Copenhagen/Vesterbro

Vesterbro is just outside Copenhagen’s city centre )the Inner City or Indre By), making it a very attractive place to live. It includes the districts of Sydhavnen. Enghave, Valby and Vanløse.



The district is west of the city center at the location of the old Western Gate (‘’Vesterport’’), access way into the old city. The gate, along with the other three gates into the old city — Østerport ("Eastern Gate") near the current Østerport Train Station), Nørreport ("Northern Gate") near the current Nørreport Train Station, and Amagerport ("Amager Gate", i.e. functionally the Southern Gate) between Christianshavn and the island of Amager - were dismantled in 1856.

The name "Vesterbro" causes some confusion as to its literal translation into modern Danish, as English, "Western Bridge". The word is an old word and does not refer to a bridge, but rather to the paved (Danish, brolagt) road leading into the city through the Western Gate.

The area has been renovated to a great extent, and its central location makes it a favored place to live. It has had a reputation as a center for prostitution and drug trafficking, where only the poorest would live, and there is still a certain amount of these activities in the area, especially on Istedgade and near Halmtorvet, but there has been police focus on clearing up troublesome areas.

By train
Copenhagen Central and Vesterport stations are at the eastern edge of the district. Copenhagen Central station is a major stop for almost every train line on the island, Vesterport is served by the S-train network. S-train Lines B and H continues along the southern edge of the district with stops at Dybbølsbro, Carlsberg and Valby stations. Carlsberg Station is next to (and replaced) the former Enghave Station.

By bus
The backbone of bus transport in central Copenhagen are the A buses operated by Movia, which run every few minutes throughout the day.


 * 1A Starts at Avedøre station in the western Copenhagen, and runs through the suburbs before entering Vesterbro at Valby station. From here it runs along the S-train tracks to the central station before it continues though downtown and Østerbro to terminate in at Hellerup station.
 * 3A This line does a half loop around downtown. Starting on Nordhavn station on Østerbro, passing through Nørrebro and enters Vesterbro across the major street Gammel Kongevej. It stops at the middle part of Vesterbrogade, Enghave Plads on the northern end of Istedgade near the Vega nightclub, runs along the eastern side of the Carlsberg complex, before it ends at the Valby Park.
 * 6A Starts in the suburb of Rødøvre west of Copenhagen, and enter Vesterbro just after the Copenhagen Zoo, it runs along the districts major artery Vesterbrogade all the way to the central station, where it enters downtown to end in the North-West district.

See
Saying Vesterbro is teeming with attractions would be pushing it by a wide margin. Indeed, the districts most famous attraction is possibly the sorry remains of the once numerous porn shops, dating back from the hey-days of Danish liberalism, when the country was the first in the world to formally legalize pornography in 1967, and Istedgade was the centre of the madness. Unless you have special interest in the subject, that alone is probably not reason enough for a visit these days. Instead, visitors should turn their attention to the district's shopping opportunities and night-life, which are the real attraction here. An appropriate kick-off to this would be a visit to the only star attraction on offer, the famous Carlsberg brewery.





Buy
If you like to breeze through small shops, that you don't see on every corner at high streets across the western world, Vesterbro is an excellent place to go shopping, there is a wide range independent fashion and design stores offering local brands, from the traditional Danish design industry, and the up-and-coming Danish fashion industry.

A good shopping tour of the district (3000 m) starts at Vesterport station, turn west along Gammel Kongevej until you reach Tullinsgade which is the 8th street on your left. Turn down Tullinsgade until it reaches Værnedamsvej - tour both streets as they are full of interesting stores, at the southern end of Værnedamsvej turn right (to the left side of the Europæiske building) along Vesterbrogade and follow it for some 180 meters, until you reach Tove's Galleri an indoor shopping arcade with a big red gate out in front, head all the way through the arcade until you reach the other side at Mattheusgade, make a right, and turn left at the end of the street along Enghavevej. When you reach the square, turn down Istedgade and follow it until it ends at the Central station. Keep your eyes open, some of the best stores are easy to miss.



Istedgade
Used to be the red light district, and while it still has more than its fair share of sorry souls, it has blossomed up during the last 10 years. At the end of the street nearest to central station, there is still the last sorry remains of the once so famous sex stores. Not really that exciting, but they are fairly well stocked if you want to spice up your sex life. There are two stores especially catering to gays, if you are from a less tolerant society, where these don't hang on trees. The real attraction these days though, are the numerous small fashion stores dotted along the length of street.



Eat
Vesterbro is where most Copenhageners come to eat a piece of the world. There are an incredible amount of restaurants within a very compact area, offering food from every corner of the planet, mostly at very affordable prices by local standards. With more than 250 restaurants and take away joints to choose from, it would be pointless to list them all here, So we have tried hard to select the best of each of the kitchens available here, listed in Italics behind the restaurant name.



The Meatpacking district
One of the districts, and indeed the whole city's, new hotspots is Kødbyen, which literally translates into the Meat City. Ad agencies, galleries and most importantly bars, have set up side by side with the largest concentration of butcheries on the country. The raw industrial surroundings, as it is the case with so many other places like this, blends quite well with outrageous night-life, and indeed some of Copenhagen's largest and most popular nightclubs have sprung up here.



The district is also home to an increasing number of restaurants, from budget to expensive: Quality fish-dishes at Kødbyens Fiskebar, Italian pizzas at Mother, organic food at BioMio and Nose2tail, and down-to-earth French cuisine at the wine bar Paté Paté.

Sleep
Aside from hostels, taking on from other major European cities, the area behind the Central station away from downtown and Tivoli, is where you find the city's cheapest hotel accommodation. It has a reputation for being a bit rough, but in Denmark that isn't saying much, although you may bump into the odd drug addict or desperate hooker at night time. Apart from any psychological discomfort you personally may get from such encounters, it shouldn't cause you any trouble - indeed a number of high quality hotels are located here, which should give you an indication of the severity of the problem. If you want to take extra care avoiding the above personalities, walking to your hotel from Vesterbrogade instead of Istedgade should steer your clear of them altogether.