Copenhagen, Denmark December 2010
Conducted by Kirsty Ewing and Laurence Pipkin
The Airline and the Airport
Copenhagen International Airport is accessible to all with disabled toilets. Disabled parking spaces are available too. Induction loops are in place for the hearing impaired and reserved seating is available.
At the Hotel
At Adina Apartment Hotel there are ramps at the entrance with wide corridors, and all floors are level throughout. Spacious apartment though I do not think you
would be able to get a wheelchair into the bathroom, there may be large apartments on the ground floor.
Getting Around
Generally, Copenhagen is a flat city with level pavements throughout. It was snowy when we were there but the local street authorities are extremely efficient at clearing the pavements of ice and snow. Snow on rooftops can suddenly fall in large quantities meaning that some pavement can be fenced off from time to time meaning people on the pavement need to move into the road briefly, this of course would not be a problem in the summer. A lot of people travel by bicycle so it would be important to keep vigilant so you don't get knocked over.
Buses don't seem to have much room for wheelchairs. However, the train to the airport and also to Malmo has specific areas for wheelchairs.
Attractions
Amelianberg Slot – This is the current residence of the royal family and holds a museum in one wing. The museum has very narrow corridors and lots of stairs so is not very accessible.
Fredriksberg Slot – This is the former residence of the royal family from 1500 – 1800's. This is a very old castle like Hampton Court, with lots of steps so is not very accessible. The ground floor has ramps but infeasible to make the other floors accessible given the age of the building. The basement holds the crown jewels and is not accessible to wheelchairs either.
Tivoli – Tivoli is a theme park in the centre of the city. It has step free access throughout and the majority of restaurants do not have steps. I would expect some of the rides would not be accessible.
Carlsberg Museum – Majority of the museum has step free access, however the bottle collection (the world's largest collection of beer bottles) is upstairs and there was no lift in that part of the building.
The Little Mermaid – The status is located along the harbour on a pedestrianised walkway leading from the port into the city. There are no steps in order to get a good view, however to get up close for a really good picture there are some very steep steps but I wouldn't recommend even an able bodied person to use them because you could easily slip into the water in poor weather conditions.
Eating Out
Generally restaurants seem to be on second floors of buildings or in basements which can make it difficult for disabled people. Some of the restaurants had ramps, but none had lifts. The lighting was generally good in the restaurants we visited.
Bars and Nightlife
Similarly to restaurants, but bars tend to be in basements. Normally a specific part of bars are accessible for disabled people.
Disabled Toilets
We didn't see any public disabled toilets, all attractions had disabled toilets, but did not notice any disabled toilets in pubs and restaurants.
Any Other Comments
Copenhagen as a city is very accessible given its flat terrain and limited road traffic. As it is a very expensive city it seems that restaurant and pubs are often not based at street level because shops and other businesses take the premium spaces, meaning step free access to pubs and restaurants is not very common.
The authorities are very experienced at dealing with adverse weather meaning that a disabled person would get round much easier in Copenhagen than London if it was snowing. Street markets are easy to get around with flat squares. The central shopping area is completely pedestrianised stretching in a straight line for two miles and most shops have step free access. It is a charming compact modern city but I believe the city authorities needs to provide grants to restaurants and pubs to improve access as their transport and public spaces are much more accessible than private businesses which I assume is because there is either no incentive for them to improve access or it is too expensive.