Copenhagen is smaller, more compact and with less people than London. But none of those things matter when it comes to Christmas shopping, because however small the place, or however convenient the layout, the hoards will descend and make shopping a misery.

But there’s one thing that makes me feel very glad to be buying my presents here rather than London this year, and that’s the remarkable gift-wrapping service that shops offer customers.

The picture above is just a selection of what we’ve had wrapped lately, all for free and all in a professional manner. Sure, sometimes there’s a queue, but that’s a small price to pay for not having to do it myself (and I am a TERRIBLE wrapper). And because it’s a ubiquitous service, there’s no feeling of ‘copping out’ by not doing it yourself, because that’s what most people have done.

It’s a significant investment from the shops – Magasin, the self-proclaimed best department store in Scandinavia, has several wrapping stations, with one pictured above. It had three girls (and they do seem to always be girls, and based on my ability to wrap it’s probably a good thing the men are excluded) working full time, with a never-shortening queue of about 12 people waiting patiently to have their purchases given the giftwrap treatment (ribbons, to/from tags and a choice of paper all included). Those human wrapping machines were a sight to behold. God bless them and their wrapping abilities – and the people I’ve bought presents for should also be grateful for that too!