Copenhagen Botanical Gardens

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Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities to live within Europe and is consistently in the top 10 highest cost of living surveys (for example: two burgers with chips and drinks is just over £50 (MAD Burger) compared to the same meal for about £30 in the UK (Gourmet Burger King).  

Luckily there are lots of activities you can enjoy that won't cost you a penny to balance this out a bit. One of these is the University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens (Botanisk Have) which is situated right in the City Centre making it accessible for all.  You would expect to pay up to £10 each for a similar experience in the UK.


Entrance and Map
The garden is part of a suite of institutions under the umbrella of the Danish Natural History Museum established in 2004.  

This large public park around a lake must be staffed by a thousand elves as it is immaculately kept making it a real pleasure to visit.  The garden contains 23,462 living plants and its purpose is to research, conserve and provide a public platform for the many plant species.
View to the top of the Palm House

If you are feeling brave, you can cope with heights and tropical conditions you may walk up a spiral staircase to a narrow mezzanine level high up in the 16 meter tall Palm House conservatory.  From here you can view the plants from above and the stunning construction of the glass dome - it is pretty spectacular.
Pool within the Rock Garden
Around the park you will stumble upon some public art depicting figures from Greek mythology and the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe which add another layer to the diverse and intriguing landscape.

Large expanse of the central lily pond
When you have finished at Botanisk Have you should also check out Ørstedparken which is a 2 minute walk down North Rampart Street (Nørre Voldgade) and is a pleasant walk around a body of water with the opportunity to pass over a footbridge.  

In both venues it was so uplifting to see groups of people sunbathing, eating picnics, taking a work break or having a romantic stroll hand-in-hand around the lake - the Danes really know how to be content - having visited it is no surprise that Denmark is known to be one of the happiest places in the world to live.  

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