Tivoli

Whenever I talk to people about København one of the first things that come to their minds is the Tivoli. It is quite surprising that an amusement park is a major sight of a capital city but this one is really known throughout the world and it is even one of the oldest in the world. Maybe København is also the only capital city that has such a funfair so close to the city centre – it is located directly next to the main railway station and not far away from the town hall.

The Tivoli consists of gardens, a lake with a Chinese pagoda, several fountains, as well as 37 restaurants and eateries – it is a place that people use to meet for dinner. Distributed throughout the park you can discover and try different attractions like rollercoasters and chairoplanes. They look rather old fashioned but that contributes to the nice ambience; a visit is especially beautiful in the evening when the park is illuminated. Tivoli is often used for concerts – in the past artists like Louis Armstrong went on stage there. To enter the grounds you need to pay an entrance fee (if you don’t use CopenhagenCard) and you’ll have to pay extra fees for all the attractions.

The history of the amusement park is pretty long: king Christian VIII. gave the former military area to officer Georg Carstensen to open up a fun fair. This happened in 1843 and the former name of the park was Kjøbenhavns Tivoli og Vauxhall – the name connects it to Paris (Jardin de Tivoli) and London (Vauxhall Gardens); over time only the name Tivoli remained. In 1944 during German occupation, the park was destroyed by the Nazis but reopened soon after they surrendered.

Tivoli
Vesterbrogade 3
1630 København
Denmark