Settling and moving in/out in Cph

If you have to move (flytning) whether in or out, you might need to rent a car, a minibus, a truck (varevogn) or ask a company for help. You can always rent a car and then rent a trailer from almost any gasoline station in Denmark. If you need to furnish your house, Ikea is without doubt the right place to start. Also Ikea will give you a free trailer if you need.

Car rental (Biludlejning)
Sixt
Minibus 563.50kr. per day + 2.45kr per km over 300km
t. +45 32462929

Budget
Toyota Aygo 500kr. per day

Europcar
Iveco Daily (12,4 mc) 1225kr. per day + 2.70kr. per km over 200km

Hertz
t. 3317 9000
e. reservation@hertzdk.dk

Avis
Toyota Hiace (5,9 mc) 1010.50kr. per day + 2.75kr. per km over 100km
Mercedes Vito 108D 822.50kr. per day (rented on 07.02.2010)

Dyt-Dyt
Fiat Ducato (12mc) 600kr. per day + 2,25kr. per km over 200km per day
Fiat Ducato (14mc) 800kr. per day + 2,25kr. per km over 200km per day
e. forum@dyt-dyt.dk
t. +45 3537 1881

Lej et lig (only in Scandinavia)
Varevogn (12mc) 700kr. per day + 1.75kr. per km over 200km per day
t. +45 4213 8225

Vestergaards Autoudlejnings
Mercedes Vito 600kr. per day (1600kr. 3 days) + 2.00kr. per km over 100km per day
t. +45 3670 5395

Byens Billeje (whole of Europe)
Stor Kassevogn (10-12mc) 450kr. per day (1350kr. 3 days) + 2.00kr. per km over 100km per day
t. +45 3326 2121

Minibus rental (Busudlejning)
Bustour
Jettebus
Quickbiludlejning
Viking Bus

Moving companies
3x34 - whole of Denmark
t. +45 8034 3434

Nemtrans

Move it - whole of Europe
t. +45 7020 1566

Møbeltransport - whole of Europe
t. +45 7010 4400

Ikea
Ikea in Gentofte
Ikea second-hand/flea market
Once a year you can resell Ikea's stuff at Ikea's!
A space of 2x2m costs 150kr.

Trailers
Freetrailer - It is free if there's an agreement with a specific shop, otherwise it costs 199kr. per day.

Copenhagen-Delft
Via Fehmarn
835km - 8h.40m
Estimated consumed gasoline 900kr. - 120euro
Scandlines Ferry-Boat ticket between Rødby-Puttgarden 600kr. - 80euro

1800kr. gasoline
1200kr. ferry boat
-------------------------
3000kr. fixed costs
1870km in total

Via Fyn
969km - 9h.20m
Estimated consumed gasoline 1000kr. - 134euro
Storebælt ticket 220kr.

2000kr. gasoline

220kr. ferry boat

-------------------------

2220kr. fixed costs

1938km in total

Tools and products
Bubble wrap - Bobleplast
Tape - Tape
Moving box - Flyttekasse

Public transportation in Copenhagen

Public transportation is extremely expensive and it is hard to understand the reason behind this policy. You can move by bus, normal train, s-train, metro and even boat ... ending up poor and living in a supermarket cart!
In theory the Danish Government is trying to reduce the use of the private automobile, in practice, with these prices, they are trying to reduce the use of any means of transportation!
It would make sense a policy that promotes both, the cycling culture and public transportation, in order to reduce the production of CO2 and the amount of vehicles on the streets, but this does not happen. While the bicycle is substantially supported, public transportation is extremely inconvenient and unaffordable. To plan your trip you can use either Rejseplanen or 1415.

Train fares and bus fares are simply crazy. A simple ticket to move within two stops costs minimum 24kr. (3.2 euro, as of March 2011), a 10-trip card (klippekort) to move between two zones costs 140kr. (18.7 euro).
A single ticket to move in all zones (within Sjelland) costs 108kr. (14.5 euro). A 10-trip card to move in all zones costs 455kr. (61 euro). It goes without saying that you should buy 10-trip cards (klippekorter) in abundance, although this might mean that you have in your pockets a lot of cards worth a lot of money, all at once. So you better be careful on how you keep them: they can easily bend, fold and stop working!

