4th to 20th of May, 2018
Being someone who binges over all things Denmark, I thought I'd share little knowledge I've garnered with few trips to Denmark to those who may have been planning on making the trip.
My knowledge isn't perfect, but should you have anything to add I'll gladly add it up here.
Denmark
Basics
Denmark can be (and usually is) an expensive country. We're talking the levels of Sweden and Finland. I can't make comparison to Norway as I've not been there.
Get in and around
Flying to Copenhagen should be fairly cheap from nearly anywhere, as it's a major hub for most of directions around the world. Kastrup (Copenhagen airport) is right next to the city, metro takes 10 to 15 minutes to central Copenhagen. For flights, simply try your choice of flight search engine. I personally use Momondo to find my flights and usually book directly from the flight operator after finding the best price. Kiwi also seems a viable option.
Should you want to go to Herning as well, You can take train from Copenhagen - it'll set you back about 3 hours and costs around 400 Danish Kroner (DKK) or ~55 euros if you book it on the day of departure. Do note, that in most (if not all?) long distance Danish trains, they sell seat ticket separately - this means that if you do not have a seat ticket booked, you may have to give your seat up to someone who has booked that seat. It costs about 4 euros to make a seat reservation. For train schedules etc. head over to Rejseplanen.
Alternatively, you can check would it be more optimal for you to fly to Billund Airport and take a train that takes ~45 minutes to Herning. As a minor detail, Legoland is right up to Billund airport, should you be looking for some non-hockey activities to do!
In Copenhagen, public transportation is solid and generally runs actively. Do, however, avoid pickpocketers! Based on expat chatter I hear, they seem to have become more common lately. But mind your surroundings and pay attention in public transportation and you should be fine. Herning is a small town, so generally everything is within walking distance. The arena is about 3.5km away from Herning Station, so you can stroll through the city or then snatch a cab, which shouldn't cost you too much. I'm not sure about the public transportation over there, but I have no doubt they will have buses running then to and from arena if there isn't anything yet.
Accommodation
Expect to pay a lot for accommodation, especially if you want medium/high end hotel room in Copenhagen. You'll be in luck to find a decent hotel room setting you back less than 100 euros a night. There is a lot of Airbnb's, though, and you can find some good deals over there sometimes. I'm not sure what the situation for Herning is having only been there once and staying over at friends place, but Copenhagen has something for everyone.
Airbnb non-referral / referral (get 35€ off your first booking, I get 20€ travel credit after it's completed)
For hotels and the likes, I'd recommend either one of these two;
hotels.com or booking.com (referral, get 10€ off, I get 10€ off) , both have felt solid to me. You can also give a trivago a go, but I can't give real endorsement to them as I've never directly booked through them.
Misc
Fortunately, Denmark is a lot more relaxed when it comes to things like alcohol and nightlife in general compared to rest of the Nordics. Nothing like wandering into a corner shop at 2 am to buy a beer while you're on your way to another bar. There's also a lot of offers; you could get 10 shots for 100 Danish Kroner (DKK) for about 13.5 euros, as well as cheap beers at times, but generally a (small) glass bottle of Tuborg seems to be around 4.5 euros. Pints are around 6-7 euros I seem to recall. A BigMac would set you back around 4.5 euros. Not the menu - the burger. You can go here for Numbeo's breakdown of what costs what in Denmark.
Danes generally seem more comfortable socializing with strangers than a Swede or a Finn would generally be. I seem to make a lot of random contacts on my journeys through Denmark. While Danes themselves seem to think they're reserved, it doesn't feel like it compares to Swedes or Finns in my books.
Just like rest of the Nordics, walking to get around places is rather common unless you're going further parts of the town. Copenhagen has very good light traffic and is definitely biking capital of the Nordics. Always check that you don't accidentally run under a bike. A lot of places offer bike rental, but I've not gone for that personally as I've been told that it makes locals bit frustrated to have travelers mixing up into the otherwise smooth traffic. But then, I've never had the real need for it either.
Tickets
First ones will be available on May 6th. No packages, invidual game prices or such have been made official just yet, however an article from 2014 which announced Denmark winning the bid, stated that "The price range of tickets will be DKK 144 to 1,152 (€19-155). " Check out IIHF's website for the most recent info.
Arenas
Royal Arena (Copenhagen)
Capacity: 12,500
Group
TBA, I do expect Denmark to play at Copenhagen however.
Royal Arena is brand spanking new, only having had it's first event back in February of 2017, with Metallica playing. As an interesting design choice, it does look like one end of the arena does not have seating at all - at least one that would be usable for such game like icehockey. If someone who knows more can shed the light on this, that would be great. I've been trying to google pictures and the likes but everything I find, that one end is a wall. Maybe it'll be something like this?
Jyske Bank Boxen (Herning)
Capacity: 11,000
Group
TBA
Boxen sees, considering how "middle of nowhere" it is, major amount of superstars, all from Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, P!nk, Katy Perry, Adele and Madonna to Rammstein, Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iron Maiden and One Direction. It opened back in 2010. I have not found a picture with an icerink over there, but above you can see how it looks with handball games, giving you some idea how the venue is.
-------------------
That's it, for now, I'll edit things up as more info comes along etc. and feel more than free to shoot up some questions.
Hopefully we'll see terrific games in Denmark - which might just be likely, considering NHL refused the Olympic Games.
