Christiania is an open, recreational area filled with experiences. However, many of the visitors to the Freetown see only a fraction of Christiania's diversity.

As a group, you can order a guided tour around all the nooks and corners, and learn about the different workshops, businesses, kinds of dwellings and on-going experiments. But as a visitor, you can also explore the life and culture of the Freetown on your own.

Here are some guidelines for your tour around Christiania:
As it appears from the map on the opening pages of your guide, "Christiania City" is a large, nearly square area where almost all the businesses, shops, public houses etc. are located. Outwards from this area, the northern parts stretch between Refshalevej and the moat, where the town gradually turns into woods.

On the other side of the moat lies Dyssen (the Cairn-area) which is a green sparsely built-up area with a few businesses.

One of the fascinating features of Christiania is the combination of urban environment with rural idyll in a small area where the two parts blend softly into one another. Here there exists a gentle combination of nature and dwellings. But the plan envisaged by the government calls for a sharp division of the area into an urban zone and a rural zone dictated, among other things, by a regard for the historic ramparts.

We cannot accept the proposed demarcation line which would divide Christiania into a dense urban area and empty parklands. We want to bring the town into the country, and the country into the town - not mixed up in one big mash, but as alternating areas, lovely, spacious and full of pleasant surprises.

When you enter Christiania by the newly opened main entrance on the corner of Bådsmandsstræde, you will find a green area in the middle of the city. Here you are on the corner of Prærien (the Prairie). Back in 1971, this area was an open and bare drill ground. Over time, it became an area for hash and other drug dealers who set up shop in small booths. In 1989, we decided to create a green area here. First, the main entrance was closed down. It was subsequently reopened in 2003. Concurrently with the closing of the main entrance, the hash dealers were moved behind "the yellow line" at the start of Pusher Street, and the garden, the playground, the skateboard ramp, the playing field and the market place, Carl Madsens Plads (Carl Madsen square) were established.

In the area by the entrance from Prinsessegade, our common joiner's workshop, Optimisten (the Optimist), is located, and along Prinsessegade lies Loppebygningen (Flea-building), named after the original flea market, which today houses the music venue Loppen (the Flea), the restaurant Spiseloppen, the gallery Gallopperiet (all through the door in the middle of the long side), CVK (the Veteran Automobile Club), and down by the entrance, the Infocafé and the Christiania Post Office. Upstairs, some small hobby workshops and the Youth Club are located.

The large building to the south of Prærien, Fredens Ark (the Ark of Peace) is the largest half-timbered house in Northern Europe, and used to be the headquarters of the Bådsmandsstræde Barracks. Apart from dwellings, the building houses the Christiania consultancy Herfra og Videre (Onwards and Upwards), the printing works Sativa Print and the community centre Rockmaskinen (the Rockmachine). On the other side of the Ark lies Fredens Eng (the Meadow of Peace) which is used for football matches and larger arrangements.

If you cross Prærien from the entrance, you follow a green path along the playground and the back of the Optimist and the Ramp. When you pass Miljøstationen (the Environment Station), you come to Maskinhallen (Machinehall -Renovation team) which was rescued from an old engineering works in another part of Copenhagen. It was taken down with every piece numbered, and rebuilt here as a base for the garbage team and garage for Christiania's machine park.

A bit further down, past the residential area Psyak, you come to the start of Pusher Street, where you will find the Opera which houses a musical venue/community centre and the information office Nyt Forum (New Forum), both on the 1st floor, and the café Oasen (Oasis) and a wood workshop on the ground floor. At the end of the building, Børneteateret (the Children's Theatre) and the Jazz Club share the premises. Straight across from here, you find Yak Celica selling clothes and wood works from the East, Diva with multiethnic handicrafts and Marzbar, the local Internet café.