Between 2007 and 2011 prices have been going up steadily and without apparent public discussion or protest. A simple ticket in 2007 costed 19kr. and every year they have been raising the prices by an approx. 5%. This is absolutely out of proportion, considering the low inflation in Denmark.
In total a simple ticket costed approx. 26% more at the beginning of 2011 than in the end of 2007!
An all-zone 10-trip card by the end of 2009 costed 405kr. (54.3 euro), 50kr. less than what it costed at the beginning of 2011. This means that the card has increased its price by approx. 12.5% in less than two years!

Anomaly 1
The first mystery is the disappearance of the 1-zone fare, but not Zone 1.
If you move within what it is strictly the center of Copenhagen (neighbourhood K), you move within Zone 1, yet you still have to pay a 2-zone fare.
My point is that you either introduce a 1-zone fare (which should be half the price of a 2-zone fare) or you joint Zone 1 and Zone 2 into one zone and rename the whole system so that you actually have the same number of zones and fares, correspondingly.

Anomaly 2
Whatever happened to Zone 2 in Amager!? Between DR Byen and Sundby, and Lergravsparken and Øresund you go from Zone 1 to Zone 3 without seeing any Zone 2.
Also, why should it be more expensive to get to Sundby and Øresund compared to Fasanvej or even Vanløse which are further away from the center?!

For a short stay (1-3 days) in Copenhagen, the best suggestion is to get a City Pass:
City Pass 24h. 80DKK
City Pass 72h. 200DKK
You can buy it online beforehand and receive it on your mobile for the day and the time you will need it.

Bicycle culture in Denmark

In Europe the bicycle for some odd reasons is more popular in the northern countries where it is freezing cold most of the year than in warm climate countries, down south. It has certainly something to do with the flatness of the land in the northern part of Europe, but this cannot explain it all. It has much more to do with culture, habits and customs. Denmark is no exception. In particular in Copenhagen the bicycle is incredibly popular ... even in winter time.

The City of Copenhagen has fostered and promoted the cycling culture over the years with extraordinary foresight and effort. The cycling culture goes a long way in Danish history and it will play an even more important role in the future. In 1995 Copenhagen was the first city in the world to introduce a modern, public and free bike-share system: the City Bike. While 55% of Copenhageners use a bike at least once a day for varied purposes, 37% of the population choose to bike regularly and everyday from home to their place of work or educational institution. This data prompted the City of Copenhagen in 2007 to allocate 33 million dollars over a four-year period to improve conditions for cyclists which include broader, safer, greener and better-connected bicycle routes.

By 2009 this strategy has been proven so successful that it has been necessary to launch a series of competitions for 7 new bridges (of which only one also for cars) over and around the harbour, plus a competition to update the design of the City Bike to new standards of sustainability, comfort and way of use.

The new bridges, which follow the success and the idea behind Bryggebroen, will reshape the city traffic flow completely and fill the gaps in the current network over and around the central harbour. While only one is currently being built, the construction of all of them is planned to be concluded by 2015.

Because of the massive bike use, people have adapted their bikes to more than just their own transportation: cargo bikes (both freight bicycles and cargo trailers) to transport either goods or passengers (children in particular) have become very popular. In 2008 6% of all Copenhagen households had a cargo bike. Of these 22% use their cargo bike as a car replacement.

The network of bicycle links and promenades in the city has become a crucial part within the greening city strategy which includes a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions. Cyclists already contribute to holding down CO2 emissions from traffic and the goal by 2015 is to increase the number of regular and daily cyclist to 50%. This will reduce CO2 emissions by a further 80000 tonnes per year in traffic.

References

1. In 2008 the British magazine "Monocle" declared Copenhagen number one in the list of "The World's Top 25 Most Liveable Cities". Before and after that date Copenhagen has always held a spot among the top three.

2. Source: Eco-Metropole: Our Vision for Copenhagen 2015, 2007, Copenhagen

3. Source: Copenhagen City of Cyclists: Bicycle Account 2008, 2008, Copenhagen

Links
Copenhagenize - bicycle culture in Cph
Bycyklen
Study: Cycle like the Danes and cut emissions, article on Cph Post