Copenhagen/Amager

Amager (pronounced Ama'r) is a district and island east and southeast of central Copenhagen, covering some, and mostly notable as the home of Copenhagen Airport and the charming old fishing hamlet of Dragør. It was built as a waste depot for the evolving city of Copenhagen, was and long considered the backwaters of the city. This old working class district is now undergoing rapid development, contributing to some wonderful contrasts; from the huge uncultivated wetlands of Kalvebod Fælled, the ultra modern Ørestad development area, the laid-back and impossibly picturesque Dragør fishing hamlet to the fiercely local patriotic public housing blocks on the northern part of the island.

The Amager district includes the Danish islands in Øresund. Saltholm is 7-km across, with a handful of human inhabitants, together with livestock and wild birds, so flat that it gets flooded during storms. Flakfortet and Middelgrundsfortet are artificial fortress islands. Peberholm is an artificial island built for the Øresund Bridge, which is off limits for regular visitors.

Understand
Amager used to be much smaller than today's island. Its modern history begins with King Christian II inviting Dutch farmers to dam and grow the fields of the island to supply fresh vegetables to the king and the city. Coupled with successful fishing, the island grew into one of the wealthiest rural areas in the country. As Copenhagen grew, so did the pressure to populate the island. Copenhagen spilled out on the island in the 19th century with the construction of sundbyerne. Some farmers maintain a small stronghold on the southern tip of the island to this day, with many old farmhouses and small traces of the Dutch ancestry. With development, the fortunes of the islanders faded, and the island became long a forgotten district of Copenhagen, out of sight and out of mind of the local population. Despite playing host to the city's airport, people mainly saw the tedious transportation by bus through the slow-moving transportation network as a necessary nuisance. The most common colloquial name for the island was Lorteøen, or Shit Island in English, a canny reference to the fact that Amager was mainly build of landfill and sewage from the rest of Copenhagen. The islanders &mdash; or Amaricans &mdash; responded with a fierce local patriotism &mdash; some to the point where they flat-out refused to leave the island.

This all changed when the Danish and Swedish governments finally ended years and years of bickering, and agreed to construct a bridge from Copenhagen to Malmö, and the residents would finally get transportation links to rest of the city. A highway and railway connection was constructed across the island to connect the city with the airport and the new bridge. This meant that property values rose, and the municipal council decided to sell a huge patch of unused land to finance a new subway system. The island got two new subway lines. Today new development and construction in the capital almost exclusively takes place on Amager &mdash; and if you are into modern architecture, the areas of Havneholmen, Islands Brygge and Ørestad are architectural hotspots.

Get in
Since the closure of the island's only railway in the 1950s, Amager was, despite a substantial population, a big black hole in terms of public transit &mdash; greatly contributing to its reputation as the aforementioned shit island. This changed along with Copenhagen's fortunes in the 1990s, and with the new optimism came new investment in the most overlooked part of Copenhagen. In the space of two years, two new metro lines and an express link to the airport were completed, greatly improving public transit service to the island. But since the metro serves the Ørestad area and an old railway alignment, the most populated area along Amagerbrogade has not seen many improvements.

Copenhagen Airport


While Copenhagen Airport is divided into three terminals, there are actually only two &mdash; domestic and international. Once you've checked in at the counters in either terminal 2 or 3, you go through the same security area, to the same air side facilities. The Metro and train stations are inside terminal 3, and walking time to terminal 2 only takes about 5 minutes.
 * Terminal 1 &mdash; Handles all domestic flights and is quite a walk from the station, but there is a free shuttle bus connecting it with the two other terminals.
 * Terminal 2 &mdash; Handles all international flights except Star Alliance flights and the other airlines listed below.
 * Terminal 3 &mdash; Handles international flights from Star Alliance member airlines as well as Iceland air & Skyways.
 * CPH Go is a low-cost annex connected to the far end of pier D in Terminal 3. CPH Go has six gates starting with the letter 'F'. It is a long walk from the rest of the airport and there is not much to do there, so you do not want to arrive too early.

Most airlines still recommend arriving two hours before departure. If you are flying to destinations outside the Schengen area, you will have to go through immigration procedures before the gates; these are at the entrance to finger (concourse) C and D, and at the tip of finger A, so leave time for this when you've finished any shopping or eating &mdash; during peak times they sometime clog up.

Øresund bridge
The Øresund link is a massive, nearly 8-km combined tunnel and bridge connection between Copenhagen and Malmö in Sweden across the Øresund strait that carries both road and railway traffic. A train ticket to Malmö from Copenhagen Airport by train is 78 kr. For cars the price varies greatly, but the basic no frills cash ticket is 275 kr. If you opt for a cab there is a fixed price of around 725 SEK (500 kr) from the airport to central Malmö. Other than taking the car or train over the bridge, there is no other way to see the bridge, as the company doesn't offer tours.



