Little Mermaid, Copenhagen

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I think that the mermaid is the least interesting thing, several kilometers around.

So take my advice: when you go there (because you will, like everybody else...) use your time, looking around: the harmonious strength of a fountain, the calm of the park, the art pieces on parade, and... yes, somewhere by the canal there's a little common statue that... you know!

They just can't help themselves. I realize most major cities have icons that represent the city. Paris has the Eiffel Tower. New York has the Statue of Liberty. Copenhagen has Nyhavn and the Little Mermaid. Hans Christian Andersen, the fairy tale writer, lived in Copenhagen and the statue is the character of one of his stories, The Little Mermaid. She is a small sculpture sitting on a rock, placed in the harbour near the outskirts of the city centre of Copenhagen. It's not very big, it's not in a very pretty part of the city. There is a park on the side of the harbour where she is but as you look at her, you see the industrial port across the water.

This year, 2010, the Mermaid isn't on her rock. She's on tour in China for a few months. Instead, the city has erected a video screen on the spot so tourists can see her on her rock...in China. Weird and very bizarre. Yet they still go there and take pictures. Of the screen. We took a hop on hop off tour of the city and people actually got off the bus to go look at the screen! We stayed firmly in our seats but i couldn't resist taking a photo of the tourists!

Unique Suggestions: There's a lovely park and old star shaped citadel in the area with some nice statues including the huge Geflon with his ox ploughing up the earth that created Denmark. Allegedly. And there's a pretty stone English church there as well, St. Albans.

Fun Alternatives: Nyhavn, the colourful harbour also attracts tourists by the hundreds but at least you can get a coffee, a beer or sit and people watch in the sun there.

The Little Mermaid is located in a quite remote area, where there's nothing else. There was not even a place for coffee closer that 5min by car. So, go there if you must, but on daylight and make sure you keep the cab waiting :)

There is not much to see. It's just a statue on a rock and you might as well have a look at it on a picture in the tourist guide. Use the time to go to the planetarium instead!

Fun Alternatives: The Planitarium is a brilliant spot and educational as well

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The bronze statue of the little mermaid is visited by so many tourists. It's actualy a vey small bronze statue. You probably would not have noticed it if they put it in a park in your own neigbourhood.

Unique Suggestions: If you want to take a picture of it, at least don't stay in one of the boats. Then you'll only see the back of this strange fish.

Fun Alternatives: Copenhagen if full of much more impressive statues if you like bronze artworks.

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The Little Mermaid is probably Copenhagen's best known tourist attraction though I have no idea why it is so popular. There is so much more to discover in Copenhagen yet for many people this is probably the highlight of a trip to the city.

Unique Suggestions: The nearby Castellet area is worth exploring. Also don't miss Churchill Park where there the excellent museum tells the story of Danish resistance in WW2. This was the only museum we visited on our trip and it was very interesting, giving a balanced account of Denmark during the war.

Sure, whoever thinks of Copenhagen, thinks of the little Mermaid. Well get ready for a big deception, it's not half as exciting as you'd think. It's just a small statue in the sea.

Don't put up your hopes, there are more impressive sights in the center of Copenhagen.

I think if you take a book and look up the word tourist trap - the pic of this young lady is probably next to it. Apparently tourist numbers to Copenhagen rise as soon as somebody destroys the little mermaid again by cutting her head of. I can't blame the tourists going there for that reason, it definitely makes an interesting picture!