Who remembers that Jason Derulo song? 'I'm solo...I'm ridin' solo...' Yeah, that was me for the first time this week, Rhiannon Ridin' Solo. Rhi Ridin' Solo. Rhidin' Solo. I've always wanted to try travelling by myself - don't get me wrong, I've flown many times alone and, you know, kind of moved to a foreign country for 7 months on my ones, however I've never actually flown somewhere, spent a few days in a completely foreign country, and flown back again. It was pretty goddamn liberating. As much as I absolutely love travelling with other people - because what could be better than sharing amazing memories with your best friends? - I wanted to have this experience as it gives you total freedom over what you do and see...and, you know, you may or may not end up 'finding yourself'. Alas, I did not achieve this, however I found a heck of a lot of other amazing things in Denmark's lively and ice-cream cool capital city. Stay tuned to find out what I got up to toute seule... Day 1 I arrived in Copenhagen early evening, so after finding my hostel I ventured out to find some food (got to have your priorities straight and all that.) I found a great little vegan / veggie café about 10 minutes away called Café N. Not gonna lie, at this stage I was too embarrassed to sit inside by myself, so I got the food to go and went and sat on a bench nearby! That was the lowest point in my trip, and I'm glad it came right at the beginning. There I was, on a random bench, picking at my organic food and wondering why on earth I had got on a flight to Denmark by myself. To make myself feel better, I headed over to the Tivoli Gardens and had a nice evening filming, taking pictures and soaking in the atmosphere of the city at night.
Day 2 After a pretty decent sleep at the hostel, I felt a lot better and raring to go - plus the weather was looking pretty damn good. I covered a lot of different things including: - Nyhavn - the pretty canal featuring lots of different coloured houses - Christiansborg Palace and Tower (lots of great views to be had up here!) - Strøget - the popular shopping street - The Round Tower - more great views from the top of this - Rosenborg Palace - The Botanical Gardens I had gotten myself a Copenhagen Card the day before, which I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Copenhagen. The card allows you free access to 86 different attractions, free travel across all of Copenhagen and even to some places outside of the capital and a range of further discounts. I had the card for 48 hours but there are 24 and 72 hours cards also available.
I had lunch at another lovely café called Kaf' Bar in the centre of town - despite its location it seemed like a hidden gem and the girl who ran it was super lovely! I had possibly the best sandwich ever - aubergine, avocado, mozzarella and homemade pesto smooshed together between some tasty Danish bread.
After chilling back at the hostel for a bit and recharging mine and my camera's batteries, I decided to wander round the Nørrebro area and then took the train to the harbour to catch the sunset. The Little Mermaid is pretty disappointing if you're wondering, although walking around the area is super peaceful at dusk.
Day 2 I woke up early to take a trip up north, although it ended up being even earlier than I had planned due to a certain person snoring in my hostel room! Had a delicious breakfast at GRØD, which is a popular porridge chain in Denmark and all my dreams rolled into one. I caught the train to Helsingør, which is home to the famous Kronborg Castle. This castle was once used for royalty and was made popular in Shakespeare's Hamlet. I have to say, going to Helsingør was one of the highlights of my trip as it was absolutely stunning, especially in the glorious sunshine. On a clear day you can see Sweden across the water.
I headed back to central Copenhagen and wandered around Amalienborg Palace, which is home to the royal family (yes - there are a lot of palaces to be seen in Denmark!) I sat by the water for a little bit and then headed to the Designmuseum, which ended up being my last stop of the day as I was pretty shattered by this point! I had done a heck of a lot of walking and having had little sleep I was ready for a rest. This was the day I ended up meeting two lovely people from my hostel - shout out to Alanna and Andrew!
Day 4 This was the last day of my trip and by this point I didn't want to leave! I had settled into the city and was really enjoying myself, plus the weather was absolutely amazing for the duration of the trip. This was the first day that I actually took at a leisurely pace - myself and my new friends from the hostel wandered about the city, passing by the library, which is also known as the Black Diamond, and Freetown Christiania, which is actually an independent district in Copenhagen. It was founded by a group of hippies in the '70s and has its own set of rules, which includes the legal trade of cannabis. We happened to be there during 4/20, so pretty much everybody was enjoying a blunt by the lake. I just enjoyed a burger.
So, what was the overall experience like? Honestly, I'm so happy I decided to try travelling solo. It can be incredibly daunting at first - you question your decision and feel as if you won't be able to enjoy yourself. Once you get to know your surroundings though, you become more at ease with the place you're visiting and also just hanging out with yourself. I know it sounds a little bit cliché but taking out a bit of time for yourself is definitely one of the best things you can do. You have complete control over what you see and do and that is really quite liberating. I think I'd definitely do another solo trip in the future! Have any of you guys been away by yourselves? If so, where did you go and what was it like?