Living for 10 months in Copenhagen?

Question

I am interested in living in Copenhagen for about 10 months. I will not need to work there. I have a 7 yr old who will need to go to an English school. I have a EU passport.

Is this easy to accomplish, re rules and regulations ?

Can one live easily knowing only English?

What are the onthly costs of "good living", excluding school and living costs?

Would I need a car?

Is there a relatively strong English speaking social network I could join?

Many thanks!

Answer 1

Hi,

I've spent 8 months in Copenhagen, maybe I can be a little helpful.

Denmark has lots of rules and regulations, and I mention this in a good way. You'll just need to go the 'Koemmune' office in the neigbourhood and ask for a CPR number - similar to a citizenship number. Once you get that, you'll use it everywhere. They'll arrange a doctor for you when you applied as well, all these procedures and health services are for free.

I knew absolutely no Danish, but had no problems. Everyone, including bus drivers, salespeople etc., speak English very well, so no worries.

I was a student there, so did my grocery shopping at the cheapest places called Fakta and Netto. I spent around 800-1000 DKK per month for grocery, and 600-800 more for night life. If you prefer nicer markets for shopping like Foetex, Irma or Superbest, you'd spend more or less 1,5 times more. On the other hand, Fakta and Netto have very limited choices, so maybe you should consider the others.

And as a personal comment, I really liked living in Denmark. Copenhagen is a beautiful city. Hope you'll like it. You may wanna check the website for weekly events in the city: http://www.ctw.dk/Default.aspx

Enjoy!

Answer 2

I also lived in Denmark for about 5 months as a student.

One can survive VERY easily only knowing English.  Everybody speaks it.

I tended to shop at SuperBrugsen or Netto, and I tended to spend around 1200 DKK per month.

You absolutely do NOT need a car.  The public transportation system in Copenhagen is amazing.  I actually lived in Hillerod which was north of Copenhagen and commuted into the city everyday.

I don't know about any specific English speaking social network but my experience was any network you may join for shared interests or whatever, when they find out you don't speak Danish, other then teasing you about your pronunciation of rodgrod med flod.  They will immediately speak in English to include you.