By taxi
It takes 7 minutes from the start of Amager to Copenhagen Central Station by Taxi. It is possible to find taxis at many locations around Amager, also at the train stations. Danish Taxi companies all have apps, where it can share location, or you can call or book online.

By train
It takes 13 minutes to get to Copenhagen Central Station from the airport, and the trains stops at Amager's two other train stations; Tårnby and Ørestad (interchange with Metro line 1) en route. To Malmö Central Station in Sweden it takes 20 minutes. Trains run every 20 minutes throughout the day, and every 10 minutes towards the central station during rush-hour.



By metro
There are two metro lines covering the western and eastern part of the island. The lines meet up at the northern part of the island and continue along the same route through downtown to terminate at Vanløse Station. The travel time on Metro line 2, from the airport to Kongens Nytorv smack in the middle of the downtown area is 12 minutes, and trains runs every 4-6 minutes throughout the day.

By bus
There are quite a number of bus lines connecting Amager with the rest of Copenhagen. From the airport the most important are lines 5C to downtown, Nørrebro and the Northern suburbs (see Movia's homepage, here, for details). Several regional and intercity buses connect to the airport as well; Gråhundbus to Malmö 70 kr, 40 minutes or SweBus buses towards Malmö, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Oslo.

See
Amager is not exactly teeming with attractions, but if you have the time, a visit to the small fishing hamlet of Dragør's old town, followed by a walk in the forest and open plains of the southern shoreline would be time well spent. And if you are interested in architecture, the island has some exciting new architecture up for display in the New-town development area; Ørestad should tickle your senses, as there are quite a few extraordinary buildings there. This is basically the whole area M1 passes by after it goes above ground at Islands brygge metro station, but much of it is still under development.



Dragør
Dragør is a small village south of the airport with a rich naval history. The picturesque old village centre is well preserved with cobblestone streets, pretty old yellow buildings with red tiled roofs, and the harbor still has an active fishing port &mdash; in essence it is a very traditional Danish village within easy reach from the city centre. To get here either jump on bus 350S which has several stops in downtown or change to bus 35 at the Copenhagen Airport Station. If you are not into the hustle of big cities, you may want to consider sleeping in the historic Dragør beach hotel listed below.



The sea forts & Saltholm
Copenhagen's sea fortresses and the island of Saltholm are located some kilometres off the coast of Amager (but the ferry departs from the inner city), and were built as part of Copenhagen's massive fortification ring, which was constructed before World War I. The defenses formed a large ring around the city, and the three sea fortresses completed the ring out in the Øresund Sea, along with a series of forts build along the shoreline. The Trekroner fortress, right at the entrance to the harbor, is listed in the Østerbro district. Today they make some wonderful excursions if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a while, or if you are a history buff. A picnic on Flakfortet on a summers day is very recommended.

Do


You come to Amager to do two things: attend concerts in the islands' two spectacular concert venues, or cool down on the island's beaches. Either can be done at the "city" beach, or some of the other proper beaches dotting the eastern and southern shoreline.



Buy
Amagerbrogade is the longest shopping street in Denmark with local speciality stores as well as restaurants and cafes, but the shopping is mostly made up of pretty generic high street stores, which is also the case for Denmark's largest shopping centre &mdash; Fields. There are some small, interesting stores for you though, so read ahead.



Eat
The islands' culinary heritage, or lack thereof, can largely be attributed to its working class history. With traditionally few well-off residents, there has been tendency towards valuing price over quality, and hence the scene is largely dominated by cheap take away joints and restaurants, mostly centered around the main street, Amagerbrogade. However, like so many other things on the island, things are steadily progressing, and while there are hardly any places you would make a conscious effort to reach, there are some good restaurants to be found if you are in the area, especially in Dragør, which has always been an exception due to its active fisheries harbor and nearby farms.



Drink
Amager is not known for exciting night life, and from most places on Amager transportation to &mdash; and more importantly from &mdash; the good bars in the centre is easy, even at night, with frequent night buses and the metro running 24/7. So unless you really want to explore the island, consider those instead.

Copenhill and Bella Sky have the bars with the best view.



Sleep


Finding accommodations on Amager can be a good alternative to the more busy parts of town, near the central station. There are a few budget options available here, and it is fairly quick and convenient to get to the sights in the city centre, while also being more peaceful and laid back. The options located on the southern part of the island are interesting, with beaches, forests, fields and some historic locations right outside your doorstep &mdash; but it also takes you a good 30–40 minutes to get downtown, unless you have your own wheels.

Stay safe
Amager is generally as safe as the rest of Copenhagen. Try avoiding drunk people in metro and bus stations. It is a good idea to avoid local bars inside and around corners of tower block areas.