Copenhagen City Guide
Community-builder, experiential creative director & facilitator, Tina Ateljevic shares with us her insider tips for Copenhagen, including her favorite wellness studios, wholesome cafes, saunas and unique spaces from people who have become friends.
Copenhagen is a Scandinavian wellness paradise. It’s beautiful, pure and down-to-earth at the same time. When I moved here from Berlin three years ago, my lifestyle became so much more wholesome. This is a city where your nervous system can just relax. Work-life balance is a real concept here that people (and institutions) live into and I feel blessed to have experienced it too. With a society based on trust and the small size of the city, the community feeling is also very real. My former role as Head of Membership and Communications at Soho House Copenhagen was demanding but this city is so soft that it would always be there to give me a big hug. Iconically, I moved here on Valentine’s Day and truly did fall in love with the place. As I move away, I am happy to share with you some of my favorite places and people so that you can enjoy them too.
My favorite wellness studios
PWR 8. I am not going to lie, I go to PWR 8 almost every day. Not because I’m a reformer obsessed (which I have become now) but because this place is movement heaven for me. They have two locations and I go to the Osterbro one, which is situated right by the water. It was founded by the loveliest couple Tor and Jan who left the design world to create this multi-disciplinary studio offering Pilates, yoga and personal/group gym training. Every detail is meticulously curated from the interior and classes to the store, and the community. I had a long chat with Jan one day who told me that the 8 is inspired by the fluid unity between the spiritual and material realms that they are bridging through this place - and I can really feel it.
Kailo Yoga is an international yoga studio located in the heart of Copenhagen. The atmosphere is warm, unpretentious and beautiful. I am a soundbath and yin yoga woman myself so I like to bliss out in their cosy low-lit evening sessions for full relaxation and release.
Ara’kai: Beauty, Practice and Pantry. Ara’kai is a super chic wellbeing concept founded by serial entrepreneur Heydi Vásquez. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Heydi left the fashion industry around five years ago to start her own holistic wellness destination. With the vision of creating one space that covers natural beauty treatments, skincare, movement and now even yummy nutrition - Ara’kai has become a hyper unique and aesthetically-on-point refuge right in the center of Copenhagen.
Wholesome cafes
As you all know, Copenhagen is known for its high quality food scene. When it comes to eating and drinking, Danes are very good at wholeness, seasonality, sustainability, organicness, simplicity, beauty, and localism. That’s why there is a general feeling of nourishment and wellbeing in so many cafes and restaurants without being necessarily branded as such. It’s difficult to pick a few, but here are some of my favorites:
Amator photos by Paolo Galgani Interior design by wiercinski-studio.
Amator. Founded in 2025 by ex-Atelier September cook Mati Pichci, this place is a true Copenhagen pearl. My friend Mati is not only an excellent host but also a meticulous chef and aesthetician. Expect collective seating, music on vinyl, and the sexiest omelet you have ever tasted - all ingredients sourced organically and as locally as possible.
Lille Bakery is a beautiful bakery and grocery situated on Reffen. Despite its popularity, Lille has managed to maintain true to its values of traditional breadmaking and farm-to-table ingredients. Expect queues because the service is slow in the best way possible. I love coming here for brunch in the summer after a dip in front of the nearby La Banchina.
The Cafe at Louisiana Contemporary Museum. I am cheating here because Louisiana is not in Copenhagen but I had to include this gem of a place less than an hour by train from Copenhagen. Sitting somewhere between casual/cool museum vibes and wholesome dining - the Louisiana cafe is just so perfect. I recommend both lunch and dinner after a wander around this seaside mid-century museum and sculpture garden.
Friends and communities
Top left, top right & bottom right photos from A Matcha Space. Bottom left photo from A Space to Breathe.
1. Prudence Davis is a woman that oozes positivity and calm - while simultaneously raising twin babies and running two businesses. A Place to Breathe is a studio dedicated to bespoke one-to-one Reformer Pilates and wellbeing sessions. I always leave her studio feeling like I’m floating and grounded at the same time. The second business is her newly-opened cafe A Matcha Space serving up 20FOUR - her own ceremonial-grade brand of matcha.
2. Emilie Lassen is a therapeutic food and integrated nutritionist as well as a chef at Arakai Pantry. Although the core of her work is rooted in food, she is also a seasoned somatic coach which I absolutely love. Her presence is so gentle and loving - it feels therapeutic just to be in her company. Find out more about her beautiful individual and group work here.
3. Helen Erichsen is a talented wellness entrepreneur from Germany. Founded in 2023, Rave Yoga is her pop-up social wellness experience brand. The platform runs sessions from yoga and breathwork to running clubs, sound baths, and retreats all over Copenhagen and beyond. Find an event online, join her community, and I’m sure you will meet some inspiring like-minded Copenhageners.
Saunas
Just like the rest of Scandinavia, Copenhagen has a strong sauna culture. For the Danes, saunas are a social place, a way to survive the long and dark winters, as well as a health practice. While there are several very affordable public saunas that have years worth of waiting lists, since I have moved here some nice private sauna clubs have also opened that are accessible to newcomers too. They all offer ‘saunagus’ sessions, which is a Nordic aromatherapy ritual similar to an ‘Saunaaufguss’ in Germany. Make sure to bring your swimsuit as most places are not into the naked thing.
1. Glaecier is a unique floating sauna and swim club located at Reffen, which is a 15 minute bike/boat/car drive from central Copenhagen. The large sauna has a huge window that looks out at the harbour giving a view that is unmatched. They also have a nice wooden deck with a pool for ice bathing in the winter or having a refreshing dip and sunbath in the summer.
2. Sauna House is a newer sauna club in the contemporary neighbourhood of Nordhavn. It is beautifully designed with nice chill nooks. There are three saunas to choose from with two ice baths outside. They host regular ‘saunaguses’, which are really high quality.
About Tina Ateljevic
Tina is an experiential creative director, facilitator, and community builder based in Copenhagen. With the curiosity of a cat that’s lived many lives, her professional wellness journey began at 24 when she founded a wellbeing space and organic restaurant in Dalmatia. She later moved into the creative industry, working at a Berlin-based agency before building the community at Soho House Copenhagen. Driven by an ongoing exploration of the mystery of life, Tina spent several years traveling across India, studying yoga, breathwork, and meditation. These experiences eventually led her to Somatic Psychotherapy; a transformative practice that reshaped her life. Tina is now training to become a Somatic Psychotherapist, with the intention of sharing this profound practice with others.
