Coffee Snobbery & The Beautiful North Coast of Sjælland

We were recently lucky enough to stay at a friends cosy summerhouse in a gorgeous area of North Sjælland, about 50 minutes north of Copenhagen. I would never have associated crystal clear water, white sandy beaches and summerhouses of all shapes and sizes with this part of Scandinavia, when I moved here 5 years ago. Yet Denmark has a remarkably stunning coastline, and I wanted to write about it as I don’t think many people know this! I almost feel like standing on the top of my roof with my viking hat on (not only do I have convicts as my ancestors but Vikings too!), waving a Danish flag and shouting COME TO DENMARK!

My giant boots & me taking some deep breaths by the glorious water in Rågeleje

It is easy to find a summerhouse through airbnb or just google ‘summerhouse rental in Denmark’. There are SO many options.

Not only do I recommend you coming to this gorgeous area, but I recommend visiting two coffee shops that I personally LOVE. The first is in a cosy town called Hornbæk and is called Albi’s Kaffebar & second-hand. It is a really groovy little place, where you sit in retro style chairs and pretty much everything on the walls is for sale. The owners live upstairs and are super warm, friendly people. The coffee is great. The hot chocolate is dreamy. The atmosphere is chilled. Big thumbs up from us.

The second place is a recent find and I am excited about it for many reasons, but mainly because I am a self-confessed coffee snob. The Little Cafe is located in another sweet little village called Tisvildeleje (good luck pronouncing that), minutes walk from the beach.  I used to hate the taste of coffee. I always adored the smell. But over the years, my desire to drink the stuff has sky rocketed at the same time as my understanding of HOW good coffee can taste. The taste is dependent on so many things. The way the coffee beans are roasted. The type of milk. The way the  milk is foamed and how micro bubbles are created. The latter I would never have considered! But now when I see milk foam that looks like bath bubbles, I am en route to the next coffee shop before the barista can even hand me the cup.

The owner of The Little Cafe is not only a very friendly woman, but she really knows her coffee! HURRAH! She patiently created a cappuccino that that not only suited my ‘strength’ buds, but tasted like creamy velvet. This place does lunch and dinner. The menu is fresh, inventive, and offers combinations of things you wouldn’t even dream of. I had a delicious salad made with giant crispy cos lettuce leaves, goats cheese with ash (creamy & fluffy & WOW), pomegranate (such a treat for a pomegranate lover who is too lazy to seed one herself) and a homemade honey & olive oil vinaigrette. D-LISH.

In case you are in doubt, this is the area I am talking about (the whole of the northern coastline, also from Copenhagen and north up the coast is lovely too):

Next time you are in Denmark and have at least day or two extra, I really recommend taking a train up the coast or hiring a car, and exploring this gorgeous area.If you need any specific recommendations, shoot me a message. I’d be glad to help 🙂