GUIDE TO COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Copenhagen, Scandinavia's largest city, the place where the Queen designs opera costumes, homosexual marriages have been legal for a dozen years, the government tolerates hippie squatters on military land, and where jazz is the lingua franca of the musical scene, is a place where it is difficult to choose exactly what to do, because attractions range from the world's oldest amusement park to royal palaces. On the museum scene, you can choose anything from a museum of the Danish Resistance to a museum of erotica. Or in other words, whatever you need, you can find it. Shopping offers a bevy of opportunities, from amber trinkets to Royal Copenhagen Porcelain or Georg Jensen silver to Danish modern furniture. And when you get hungry after looking at countless empty Flora Danica plates, you can head for one of Copenhagen's more than 2,000 restaurants to enjoy smorrebrod with cold Tuborg beer or a five-cours e French feast.

There's a lot worth seeing in this city. With its rich history full of historical buildings and ancient streets, its outstanding museums and galleries, the uniquely enchanting Tivoli Gardens and a resident monarchy that is the oldest in the world, the Danish capital has a host of attractions to suit all tastes. But keep in mind that this is no living museum. Copenhagen is a vibrant, modern city whose fascinating past coexists with the very latest trends in architecture, design and fashion. This is, after all, one of the world's great design capitals, a status that is reflected in its dynamic new buildings and stunning shops.

In case you would like a piece of advice on what exactly to see in the city, it's difficult to point out just a few of the many things in store. Note that the most popular attraction is the statue of the Little Mermaid, which has its own web site containing a photographic history of seven attacks by vandals over the last 40 years. Tivoli Gardens, situated downtown, is probably the most famous amusement park, and has been a magical place for Danes and foreigners of all ages since 1843. Rides, entertainment venues, and restaurants are nestled amid flowers, trees, and thousands of lights after sunset. Bakken, on the other hand, is the world's oldest amusement park and has a 90-foot (30m) wooden roller coaster with a brakeman, a flume and other thrill rides, beer tents, restaurants, circus and vaudeville acts, and deer that wander in from the surrounding Royal Deer Park. Most of the par k's annual 2.5 million guests are Danish.