer, saving on litter and waste. The refund system also turned out to be a great source of income for the kids while they were waiting for the concert to begin. After a couple of beers, many on the concert lawn gladly let the kids collect the mugs.
Good Food
While enjoying some wild rides at American amusement parks this year, even my kids wanted to go back to Tivoli Gardens for food and snacks (and for rides of course). Tivoli has both decent fast food and restaurants on their premises. For the meal included in our “Puls Pakke” tickets, we picked Fish & Chips. That might not sound so special, but the Chips (French fries) were organic and freshly made and the fish was simply delicious! Soda came of course in the recyclable mugs…
Music
There is more music than the Champagne Gallop at Tivoli. Friday night rock concerts are included in the ticket price and we enjoyed the 30 Seconds to Mars concert that June night. The ten minute drizzle while waiting for the music to begin, was soon forgotten.
Wow, what a day! The 15 minute wait for the train home at 1AM felt like an eternity for tired kids and mom, but we’ll be back some day!
The funflector team, roller coaster test division 😉
