Laura Hall Time Out Profile (original) (raw)
Laura Hall is an award-winning author, travel writer and journalist based in Copenhagen. She has contributed to Vogue Scandinavia, Kinfolk, Condé Nast Traveller, Sunday Times, Time Out, BBC Travel and The Guardian, and been consulted for VisitDenmark, VisitCopenhagen and Skandinavisk.
Photograph: Arina Fedosiuk
Articles (10)
The 18 most beautiful places in Europe, by travel writers who’ve seen them all
Europe is not lacking in jaw-dropping beauty, but how do you choose its top spots? Its home to seven Wonders of the World, for one thing, as well as 34 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and even that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of the incredible things you can find across the continent. But even if we can’t list every single one, we can list our favourites. To put together this list, we asked our editorial staff team and travel writers based in Sweden, Greece and more for the most beautiful things they’d ever seen in Europe. The result? Stories of taking boats out on Germany’s hidden lakes, climbing up to vast sand dunes in France and afternoons spent strolling Art Nouveau streets in Latvia. From solitary islands to packed ski resorts, here are the most beautiful places in Europe, picked by us. RECOMMENDED:🌤️ The most beautiful places in the world🌃 The best city breaks in Europe🏖️ The best beaches in Europe🌊 The best places to ‘coolcation’ in Europe Ella Doyle is Time Out’s guides editor. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines.
Can popular European cities ever recover from overtourism?
Since spring, anti-tourism protests have spread through Europe’s key capital cities like a virus. From the Canary Islands and the Balearics through to Barcelona, Paris, Athens and Venice, residents have been rejecting mass tourism and demanding solutions from city authorities to tackle the problem. A combination of post-pandemic ‘revenge tourism’, rising rents, a cost-of-living crisis and poor job prospects in many patches of southern Europe have created the perfect breeding ground for serious friction between tourists and locals. The question is: can cities like Amsterdam, Venice and Barcelona ever have a happy relationship with tourists again? What are destinations doing? Several cities are taking matters into their own hands and actively trying to change the way that tourists experience and behave in their cities. One of the most common European measures has been the tourist tax. Prices vary, but you could expect to pay around €7 on average in many European cities, including Paris and Rome, to stay overnight. After trialling a new €5 entry fee system for day-trippers, Venice looks set to double its tourist tax next year. You might think that paying an extra €5 – the equivalent of a pricey cup of coffee – wouldn’t stop you from visiting Venice for the day, and you’d be right. Rather than dissuade tourists from visiting, taxes like this generally exist to manage the associated costs of tourism, like cleaning and maintenance. In Venice’s case, the tax was implemented because
The 11 best restaurants in Copenhagen
If you didn’t know already, Copenhagen’s food scene is a very exciting place indeed. You may already have heard of Noma, Copenhagen’s notorious high-end New Nordic restaurant – it will be closing at the end of 2024, making space for a new wave in the city. A newer addition to our list is Alchemist, which has fought its way to the top bracket of the World’s Best, but we’ve also got Danish bakeries, family-run Taiwanese dishes and the classics serving up seasonal fish, meat and veggies. It’s not all expensive, but the blowout meals are there if you fancy it. Whatever you fancy, here are the best restaurants in Copenhagen right now. RECOMMENDED:🍸 The best bars in Copenhagen📍 The best things to do in Copenhagen🏛️ The best museums in Copenhagen💃 The best nightlife spots in Copenhagen🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Copenhagen This guide was last updated by Laura Hall, a writer based in Copenhagen. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
The 24 best things to do in the world in 2024
Forget ‘saving money’ in 2024. You know what your New Year’s resolution should be? Get out more. Do more stuff. See more of the world. Life is short, after all – and 2024 promises a tonne of unmissable festivals, art, food and music. There are openings and re-openings. Brand-new train routes criss-crossing countries and continents. Whacky places to party. And even if the cossie livs does have you tightening the purse strings, there are plenty of free and affordable events on this list, too. So get your booking fingers at the ready: your 2024 bucket list awaits. This is our definitive guide to the coolest new things to do in the world next year. See you out there! RECOMMENDED:😎 The coolest neighbourhoods in the world🌃 The best European city breaks for 2024🖼️ The world’s best museums and galleries
When it comes to deciding where to stay in Copenhagen, one thing’s for sure: in this little city, you’re never too far from anywhere. You can pretty much walk (or cycle) to wherever you’d like while you’re here, but nonetheless, where you choose to stay can change a trip for the better. Our pick of the city’s ten districts are all central locations with a little flavour of something unique, whether that’s canalside views, cracking nightlife, foodie options or museums on your doorstep. Each one full of character, these neighbourhoods make the perfect base for exploring the rest of the city. Here is our full guide to where to stay in Copenhagen. RECOMMENDED:🚲 How to spend a weekend in Copenhagen🛌 The best Airbnbs in Copenhagen📍 The best things to do in Copenhagen🍽️ The best restaurants in Copenhagen Laura Hall is a writer based in Copenhagen. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines.
