Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the city that made Scandinavian design a global language. The clean lines are everywhere — in the architecture, the furniture, the plating at restaurants that treat a Tuesday lunch like a composition. Nyhavn’s colourful canal houses are the postcard, but the real city lives in the neighbourhoods: Norrebro’s multicultural energy, Vesterbro’s converted meatpacking district, and Christianshavn’s canals leading to the free town of Christiania, which operates by its own rules.

Rent a bicycle — everyone does — and the city opens up. Tivoli Gardens, the amusement park that inspired Walt Disney, sits in the centre. The round tower gives a panoramic view reached by a spiralling ramp, not stairs. The food halls at Torvehallerne are extraordinary, and the bakeries — particularly their cardamom buns and rugbrod — justify the trip alone. This is a city that takes pleasure seriously without ever losing its lightness.

When to go: May through September for cycling weather and outdoor dining. December for Tivoli’s Christmas markets. June offers the longest days and a festival atmosphere. Copenhagen is enjoyable year-round but winter days are short and grey.