Best bars in the world? Definitely

What is it about the Danes that makes them such merry drunkards? It takes me half an hour to leave a crowded north Copenhagen bar, as people I've only just met regale me with tales of jealous lovers and exile and I plead with a dreamy-eyed author to please stop fondling my ear. What's remarkable is the absence of aggression. Not for the first time, I find myself marvelling at their ability to drink huge amounts of beer while remaining a model of conviviality.

What is it about the Danes that makes them such merry drunkards? It takes me half an hour to leave a crowded north Copenhagen bar, as people I've only just met regale me with tales of jealous lovers and exile and I plead with a dreamy-eyed author to please stop fondling my ear. What's remarkable is the absence of aggression. Not for the first time, I find myself marvelling at their ability to drink huge amounts of beer while remaining a model of conviviality.

Maybe the friendliness is down to the cramped, parlour-like confines of some cafés; maybe it's just the relaxed, come-as-you-are Scandinavian attitude. After all, equality and classlessness are enshrined in the Danish constitution (legally, barristers are no better than bakers) although it helps that the small nation's citizens are cushioned by a truly cradle-to-grave welfare system.

There's no better place to sample this egalitarian spirit - not to mention some excellent beer - than in Copenhagen's bars and cafés, where students share sofas with cleaners, architects and teachers. Just west of the central train station is the rapidly gentrifying Vesterbro district. It has the same gracious, turn-of-the-century, five-storey buildings as the rest of the city, only shabbier, and is still the prime hangout for a few genial junkies and hookers. But, in common with many European capitals, an influx of immigrants in the Sixties injected new life into the area, as well as Norrebro to the north, and Copenhagers are rediscovering inner-city living amid the sari shops and some stonkingly good kebab houses.

Just down from the City Museum (check out the displays in the basement of Copenhagen's "underworld" of archaeology, vice, and, er, sewerage) is Bang & Jensen. Formerly a pharmacy, this bar is decorated with Seventies lamps, old family snaps and posies on tables. The friendly staff serve a good range of Danish tap beer - try the malty Carlsberg Special. You'll be rubbing shoulders (literally, this place is packed on Friday and Saturdays) with film industry types, teachers and students, all dressed (down) to kill in army jackets, jeans, crocheted scarves and pointy shoes.

Vesterbro may be the old stamping-ground of the anarchist set, but this is a bohemian aesthetic you'll often see in the city. Denmark is a world leader in design and has one of the highest GDPs in Europe, but the dress code is surprisingly low-key. From the ladies nibbling cake in the atrium café of the Carlsberg Sculpture Centre to the budding directors at the Danish Film Institute, their fashion is never flashy. Copenhagers have perfected the art of dressing down - even as they fork out hundreds of pounds for designer clothes. The current look is sloppy-boho-meets-polo-necked intellectual, featuring customised trainers, frayed lapels, hand-knitted jumpers and culottes. Still, Danes are such an incredibly attractive group of people that fancy clothes aren't really an issue. Damn them.

It's to Vega, the grand-daddy of Copenhagen clubs, that the beautiful people of Vesterbro still flock each weekend. On the third floor, the atmosphere is smoky and subdued, with huge, futuristic sofas perfect for chilling out. It's a different crowd to the after-work hoi-polloi downstairs. You could be sitting beside the next Lars von Trier - but they're still drinking tap beer rather than cocktails.

If the breeze is not too brisk nor rain too horizontal, Copenhagen is a pleasant place to stroll about on an autumnal bar crawl. Apart from some buses and an occasional girl cycling past (accessorised to the hilt in earmuffs, legwarmers and heels), the streets are virtually empty, litter-free and completely safe. (The only potential hazard is from the cyclists themselves - I still bear the scars from a previous visit, when I stepped out on to a pedestrian crossing, only to be bowled over by a pensioner cyclist who was running a red light.)

Copenhagen's newest nightlife hotspot is Norrebro, beyond the chi-chi residential district of the Three Lakes. Our first stop is Bankerat, a fantastically kitsch café and the favoured haunt of local intellectuals. Every alcove features taxidermist set-pieces by artist Filip Jensen - a stuffed boar here, a perky-looking otter there. But the weirdest follies are in the basement, where a nattily dressed fox consorts with a ram kitted out in a Biggles outfit, against a backdrop of fake flowers, fairy lights and seagulls. Dark wooden floors and a procession of head sculptures across the brown concrete walls add up to an experience that's kooky and just a bit creepy. But it's a fine place to settle on a banquette with a book and an Irish coffee, or, if the animals don't put you off, try one of the recommended sandwiches.

This cosy, communal feel is evident even among the professionals in interesting eyewear at Norrebro Bryghus, a hip new bar and restaurant in a working microbrewery. The décor leans towards modern Scandinavian, with whitewashed walls and exposed vats. You could try asking for wine with your meal, but the waiter is more likely to suggest one of the delicious, clean-tasting in-house beers.

And so the weekend goes, drinking and chatting, chatting and drinking in bar after bar, gawping at the beautiful people and admiring a society at ease with itself. When the sun finally comes up on a freezing, sunny Sunday morning, there's no better place to be than savouring schnapps and shrimp sandwiches in Nyhavn, a pretty canalside pedestrian street lined with cafes. As you snuggle into the thoughtfully supplied blankets and admire the view, it's only right to do as the Copenhagers do, and order another beer.

The Facts

Getting there

Christine Rush travelled with Crystal Cities (0870 160 9030; www.crystalcities.co.uk), which offers a two-night weekend break from £264 per person, based on two sharing, including return flights and b&b in a three-star hotel.

Being there

Bang & Jensen: Istedgade 130 (00 45 3325 5318).

Bankerat, Ahlefeldtsgade 29, (00 45 3393 6988; www.bankeraat.dk).

Norrebro Bryghus: Ryesgade 3, (00 45 3530 0530; www.noerrebrobryghus,dk).

Vega, Enghavevej 40 (00 45 3325 7011; www.vega.dk).

Further information

Wonderful Copenhagen (00 45 7022 2442; www.woco.dk).

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