Köbenhavn is really wonderful. There is much to see. I really enjoyed my two trips there. But there are certainly two things you can ignore there, and these are the "first and second best" (supposedly) attractions in the city: Little Mermaid and Christiania.
As for the former, I am not going to waste much time with it. Statue, market price of which would normally (without being artificially pumped to the 'best attraction in the city') be something like the price of the material being used to make it. And, yes, don't expect any romantic, Andersen-like background! Nope, it's industry and port! To get there, you have to walk a bit from the city center. It's not worth it, in my opinion. But people gather around, staring at it like they are under the spell, photographing it, most of them perhaps not even aware of her tragic fate in the story of H.C. Andersen with the same name.
If you are not satisfied, you can visit the nearby military citadel of Kastellet and the Danish World War II museum, Frihedsmuseet, both of which, despite not being 'huge' attractions, are well worth visiting.
The place that is much more to avoid is the so-called 'second best attraction' of the city, the unfortunate Christiania. In fact, go there (without kids or sensitive persons and not as a lone female traveler; you've been warned!) just to see a failed social experiment and just how a good ideal can be misused by a group of greedy people, like it was a case of many otherwise good ideas in the history of mankind: Christianity, socialism, capitalism, etc., or (in this case) the hippie movement.
I entered it through a north-east gate near the Vor Freisers Kirke. A few meters beyond the entrance, there is graffiti written in many languages, begging to support them by buying a 'share' of Christiania. Despite the fact that I somehow knew that this 'share' (whatever it is) wouldn't bring me any profit or give me a chance to participate in the management of the community, I was initially kind of keen on it. Why not? Although I am not that connected with the alternative scene, I somehow support people with alternative lifestyles who want to live their lives differently.
I went further into the former barracks of the Danish army. Barracks? Army? Some history first: Christiania emerged when a group of squatters occupied former barracks, property of the Danish Defense Ministry, and proclaimed their 'Freetown Christiania', a wannabe 'independent state in the middle of Köbenhaven' (and Denmark and later the EU). Their inhabitants do not pay taxes, and for a long time they lived for free (no rent) on the foreign property.
As I penetrated further into the so-called 'Freetown', I eventually came to what is called 'Pusher Street'. As one of the visitors raised the phone to make a photo, there were quickly two men shouting at him, 'No photo, no photo...' They made him delete it, and they checked his phone. What was that? Ah, those signs! There was some graffiti in the form of 'no photo' signs on the surrounding buildings. Couldn't they write it explicitly? Then I realized what was going on. Stalls with masked men and bags of something green. I quickly realized what it was! WTF? They were quick to attack me from all sides, trying to sell me the weed. They are very aggressive.
No photos, no running, etc. These commandments for visitors are the fruit of the criminal activity that is going on there. No photo? That's obvious! No criminal wants to be photographed doing what he shouldn't. But why 'no running'? Many guidebooks and articles about 'Freetown' try to sell us the story that there live peaceful people who are scared about running, panicking, etc. Wrong! Running is a secret sign of police intervention, i.e., rad. When it happens, all those dealers run away and hide their stuff. So, by running, you would trigger the false alarm.
By obeying the rules, you, as a visitor, help to cover the criminal activities going on there. And because you must obey, your visit implicitly promotes crime. Not to say that you are observed constantly, because as that guy just raised the camera, he was promptly yelled at and prevented. And not to say, of course, that if something bad happens to you, you are pretty much on your own. Nobody will help you!
I later read that some visitors were also beaten up or had their cameras crashed because they took photos. If you got beaten up there, this is still relatively OK. There is also much harsher violence associated with Pusher Street. Is this the promotion of peace, a peaceful society, or the values of the hippie movement? On the other side, do you, dear Christianites, haven't heard about the hidden cameras, spy cameras, glasses acting as cameras,... Such gadgets, once reserved for spies and police, are relatively cheap today and can be found everywhere.
Look at this video! That guy did it for documentary purposes with no bad intentions, but I can tell you: if something bad happened to me in Christiania, I would surely come with one of these hidden cameras and film all the scenes and dealers there and send that to the police.
But would it have an effect? Would the police do something? Let's continue with history.
Already in the 1980s, Christiania became a playground for many criminal groups, especially those dealing with the trafficking of drugs. The so-called 'Pusher Street' eventually formed the center of their operations. Christiania seemed like heaven on earth: we don't pay taxes, we live for free here, we traffic some drugs, and we'll live happily forever.
Things began to get complicated in 2010. After that year, all of the residents of Christiania had to pay the rent for their homes built on foreign property, causing many Christianites to experience financial problems and some even have to move out simply because they couldn't afford it. From that time on, criminal activity became even more important. Without it, Christiania would hardly survive.
