I visited Copenhagen a few months ago, and my expectations were high. When I went to Chattanooga in September, I didn’t expect much.

Backwards. Absolutely wrong. Denmark was fine but Chattanooga was spectacular. Why have I been passing by with never a thought to linger?

Rock City is all there is to see in Chattanooga — or so I thought for the 35 years I’ve lived in Georgia, and I didn’t want to see it. Inever stopped at Lookout Mountain either to see the seven promised states.

Wrong about that too; Rock City is actually a pleasant, two-hour garden stroll along nice smooth paths — in, under, over and around interesting rock formations and if you’re as lucky as I, you get to meet President and CEO Bill Chapin along the way.

He’s passionate about this peaceful rocky place with more than 400 native plant species, which his family has owned since 1922, and about preserving the lands along the Georgia-Tennessee border.

By winter 2007 expect a new Lookout Mountain trail system open 24/7 on 4,000 acres connecting bluffs and trails 10 miles to Cloudland Canyon State Park near Chickamauga, thanks to the Lula Lake Land Trust with which Chapin volunteers.

In the meantime, Chattanooga’s a friendly, welcoming, walking place already. I shaped my visit around interesting pedestrian choices.

A glass bridge joins the Hunter Museum of American Art and Tennessee Aquarium, and intersects with Walnut Street Bridge.

Walnut — the world’s-longest wooden pedestrian bridge — spans the Tennessee River and I ambled back and forth from major attractions and eateries on Riverwalk to the NorthShore to eat ice cream, visit the art galleries and ride the carousel with hand-carved wooden animals as splendid as the ones from my childhood. Restaurants and coffee houses are abundant here too.

Paved paths track the river with 12 miles of scenery to bike, hike, push the baby stroller or wheelchair. The goal is to pave 22 miles.

Paths in the woods range from the easy-going Rainbow Lake hike to strenuous steep treks. This indoor-outdoor city boasts miles of trails.

When I spent a week in Montana last year, while my husband and sons fished, I hiked … and envied the local folks who could leave their home or office in the city to be on the trail in five minutes. You can do that in Chattanooga too. Utterly amazing.

Spectacular views of the Tennessee River Valley pop up throughout the day, every day. I saw a thunderstorm gathering over the river, and a rainbow shining.

Rather not be on your feet so much?

Take the free electric shuttle bus until 7:30 p.m. every day with downtown stops along Broad Street from the fabled Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel and restaurants to the Tennessee River.

I always appreciate a destination that lets me park the car and leave it.

Floating works well in Chattanooga too. I spent a serene Saturday morning on the water in the Southern Belle riverboat; the brand new Pier 2 wharfboat is another choice to view city highlights from the river. Try floating this fun city almost in the water with a kayak or canoe.

Sunset, full moon and overnight kayaking are available, as well as two-hour or all-day jaunts in North Chickamauga Creek.

Commentary on the Southern Belle charmed me, with low key history lessons about the city’s settling, and plenty of wildlife sightings as we floated alongside downtown. Growing up in the shadow of Manhattan, I thought pigeons were the only city birds, not great blue heron, osprey and migrating warblers.

Float in the air if you prefer because the Chattanooga hang gliding school has trained more pilots than any other in America. Start on the five feet beginner hill or float tandem with an instructor at your side at 2,000 feet. Not sure why — but I chickened out and only recommended this to my grown sons.

Check out Chattanooga’s spaces. They’re unusual. In the Tennessee Aquarium’s Seahorse Gallery in the Ocean Journey building, you can pop up inside a tank full of chocolate sea stars, clown anemone fish, yellow tangs and more, and it’s not just the little kids who do so.

Of course, squatting low enough to crawl into the opening to this tunnel required all the hamstring stretches I’ve been doing in yoga classes.

One of the two buildings at this aquarium tells the distinctive story of river life, emphasizing freshwater fish like those in the river, which distinguishes this city from many others.

