Great for Families and Culture Buffs!
If you want to understand Denmark, you need to understand hygge. The concept is difficult to describe, but easy to experience on a slow-paced walk with a local at your side. Once you have it in you, you’ll know why Danes are some of the happiest people in the world! Take a peek into Copenhagen’s local life and find your own happy hygge place.
If you want to include Copenhagen’s best sights with a local at your side after this tour, please consider upgrading to our Total Copenhagen: Highlights & Hygge tour that merge both of the two themes into one.
Price Includes
Price Excludes
We dare you to go to your favorite search engine and look up Danish hygge and happiness. It’s super difficult to describe even though many have tried, but easy to experience on a slow-paced walk with a native Dane! So come out and get a better feel and understanding of Danish culture from a native perspective and discover why the world-famous concept of “hygge” is so important and learn how you can bring some of that unique Copenhagen vibe back home with you directly from those who are in the know.
We’ll begin our Hygge & Happiness tour near the characteristic and super charming yellow houses of Nyboder, a famed historical district beloved by the locals for its calm atmosphere. If you want to get to the heart of hygge, it’s critical you get acquainted with your group and your native guide for the tour, where everyone should feel welcome and free to ask any questions you might have about hygge, happiness or something completely unrelated.
We take our time as we walk through the small streets of Nyboder. You will quickly notice that the tour takes you through some of the oldest parts of Copenhagen, where you’ll experience hidden gems in the form of cobblestone filled streets, timber-framed houses, and green refuges of calm amongst the urban sprawl. Often you will take different unexpected turns that just scream hygge, as you get to experience that old world charm. All of them are great examples of how hyggelig our city can be if you just take the time to wander.
Hygge has to be pleasurable too. So this Copenhagen walking tour is not just about seeing and experiencing, but also tasting! So get ready to get all of your senses tingling as we sample some Danish delights from world-renowned pastries and delicious Danish flødeboller to a cup of liquid joy. It’s just not about eating, but experiencing it together! Before taking your first bite or sip, don’t forget to tune in as your guide tells you everything about these fantastic yummy treats’ significance for Danish hygge culture and how they really play into it for Danes of all ages.
At times, when we’re getting too overwhelmed by the urban sprawl, we’ll ditch it altogether and escape into beautiful green havens or tucked-away alleyways that ooze with history to relax. Here, settle in and hear the spectacular and dramatic stories of how Copenhagen came to be (hint: It includes former kings with delusions of grandeur, mental insanity, and inappropriate love triangles just to name a few of the contributing factors!). All with a stunning backdrop of Instagram-worthy sights as well as miniature and grand castles that provide jaw-dropping views.
Experience how we make it all come alive, as we explain why some people say Denmark is utopian and taken right out of a fairy-tale by showing and telling you how the local culture and our policies contribute to Danes being among the happiest people in the world year after year. Conclude the tour with your group at the cutest café in town with a sit-down with a liquid cup of joy.
Stay as long as you like, or, if you feel like exploring further, your guide would be more than happy to share some of their best recommendations for your stay here in the city.
Searching for Hygge in its hometown Copenhagen
It’s a well-documented fact that the Danish are one of the happiest nations on earth. But what makes this Scandinavian country, that has one of the harshest winters in the world, so happy? Well, there are a lot of reasons why the Danes (and Scandinavian countries in general) seem to have it together. But there is one concept unique to the Danish that gives this country the edge over the others — and that is ‘hygge.’ But what actually is hygge? How do you even pronounce it? Can anyone practice it, or is it exclusively Danish?
All these questions and more are about to be answered as I join the Copenhagen By Mie team on a quest to discover the meaning of hygge. Our meeting place already seems promising, with quaint little saffron and burnt orange houses lining the streets, climbing roses scaling the walls and push bikes resting in amongst the greenery. These houses are so picturesque and sweet, and their simplicity is what makes them so inviting. This, our native guide Mie tells me, is part of hygge. Finding beauty in the simple things allows us to really enjoy what we have in the moment.