And the police? They could stop it, of course, but they don't. They have the means and the forces. They have their methods: modern techniques, criminalistic methods, forces, financial means, weapons, authority, etc.—they could! But they don't! Instead, they are playing cats and mice with Christianites, doing some sporadic raids, searching for buyers of the drugs (instead of dealing with dealers),... Every time there is a raid, the criminals are quick to shut down the stalls where they sell drugs, hide the stuff, and run away. They have an elaborate system of warning when the police patrol arrives. Anyway, I simply don't believe that the police somehow cannot stop it?!
Even more, because recently a major of Copenhagen has 'decided to close Pusher Street' with the help of the Christianites (many of whom are in fact not keen on what's going on there). What does it mean? The police could have done it before, but they didn't! But now they will? And even if they do shut down Pusher Street, it has been shut down so many times and then reopened again. Some people outside of Christiania must profit from all this!
So going to Christiania seems worth it only if you are interested in buying some stuff (besides being interesting in South America-like ghettos)? Well, even this can be a very unproductive or even risky business.
First, you might get caught by the police. Like everywhere, they rather target users than dealers. They do raids from time to time, or they stand by the gate and examine visitors. If you get caught, the least you get is a fine and, of course, the confiscation of the stuff.
Second, who guarantees you good stuff? No one! The business is illegal. Moreover, you can buy potentially dangerous stuff. Who is controlling it? Nobody! It is like all illegal businesses. Not controlled, risky! Moreover, because you don't know the dealers, they are anonymous. Who is responsible? Nobody! Reading some forums where consumers of such stuff gather confirms it.
In Amsterdam, for example, there are coffee shops with names and owners who manage them (and also there you should not buy it on the street from the equally aggressive street dealers). If one coffee shop sells bad (or even hazardous) stuff, the word quickly spreads around, especially with today's electronic media, forums, etc. So they are very careful.
Regular consumers of such stuff have their own trusted dealer. But who did sell you bad stuff in Christiania? Well, someone—a masked individual—you even don't know a name. And BTW, I bet they have absolutely no hesitation in selling it to minors! Who prevents them? Nobody! While in Amsterdam, there are penalties for that. At least closing a shop for a certain period and up to a license being taken away.
But let's not just criticize; let's explore possible solutions. Of course, if there is a will for implementation,
The first, which is very obvious but probably not the best, is to terminate the criminal business with force. But this would mean that criminals would just do it somewhere else. On the other side, they just do it there already. Christiania is most probably the biggest drug market in Köbenhavn (Danemark), but not the only one. Let's not blind ourselves. Still, that would bring peace to Christiania; tourists would be safer there; rules would be relaxed; but Christianites would lose some of their income. But they would not starve; there are other legal businesses here (Christiania bikes, for instance) and some new ones to open if there is a will.
The second solution is perhaps less obvious but, in my opinion, better. Simply to legalize and regulate it! Or at least, introducing a Dutch model of tolerance. What would that mean for Christiania? Well, they would lose the monopoly. They would have fair competition, so the prices would certainly go down, stuff would possibly be better, and there'd be no need to terrorize tourists with 'no photos', 'no running', etc.
Everything that is illegal is likely to be bound to criminal subway. Be it alcohol (in times of prohibition, for example), be it prostitution, pornography, gambling, etc. Legalizing means ordering it under the law, making it legally available to customers, ensuring fair competition, ensuring that the state gets its share of taxes, enforcing business rules, etc. Of course, that often doesn't mean the total end of criminal activities around it, but at least the customers then have a choice: legal (controlled business, but usually at higher prices) or illegal (usually lower prices, but fear of being prosecuted, fear of getting bad or even dangerous service, no legal protection in case something goes wrong, etc.).
Conclusion: The idea of the hippie movement has died here. Every idea or ideal has more or less its own natural cycle: it is born, it struggles, it has its heydays, it spoils, and it declines. Looking at history, there were many of them: Christianity, capitalism, socialism, all sorts of movements like feminism, LGBT,... What happened here in Christiania actually reminds me of socialism: the idea of commune spirit, brotherhood, all people being equal, peace,... There was some (even good) economy that supported socialism, but every living on the others' expenses, i.e., in the form of debts, comes soon or later to an end. When the experiment fails, the economy collapses, people are moving out, criminal activity arises,...
When I left Christiania, I saw 'buy a share of Christiania' grafitti again. This time it was a determined 'NO'. There's really nothing 'alternative' left to support. What is left here is a desperate attempt to commercialize and profit on the rest of the hippie ideal, or more precisely, on the fake notion that this is still a hippie commune.
Commune, where on one side there are criminal barons, terrorizing visitors with no photo, shouting, beating them, walking around like peacocks, thinking everyone should respect them, and (most importantly, of course) having fat profits from all the illegal business. On the other side, there are poor, addicted junkies, desperate, destitute, and unhappy people who cannot afford a fair life, living from day to day with their small incomes or social support. Yes, this is an example of a peaceful society where everyone is respected and all are equal!
This is what the hippie community has transformed into. A mockery and grotesque of hippie values and lifestyles, a community whose leaders (not the people) earn money with criminal activities. And they still beg for donations! Brave, to say the least!