At Christmas, Copenhagen Is Transformed Into a Sparkling, Sugar-scented Wonderland

"When you walk out of Copenhagen's Central Station, the first thing you see is a craggy mountain with a triangular flag on top. Soon a car of screaming people will come rolling around the peak, high in the sky. They are passengers on the oldest roller coaster in Europe, located at Tivoli Gardens, a historic amusement park in the heart of the city."

"The park has been operating and evolving ever since, surviving world wars and an ever-changing city landscape. In the spring, Tivoli plants 120,000 flowering bulbs. But we were told the park is magical in winter, when it is decorated with holiday lights. This is the season when hygge (an untranslatable word that refers to coziness or warmth) kicks into high gear in Denmark, and its capital is filled with the soft yellow glow of candles."

Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843 as a pleasure garden combining rides, concerts, and dancing inspired by Paris and London. The park houses Europe's oldest roller coaster and has continuously operated and adapted through world wars and urban change. Spring plantings include 120,000 flowering bulbs; winter features extensive holiday-light decorations that amplify Danish hygge, with early sunsets and candlelit streets. Seasonal details include buildings shaped as pagoda and chalet, themed lamps, tucked skill games, and festive touches like a Santa-hatted windmill, wrapped gifts in claw machines, fake snow, and aromas of aebleskiver and roasted almonds that mingle with crowds of locals and tourists.

Read at Travel + Leisure