Mie goes on to introduce everyone and right from the beginning I feel the togetherness that she creates between the group of what initially started out as strangers. She invites questions and ask our perspective on different perspectives and the sharing between us make us really bond.
Food is another thing commonly linked to hygge living. Cosiness and simplicity in food is super important, especially in the colder months when sharing a meal indoors is a great way to stay warm. So, what better way to tuck into some Copenhagen goodies than with a Danish in the park? Mie trundles us into a quaint bakery full of freshly baked bread and pastries where we pick our Danish of choice, then off we go to the park circling around discussing hygge with a stunning backdrop of Rosenborg Palace to enjoy a bit of the Copenhagen summer as we indulge. By this stage, I’m definitely feeling the hygge!
After a wander around some more beautifully picturesque cobbled streets at virtually ever corner, Mie runs in to pick up a treat she says. Out she comes and she then leads us into a tucked-away alleyway with timberframed houses all over, where she pops up the box and show us the most amazing looking Danish flødeboller. Sitting down, Mie shares how these play into Danish childhood and ask us to share our own childhood traditions, which gave us some great laughs and she conveniently then told us that this is another perfect example of hygge. Taking the time to really listen and making it about everyone sharing nostalgic moments in a comfortable atmosphere without any judgement.
As we exit the tucked-away alleyway, our hygge levels are off the roof and we’re then shocked as we enter a busy street with flashy brand names all over and quickly notice the difference from what we just shared. Mie tells us that this is the main pedestrian street and it’s definitely not hygge, so she quickly lead us into a square tucked-away next to it where she tell us what just happened. Hygge is the absence of anything annoying and for Mie crowds get to her and she don’t find that particularly hyggeligt, so she tell us that the route have been crafted in such a way to avoid nuisances. They build this part in to establish that point, how clever!
As we bond a bit over this new hyggelig insight, Mie head in to meet one of her friends to get a surprise for us. As she exit, she hand everyone in the group a jar of golden nectar and tell us they’re ours to keep. Yay, score! Mie goes on to tell us the art of giving our time to others is hygge, especially when we share a common denominator. The makers of the jar of golden nectar, Mie tells us, is apparently a social initiative that connect people, animals and nature together over a common cause to give the city its fairy-tale goodlooking looks.
As we move further on, we come to face the Christiansborg Palace, where the Royal Reception Rooms and the Danish Parliament sit. Mie takes us around and into maybe the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. Here we sit down and Mie tells us ordinarily politics should be discussed another day if you want to hygge, but we can be mature about it. She then proceed to let us into the in and outs of Danish politics and the associated welfare state. I think we all leave thoroughly convinced that if anyone has it right, it’s the Danes.
She tell us that this is one of the reasons why Danes are ranked as some of the happiest people in the world year after year. But she lets us in on another secret that also help them feel so happy that I had never read about before, something called ‘The Law of Jante’. Mie explains us everything about it and how it affects her own life every single day before she tells us to look around. How neat, she have found the best spot for a photo!
Our final stop is near and dear to my heart. You can take the girl from Melbourne but you cannot stop her immense passion for a great coffee in an intimate, cute café. The Danish make excellent café lattes which remind me of home, and the hygge in their little coffee shops is peak cosiness. Mie ends the tour here, as I sip my coffee, and after a quick hug and some foodie tips to continue the rest of my Copenhagen exploration, I feel much more enlightened about why the Danish are just so darn happy. Hygge all the way!
Please wear suitable footwear for walking, and bring an umbrella or rain jacket in case of rain.
For your tour, you will be in a small group of a maximum of 10 people.
If you have your voucher, your booking is confirmed. We’ll see you at the start point. Get in touch if you have any concerns or require more information via the email address or phone number (business hours only) on your voucher.
Children between the ages of six and 11 inclusively are permitted on this tour at the rate listed above. Please select ‘child’ above when booking. Children below the age of six can join free of charge, as long as you note it in the comment section when you book.
