The Complete Guide to: Copenhagen Travel
Once a fishing colony until the 12th century, the so-hip-it-hurts city of Copenhagen exudes cool. With stunning architecture, canals, castles, and cobbled streets, it’s no wonder this stylish city is on every traveller’s bucket list. We asked our local Copenhagen tour guides for everything you need to know about visiting Copenhagen, from getting to and from the airport, to the best Copenhagen-themed shows, to local spots you should check out.
Getting to and from CPH
Public transit is available from Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport (CPH) to Copenhagen. The metro rapid transit system takes you into the centre of the city and is located above terminal 3. Cost is DKK 36 each way (approximately USD 5). There is a DSB ticket office and ticket machines in the Copenhagen Airport arrival hall.
The train is another option and the train station is located by terminal 3. The trains run every 10 minutes during the day and one to three times an hour at night. It takes less than 15 minutes to get from CPH to Copenhagen Central Station, close to Vesterbro, and only 2 stops more to reach Nørreport Station that for some hotels are more convenient.
Metered taxis are another option for getting to and from CPH and will take you about 20 minutes to get downtown. The cost ranges between DKK 200-300 (USD 29-44), depending on the time of day and your destination. Taxis usually wait outside terminals 1 and 3 and most will accept international credit cards.
Getting around Copenhagen
Public transit: Buses are available in Copenhagen and cost DKK 24 (USD 3.50) for one trip, DKK 80 (USD 11.50) for a 24-hour ticket, or DKK 200 (USD 28.50) for a 72-hour ticket. If you have coins available, you can purchase a ticket on the bus. Otherwise, purchase your ticket in advance at the machines available at the train and metro stations. Buses and the S-train are available from early morning until late in the evening. The metro runs 24 hours a day.
You could also buy the Copenhagen Card, where you can use the public transportation completely free of charge besides lots more. The Copenhagen Card gives you access to loads of attractions around Copenhagen, as well as give you various discounts at tour providers like us. With a Copenhagen Card, you can actually also get a 15 % discount on all our tours. Please contact us if you can’t locate the promotion code, we would be glad to assist.
Taxi: Metered taxis offer another option for getting around Copenhagen and a journey will cost between DKK 100 and 150 (USD 14–21.50), depending on where you are going. In most instances you’ll also be able to pay with an international credit card.
Instead of calling for taxis though, we recommend downloading the app Taxa 4×35 where you can book you cab simple and efficient. In the app, you will have the choice of going for the metered option or a pre-arranged price. Our recommendation is to go for the pre-arranged price in rush-hour periods, as you pay for sitting in a queue and they are pretty common from 7am to 9am and again from 4pm to 6pm.
Walking: This is a safe and great way to get around Copenhagen and experience more of the city. You have to understanding Copenhagen actually is a small city and most places of interests are located in walking distance of each other, so this is a great way to move around in the city.
Bike: Another option for seeing Copenhagen is to rent a bike from your hotel or one of the many bike rental places located around in the city.
Storing Your Luggage in Copenhagen
Copenhagen offer a wide array of luggage storage services, so you don’t have to carry your baggage with you while you wait for check-in or your ride home again at an affordable price. You can even find services that transport your bags for you.
Luggage Hero: With LuggageHero you find a place near your location to store your luggage and book it on their online app. It costs DKK7 or USD 1.20 per hour and they then charge a starting fee of DKK15 or USD 2.40 per bag.
Radical Storage: With Radical Storage you can similarly to LuggageHero find a place near your location to store your luggage and book it on their online app. The main difference between the two services is that you don’t pay by the hour with this service, you pay a fixed price of DKK40 or USD 6 per bag.
Segway Tours Copenhagen: If you would rather just get rid of your luggage and bags without having to book online, you have the option of visiting Segway Tours Copenhagen at Nikolaj Plads 34 in the inner heart of the city. They’re open every day, all year from 8.30am to 5.30pm and they have over 400 sq/m available. They’re part of the Bagbnb network, so they also charge a fixed price of DKK40 or USD 6 per bag.
Things to do in Copenhagen
Experience Danish football culture and check out a FC Copenhagen home match at Parken Stadion. It’ll cost you between DKK 115 and 165 (USD 16–23.50) for a league ticket and tickets are available at the stadium, but listening to the fans sing is free.
Visit the hippy area of Freetown Christiania, an autonomous commune on the eastern side of Christianshavn. Established by hippies in the early ’70s, explore the car-free neighbourhood with its whimsical houses, beer gardens, art galleries, craft shops, and music venues. There are also guided tours run by locals.
Whether you love jazz, rap, or are a fan of classical music, Copenhagen has lots of festivals during the summer in the middle of the city. Some of the festivals include the Copenhagen Opera Festival, which takes place for a week over the summer, CPH Distortion, a celebration of Copenhagen nightlife, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, which has year-round events.
Copenhagen on screen
Get in the mood for your visit and explore Copenhagen’s dark, tangled streets in the gritty Danish drama The Killing. Also worth watching is the television series Borgen, named after the house of Danish parliament, Christiansborg Palace, and the series The Bridge, which tells of a dead body found on the Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden.
The Danish Girl is about the world’s first transgender operation of changing a man to a woman. A Royal Affair takes place in the 1770s and is about the crazy King Christian the 7th and the affair between the royal physician Johann Struensee and the queen.
Copenhagen on record
Listen to Danish duo Laid Dack, best known for their songs Sunshine Reggae and White Horse. Laid Back’s easygoing style of music is a perfect reflection of the Copenhagen lifestyle. Tom Waits’ Waltzing Matilda might seem like an odd choice, but Waits wrote this song after spending time in Copenhagen and meeting and falling in love with a Danish woman.
Lucas Graham is big right now and is a true Copenhagener, havng grown up in Christiania, the free city in Copenhagen, and has the real spirit of that district.
Copenhagen in books
The Little Book of Hygge is a must-read. Hygge is an ingrained part of Denmark and lately the world has become interested in it, too. It’s all about how Danes seek out a warm atmosphere, where they are relaxed and with friends. Many people say that hygge is the reason why Danes are the happiest people in the world. Meik Wiking ends up with a “nice” recipe for obtaining hygge in your home, and even though a Dane would argue that your home is not more hyggelig with that DKR 5,000 PH lamp, the book provides a good starting point for someone who wants to start feeling a little better, all the time.
The Year of Living Danishly (it doesn’t take place in Copenhagen, but is really good coverage of Denmark in general) is about a British journalist who moved to Denmark for a year and made it her purpose to understand why Danes are the happiest people in the world. She talks to happiness professors and asks all she meets how happy they are on a scale from 1 to 10. Like in The Little Book of Hygge, she also ends up with a recipe to being happy (which you of course should take lightly). She makes some fun observations in her research and end up with a book of fun stories and surprising facts that would be interesting to Danes, people who have visited Denmark, or even anyone who has just thought about visiting.
Get in touch with us
Looking for more information? Contact us in Copenhagen on telephone +45 208 252 87. You can also follow us on Instagram, send us a tweet, or join our Facebook page to stay up-to-date.