The Christmas season sparkles at Tivoli Gardens.

Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen: getting into the Christmas spirit

December in northern Europe: the days are short, cold and it’s frequently raining. Perfect conditions for Christmas markets.

While normally the short, cold, wet days of winter would bother me, that’s the perfect combination for Christmas markets. The short days mean long nights, providing more time to see the beautiful Christmas lights. The cold temperatures are offset with hot beverages, such as mulled wine, tea, coffee, etc. The too-frequent rain makes the cobblestones shiny, reflecting the glittering Christmas lights even more.

This year (2019), we went to Copenhagen because it is famous for its Christmas decorations. The city has many Christmas markets, some that last for weeks and others that last for only days, but for us the main attraction was Tivoli Gardens.

Tivoli Gardens is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world (after Dyrehavsbakken, also in Denmark) and is the most-visited theme park in Scandinavia.

Tivoli decorates everything: pagodas, rollercoasters, trees, shrubs and the small pond where couples can do a little boating while taking selfies.

“Cakenhagen” is a delightfully-named tea and sweets shop. We stopped in to warm up with tea, hot chocolate and a deliciously-gooey slice of chocolate cake.

Those wishing to stay inside Tivoli Gardens can stay at the brightly-lit, Moorish-style, elegant Nimb Hotel (in the background). The tree in front of the hotel is decorated with Swarovski crystals.

In addition to Tivoli, there are other Christmas markets in Copenhagen, such as this more traditional one in the Old Town.

The Danish department store Magasin du Nord puts on a festive face for the holidays…

…as does the Hotel d’Angleterre. The impressive stag decoration was part of the Christmas market in Copenhagen’s largest public square.

And now for something a little different

As you know, I can’t resist experimenting with different photographic techniques. Just for grins, I’ll share two of them here.

This is the same pagoda that was featured above. The difference is that during the exposure, I also zoomed in with the lens, creating this “lines into a vanishing point” effect.

At this carnival ride, I just left the shutter open long enough to let the motion of the bumper cars create the lines of light.

Other Christmas markets: a trip down memory lane

We do enjoy Christmas markets. Not for the shopping, but for the decorations and the festive spirit. While writing this post, I took a trip down memory lane to some of the other Christmas markets we’ve visited. I’m posting one photo from each and a link to the post, just in case you want a bit more holiday spirit.

Neptune-fountain-Gdansk-Christmas — Gdańsk’s Christmas gifts: the Christmas Market and the show-stealing Long Market

vendors-christmas-tree-riga-christmas-market-1200pxWide — Riga’s Charming Christmas Market

tallinn-christmas-market-tree-town-hall-1200pxWide — Tallinn: A Christmas Market in the Oldest Capital City in Northern Europe

Vilnius-Christmas-Market — Christmas in Vilnius

Parting shots

The holidays are full of traditions and Copenhagen has this unique holiday tradition:

Each year, the little figures of this statue are decorated with hats.

To me, this little figure seemed particularly proud of the new hat.

Comments

Marguerite Esrock says
15-Dec-2019 at 18:56:17
Scott- Love these photos! I have Europe Christmas Market on my bucket list. I think maybe the cherubs on the St James fountain need hats like these little ones.
Merry Christmas!
- Scott says
  16-Dec-2019 at 08:55:55
  Yes, the St. James fountain cherubs do need hats ~ good idea! Merry Christmas!
Ruth Soukup says
15-Dec-2019 at 22:51:39
Scott, your pictures are so bright and beautiful. It’s almost like being there. I liked your last two experiments, especially the one with lines. Really liked the “little hat guy.” Also, wish I could sample the “gooey chocolate cake.” Nice, very nice. You and Rosemary are having such wonderful adventures. I hope you two have a very nice Christmas.