Islands Brygge: Copenhagen

Part of Amager, this waterfront residential neighborhood has been revitalized thanks to the city's Metro subway network and the footbridge that now connects it with the harbor area around Fisketorvet shopping center and Dybbølsbro. The city's artists began to discover the quarter's potential back in the '90s when dozens of small, alternative galleries sprang up almost overnight, many of them extremely influential to the country's art scene. These days it's a smart dockland landscape of new buildings, including the Gemini Residence apartment building, an architectural showpiece.

A surprising find, meanwhile, the cafe in Islands Brygge Kulturhus or K-I-B for short (a municipally-funded culture house at Islands Brygge 18), boasts one of the best views of Copenhagen harbor from its summertime outside seating area, and costs very little. Close by is the new harbor bathing area, a safe and enclosed open-air swimming pool situated right in the harbor off Islands Brygge. Designed by architect firm PLOT, it's open only in the summer months of June, July and August and free to use. Copenhagen can now boast of being one of very few capitals in northern Europe with a harbor clean enough to swim in.

Visitors to Copenhagen never really had much reason to venture further out into Amager, but with the Metro and the university both breathing new life into what has always been perceived as a rather uninteresting, blue-collar residential neighborhood, Amager's attractions are increasing. In addition to the artificial yet still attractive beach of Amager Strandpark, they include the new DR Koncerthuset on Emil Holms Kanal, which opened in early 2009, and the green city getaway of Naturcenter Vestamager, both easily reached by Metro.

© NileGuide