Mystery travel is having a moment – here’s how to do it, and what to expect
It’s 7am in Copenhagen airport. The departures board lists the destination for my 9.25am flight as ‘unknown Schengen’ while my boarding card, when I get it, lists the destination as ‘fictitious’. I have a suitcase full of probably the wrong clothes, and a few concerns, but I’m still excited for a trip into the unknown. I’ve joined SAS’s inaugural ‘Destination Unknown’ trip, a voyage where the final destination is a closely guarded secret and the 180 passengers boarding the flight have no idea where we’re going. All we’ve been told is it’ll be 20C and we should pack swimwear. ‘In the old days, travel was an adventure,’ said Alexandra Kaoukji, Head of Media Relations at SAS. ‘But these days it has become a commodity. So how do you make it special again?’ SAS decided to offer a mystery trip to their EuroBonus members. Flights were purchased using EuroBonus points, racked up through being a frequent flyer, and included contributions towards biofuel; hotel accommodation was arranged for an extra cost. It instantly proved popular: 6,000 applied for the four-day trip. Even before the trip, SAS considered adding mystery travel to their range of options – after the success of the debut, they’re planning to run the trips regularly. What is mystery travel? Mystery travel is a rising trend in Europe and beyond, where customers – whether as part of a group or as individual travellers – purchase (or win) air tickets and travel packages without knowing where they’re headed. In an event t
11 underrated summer travel ideas in Europe
We all like the idea of summertime in Europe – long, lazy days in the Mediterranean sunshine, whiling away an evening people-watching in local bars – but the reality is often much less romantic, with overtourism, sky-high prices and heatwaves blighting many a Euro Summer fantasy. But it doesn’t have to be that way. To inspire your summer holiday plans this year, we asked writers across Europe to tell us about their favourite alternative summer trip ideas. From Croatia’s quieter island-hopping route to an Estonian spa break, here’s where to head for crowd-free bliss and unsung adventures right across the continent. You’re welcome. RECOMMENDED:🏝️ The best alternative Mediterranean beach breaks🗺️ Europe’s most underrated travel destinations
Cold and miserable? This is how the Finns stay happy in winter
Mini mountains of snow have formed at the corners of the streets in Helsinki, where January temperatures dropped to as low as -19C, and a daytime temperature of -2C is the norm. Cold weather usually has me hibernating under a warm blanket, thick woolly socks and a cup of tea, but not today: I’m in the freezing city to figure out how to keep spirits high when the temperature is low. According to local expert Heidi Johansson, this is something of a specialist subject for Finns, who after all live in the world’s happiest country. As the darkness of the winter afternoon sets in, we trudge off through the snow on a tour of Helsinki’s happiness hotspots. Our mission? Discovering the secret to winter happiness. Happiness tip #1: Eat well The first stop on our happiness tour is Hakaniemi Market Hall, a renovated two-floor former department store that reopened last May. Who doesn’t comfort eat in winter? We browse the independent market stalls selling everything from colourful licorice cables coiled up in jars to pastries named after poets, fresh fruits and vegetables and great slabs of glistening salmon. I try handmade Karelian pastries, sauna-smoked ham, and dried reindeer – all delicious – as we go. On the fish stall, a box of herring is smoked to a golden sheen, while just down the hall, a local cheese stall sells varieties from Helsinki’s cows. There’s a good reason why herring is one of the most popular flavours of the Nordic region: not only have they been historically easy to
The 13 best nightlife spots in Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the prime destination for a trendy, foodie weekend away. The kind of place that makes you want to rent a little bike for the day with a bag full of fresh pastries, and hopefully end up being the subject of someone’s Instagram shot. It’s a beautifully aesthetic, dainty place with great vibes, but don’t be fooled – Copenhagen has a very fun, very late-night side too. That’s right. This city is aesthetically pleasing by day, and wild by night. Dipping a toe into Copenhagen’s nightlife scene will have you dancing to live music in an old-school jazz bar and ordering shots at a three-story nightclub. It’s got everything from niche indie spots to classic mainstream spots, and everything in between (including a community centre with DJs). Whatever you’re into, here are the best nightlife spots in Copenhagen right now. RECOMMENDED:🍸 The best bars in Copenhagen🍽️ The best restaurants in Copenhagen🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Copenhagen🎨 A complete guide to the Nørrebro neighbourhood This guide was last updated by Laura Hall, a writer based in Copenhagen. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
A weekend in Copenhagen: The ultimate itinerary
For design-lovers, fashion fiends and city breakers who like a side order of hygge with their sightseeing, Copenhagen makes a great location for a city break. Discover pavement cafés, art galleries, interior design and much more in this fun-loving city where small moments are celebrated, art and design are revered and work-life balance is (genuinely) prioritised. Denmark’s capital is definitely on the bijou side, which is all the better for exploring by bike, just as the locals do. But spontaneous travellers, beware: one thing I've learned as a long-term resident is that booking ahead is customary here, so take note if you want to eat at a specific restaurant. From natural wine to super clubs, here is how to smash a weekend tour of Copenhagen. RECOMMENDED:🍸 The best bars in Copenhagen🍽️ The best restaurants in Copenhagen📍 The best things to do in Copenhagen🛌 The best Airbnbs in Copenhagen Laura Hall is a writer based in Copenhagen. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines.