Tumultuous times in Tivoli Gardens

When you're stepping off a flight, you're often feeling jetlagged or sluggish. You just want to get off the plane and straight to your hotel to relax and unwind. The day I arrived in Copenhagen I felt much the same. Luckily, I didn't stay in the Savoy Hotel too long as my friend reminded me that it was the last day for the summer season at Tivoli Gardens - a garden/amusement park/shopping district hybrid.

Tivoli is quite something! Compared to amusement parks in Australia, Tivoli seemed gigantic, with its numerous rides, food outlets, shopping outlets (selling silver, jewellery, souvenirs, etc) and restaurants. There is a distinct Asian feeling to this place, with its Asian gardens and architecture. You could easily spend a whole day exploring the place, but for me and my friend, the main appeal was the rides. Note that the place really comes alive during the night, with the central concert stage often being used (a tug-of-war match was underway when we went there) and the gardens aglow in the evening making for some incredibly nice photo opportunities.


A strong Asian feeling pervades Tivoli Gardens

It costs 99 DKK to enter the Gardens, with additional fees of 1-3 tickets (costing around 25 DKK each) to go on the rides. There are also multi-ride tickets you can purchase for unlimited rides for 199 DKK. My friend and I purchased these as we worked out if you go on 3 or more rides, you are better off paying for the multi-ride ticket. And it ultimately proved to be insanely worth it!

The three rides I tried were one of the rollercoasters, Vertigo (a giant swing and spinning ride) and The Golden Tower, which drops you from a tall height. The most intense of these (for me anyway) was actually The Golden Tower due to the lurch you feel when dropped, comparable to a really sudden drop in an aircraft. The rollercoaster had its moments but was nothing unmanageable. Interestingly, Vertigo wasn't anywhere near as stomach-churching as I thought it would be - I found it very pleasant in fact. And the views of Copenhagen from atop these rides is simply unrivalled anywhere else that I went. For a video of Vertigo, click here.  It is exhilarating, thrilling and undeniably impressive. Here's a video from YouTuber showing what I experienced.

A major downside of this ride was that it made me feel nauseous for a good 30 minutes after getting off. This complicated things as I didn't feel like getting on another ride while I was feeling ill, and I had no motivation to keep moving. Instead, I had to sit down and breathe deeply for around 30 minutes until I felt better. I ultimately lived to fight another day, albeit with a giant grin on my face whenever I recall those fateful moments. Me and my friend still discuss it every now and then, and have a good laugh about my 'illness'.

Despite getting slightly sick, I highly recommend Tivoli for its one-of-a-kind rides, beautiful atmosphere and sheer abundance of leisure options for the casual traveler. I would stay away from the restaurants at Tivoli unless you want to pay the higher prices in this popular tourist site.


The Taj Mahal lookalike building at the front of Tivoli

Attraction details:

Name: Tivoli Gardens
Address: Vesterbrogade 3, 1630 København, Denmark
Directions: Tivoli Gardens is located on Vesterbrogade, which is the main city street in Copenhagen. You can't miss it, but if you do, it's near the fast food outlets (McDonalds, etc).
Rating:5/5. With so much on offer in terms of food, rides and entertainment, Tivoli is a must-see for anyone coming to Copenhagen, even if the rides can make you nauseous!