Deep inside Ruby Falls I walked a half mile to the underground waterfall, dropping water from 145 feet overhead, and even walked behind it. To and from I sometimes stood straight and tall, scrunched up to protect my head from low rock ceilings or turned sideways to squeeze through some narrow passages. Glad I wasn’t slithering on my belly in the dark like Leo Lambert had to for 600 feet when he discovered this charming natural place in 1928; he named his discovery for his wife Ruby.

Space was all around me when I wobbled along the 200-foot suspension bridge in Rock City, just a short turn from the Lover’s Leap precipice where you see seven states, and space seems straight down in front — thanks to the 72 percent grade — when I rode the Incline Railway. Local people use this mile-long train to get up and down Lookout Mountain without using the winding road.

Folks with fear of heights ought to only take the train up because that view going down is really steep. Plus, the drive on the mountain road winds past pretty houses I wished I could visit on a homes tour.

Space in the Hunter Museum of American Art took me by surprise too because it changes so often. Perched on a 90-foot bluff on the edge of the Tennessee River, this museum believes in windows and a wall of glass because views of the Tennessee River and the mountains of the Cumberland Plateau are American art too.

The all-American collection of painting, sculpture and glass is housed in three distinctly different spaces: a 1904 Edwardian mansion, a 1975 “modern” addition and the April 2005 expansion and outdoor sculpture plaza.

Local people are lucky to live here, I think. In fact everybody I met said happy things about their lifestyle. That makes the life of a tourist pleasant too. I’m going back.

I want to hide out in a tiny corner of Chattanooga next visit. The Chattanooga Choo Choo in downtown’s southern tier was my base hotel for this visit and that worked fine; I chose a routine hotel room but I could have booked the night in a Pullman car.

Next trip it’s an historic inn for me in the Bluff View Art District. There are 16 rooms in three restored homes to choose from, a grassy sculpture garden overlooking the Tennessee River, a bocce court shaded by a big magnolia and the River Gallery with handsome regional art and fine craft including sculpture by Teena Watson and Don Haugen, creators of “Joy” in front of the Tifton-Tift County Public Library and the donors of sculpture many times to the Love Affair Arts Council annual fundraiser.

Enjoy all those Bluff View Art District experiences only between meals and snacks. My sea bass at the Back Inn Café was flown in same day from Hawaii, and my pastry and coffee from Rembrandt’s lived up to their aroma. I didn’t stay in this district long enough to savor pasta at Tony’s or sweets in the Chocolate Kitchen, but I watched the chef in action because the kitchen window faces the sidewalk, where a Don Haugen sculpture also invites you to stop.

Wish we had one on our sidewalks.

I roamed about in a magical, mystical Chattanooga place, and you can too but don’t tell them I sent you. It’s better kept a secret.

Those who know call it Reflection Riding; you find these 300 acres next door to the Chattanooga Nature Center and you should pay them $6 for the privilege of driving through. Native azaleas bloom here – an astonishing 27 varieties, and Tai Chi practitioner Ralph Brown, president of the Board of Directors, says there are more species of trees here than in the Smoky Mountains.

There’s more peace and tranquility too. Savor the moment at Reflection Riding. Experience creeks, wetlands, meadows, wildflower fields, uplands and mountains on a three-mile driving loop or up close on 12 miles of trails

I’m game when I return to Chattanooga to walk from downtown to Reflection Riding and up to the top of Lookout Mountain. This city is connected.

Anything quirky?

Since I decided Rock City wasn’t weird, but kind of wonderful, I wondered what might be quirky about Chattanooga. How about these?

—International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum. For short they actually call themselves the ITRHFM.

—World’s largest drive-in movie theater. This is just over the line in Georgia with a 100 by 50 foot screen and if you don’t like the movie, step over to the Frisbee and volleyball fields.

—15,000 antique pitchers and an equally astonishing number of 18th, 19th and early 20th century glass, ceramics and furniture collected by the eccentric Anna Safley Houston on view today in a renovated Victorian home named for her.

Guess what? All these have merit too.