''As with most capitals, Copenhagen is the country's centre for economic and cultural activity. It is also the seat of the Danish Government, home of the Danish Queen, Calsberg Brewery, The Little Mermaid, Christiania and Tivoli amusement park. So, as most Copenhageners would argue (to the annoyance of about 3.5 million other Danes), you need go no further.'' - In Playtime, The ultimate guide for tourists on a low budget in Copenhagen

At about four in the morning, the night train from Stockholm split into four sections, each of which was pulled on board a ferry. The train travelled by ferry from Sweden to Denmark, and as we disembarked, it was put back together again. We chugged the last few miles into Copenhagen.

It the first city I'd visited in which I didn't know a soul. After securing a place to stay in a hostel, I set out to explore the city. There are two things that I think very positively influenced my stay in Copenhagen.

The first was the city's innovative public transport system. The city has made several efforts to encourage commuters to travel by bicycle whenever possible. The streets all have bike lanes, and both automobile traffic and pedestrians take cyclist traffic very seriously. In 1995, a scheme called Bycykler saw two thousand bicycles distributed around town and locked up the way shopping carts usually are kept outside North American supermarkets. Pop a 20 kroner piece in, and you have yourself a bicycle. Drop it off at any of the 150 drop-off spots around town, and you get your 20 kroner back. Free bicycles for borrow, all over town! It's a brilliant scheme, and although it sometimes took a while to find a bike, I'd have to say the program is very successful. It's financed entirely by advertising on the wheels of the bikes.

The second positive influence was the publication ''Playtime,'' published by Use It, an organization that helps low-budget tourists find their way around Copenhagen. The publication's attitude was hip but not cynical, and informative but never dry.

Included toward the back of Playtime were suggested foot and bicycle tours of Copenhagen. I popped in a 20 kroner piece, grabbed an embarrasingly bright red bike, and set off on a tour of the city.

First stop on my tour was Christiansborg Castle. For more than 800 years, it's been the centre of government in Copenhagen. Under this building are the remains of Bishop Absalon's castle, which was erected on this site in 1167. It's the site of today's Parliament buildings in Copenhagen. Way back then, Absalon decided to build a town around the half-finished castle that was situated where Copenhagen how sits. When the new town was finished, he christened it Havn (''Harbour'') and said it was God's will that Havn should grow into a powerful, wealthy city.

According to Playtime, the merchants who settled in Havn ''fully agreed with God and the bishop and set out to make the prophecy come true. After some decades they had achieved so much success that it only seemed natural to re-christen the town Købmannehafn (which means Merchants' harbour). This alliance between God and business is - as everybody knows - practically invincible, and in the middle of the 15th century the Danish king followed its lead and set up court in Copenhagen. 200 years later, Denmark lost its eastern provinces to Sweden. But by that time it would have been very discourteous towards God and business if the king had moved back to one of the old capitals nearer the centre of his realm. So he stayed.''

The bike tour took me down towards the canals near Christianshavn, a section of the city that was designed to attract affluent Dutch merchants and artisans to Copenhagen.

As I mentioned, bike traffic is taken very seriously in this city. When biking in Canada, I often switch between the pedestrian and automobile rules of the road whatever it's convenient to do so. You do not pull this trick in Copenhagen. You are a cyclist, and that makes you a vehicle of a specific type. I learned this the easy way by watching the traffic, but it's worth noting this in advance if you want to arrive in Copenhagen and not behave like an offensive tourist.

While cycling by the canal, unrest broke out after the folks on this rowing boat finished their race. This is a bit of a fluke shot, as I actually managed to capture the root of the unrest. Look at the guy deliberately splashing the person in front of him. This turned into a full-fledged boat-wide water fight about two seconds later.

Near the docks of Christianshavn is Vor Frelsers Kirke, or Our Saviour's Church. It sports the coolest spire I'd seen on my trip - one with an outside staircase that leads right to the top. The church dates from 1690, and the spire was added in 1750. I thought I'd climb up and see what I could see.

I was rewarded with an impressive skyline, but what I really wanted to show you is on the other side of the tower.

Take a look at these buildings tucked into the trees in the middle of Christianshavn. The entire place is called Christiania, and it's probably best described as Copenhagen's living, breathing hippie colony.

Christiania is ''a kind of free state'' in the middle of Copenhagen where about 1000 people live in their own, partially self-governed community. The area was originally a military camp that became disused in the late 1960s. Playtime explains that in the wake of the youth revolt, a free state emerged, ''the justification of which politicians have hotly debated ever since.'' No photography of any kind is permitted within the grounds, and so I can't show you what it's like to walk by kiosks where weed and other soft drugs are being sold.

The sign at the gate asks visitors to respect Christiania's Laws. They really aren't laws so much as they are a series of bans, which are enforced in the ''Freetown'': No hard drugs, no weapons, no violence, and no trading or selling of real estate. None of this was going on anywhere within Christiania. The people seemed peaceful, and very happy living with the communal lifestyle. (Perhaps the ''peaceful'' bit is also a result of the grass!)

When I saw the Christiania's Lov sign, I couldn't help but think of the fictional Norwegian town of Cardamom and its Law: ''You shall not bother others, you shall be good and kind, and otherwise you may do what you will.'' The Cardamom Law is found in the book ''When the Robbers Came to Cardamom Town.'' If they write a book about this place, it might be called, ''When The Hippies Came to Christianshavn Town.''

This is the Gefion Fountain, Copenhagen's answer to Oslo's Vieglandsparken fountain. It's not flanked by dozens of statues, but it's certainly impressive. The guy to the left of the fountain is riding another one of the free bicycles.

This is Amalienborg Castle and square, which are ''among the finest examples of Rococco architecture in Denmark.'' Around the square are four identical palaces like this that were built by four prominent noble families in the 1750s. The royal family has resided here since 1794.

Here's the canal at Nyhaven where Hans Christian Andersen lived for nearly twenty years. I stopped at an outdoor café here for a pint of beer. Carlsberg, of course.

Speaking of Hans Christian Anderson, there's an attraction in Copenhagen that just about every tourist ends up seeing at some point during their stay. I'd heard it was small, I'd heard it wasn't necessary to visit. But what did I have to do that I couldn't spare a 45-minute bike ride?

There she is - Ariel herself. This statue of Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid is located in a park north of town. You can get to her by riding bus number 6, which itself constitutes another Playtime-suggested tour.

I finished my trip to Copenhagen with a visit to the Frihedsmuseet, the Danish Resistance Museum. I began to summarize here what I learned of the Danish and Norwegian perspecives on World War II, but then realized that it was a task far beyond my capacity. There are other web pages on the internet that provide both concise and detailed information about the Scandianvian view of war. It never would have really meant anything to me before I visited Scandianavia myself.

I travelled through German en route to Amsterdam, the last stop on my trip through Europe.