What to Do in Copenhagen: 3 Days of Design, Shopping, and Hygge
Copenhagen is a global mecca of design and architecture, a city that is effortlessly cool and impressively forward-thinking. To best experience its culture, skip the checklist of the top things to do in Copenhagen and choose to travel slowly, savoring its sights and flavors with intention.
As the capital city of Denmark, Copenhagen is a top-tier European destination for any type of traveler. But what makes Copenhagen stand out is not its rich history, epic castles, and spiraling cathedrals – though of course, it does have these – but rather its cultural identity. Copenhagen is a city that prides itself on its design, sustainability, and forward-thinking. Here, you can experience more than just a walk through the past – you can admire the Danes’ clear view of the future. A future where we walk and bike instead of drive, where we value art, creativity, and the beauty of nature, and where we cherish cozy time spent with friends and family over coffee or amazing food – the famous Danish concept of hygge. In our three day itinerary, we’ll share what to do in Copenhagen to move beyond the tourist checklist and experience the heart of Copenhagen’s culture.
For those in search of some of the more traditional things to do in Copenhagen, don’t worry. We’ve included some of the top sites in the city in our itinerary, as well as a few more in our Honorable Mentions below. Any vacation should be driven by personal preferences, so feel free to use these to adjust the schedule to accommodate your interests. Look out for bolded items as the can’t miss priorities!
Visiting nearby Stockholm on your vacation? Check out our complete city guide in our post The Top Things to Do in Stockholm in Autumn: A 3 Day Itinerary, along with our lists of the top bars and can’t-miss restaurants!
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Activities At A Glance
(Click each Day to jump down for more information)
Three Days in Copenhagen
*Day 1:
- Take a walking or bicycle tour of the city
- Grab some lunch at The Union Kitchen
- Enjoy a boat tour of the canals
- Stroll through Nyhavn and along the Havnegade Promenaden
- Savor a meal at Sanchez
- Play some games at Bastard Café
- Have breakfast at Ø12 Coffee & Eatery
- Stroll down Strøget and stop by Notre Dame
- Head to Nørrebro and shop at local artisan stores on Jægersborggade
- Enjoy some greenspace at Assistens Cemetery
- Eat the best ramen of your life at Ramen to BÃiru
- Soak your tired legs at Aire Ancient Baths
- Self-tour the art and architecture in City Hall
- Visit Christiansborg Palace and check out the city views from its free tower
- Explore the food scene at Torvehallerne
- Let out your inner child at Tivoli Gardens
Where To Stay in Copenhagen?
For first-time visitors to Copenhagen or those short on time, the best neighborhoods to stay in are Indre By and Vesterbro. Indre By is the city center, which will put you in arm’s reach of all the city’s top attractions, while the adjacent Vesterbro neighborhood is still accessible but has better access to trendy nightlife and is a bit more affordable. When my friend Hillary and I visited, we stayed at the Grand Joanne Hotel, a stunning boutique hotel that is ideally located at the intersection of these two neighborhoods. In fact, it might be one of the best-located hotels in the city, within a few minutes walk of both Copenhagen’s central train station and Tivoli Gardens. On top of its prime placement, it’s highly Instagrammable, has plush cozy beds, and an excellent onsite restaurant. You really can’t go wrong with this one – book your stay here!
If the Grand Joanne is sold out, there are several other great hotels nearby, like the Andersen Boutique Hotel, with a more quirky modern aesthetic, or the Radisson Royal Hotel, with a truly chic interior. Or, if you prefer to stay closer to the city center, check out the luxe Boutique Hotel Herman K, just a 3 minute walk to the nearest metro station and 6 minutes to Nyhavn, or get views of Nyhavn from your bedroom window at 71 Nyhavn hotel. But our favorite hotel in this neighborhood is the absolutely-gorgeous mid-century modern gem 25 Hours, featuring a sun terrace, sauna, and epic art installation of a curling book tower. Be advised that staying in Indre By will come with a higher price tag, but if you’ve got the funds to spare, the location pays off with added convenience.
How To Get To Copenhagen?
Travel to Copenhagen is possible via train or plane. If you’re able to reach the city by train, we highly encourage this approach. On top of the fact that train travel is more sustainable than air travel, it’s also just loads easier, with no early arrivals or security hassles. However, if you do need to fly in, the Copenhagen Airport is thankfully only about 4 miles (6 km) from the city center and all the things to do in Copenhagen.
Once you arrive, we recommend taking the metro (line 2) to the city center. The metro is located in Terminal 3 of the airport and will take you to Kongens Nytorv station in the heart of downtown in just 15 minutes. If Indre By is your final destination, you can get off here, or if you’re heading to Vesterbro, transfer to line 3 and ride another five minutes. Whether you’re traveling to Indre By or Vesterbro, you’ll need to purchase a 3-zone ticket for 30 DKK (~$5). If you prefer to take a taxi, Uber, or Bolt, you can, but be aware that they will be much more expensive (typically 250-350 DKK or ~39-$55) and will take about 10-20 minutes longer.
Pro tip: When traveling by metro in Copenhagen, we recommend only buying single-use tickets. A metro card costs 80 DKK (~$12) and requires a minimum balance of 70 DKK (~$11) at all times to travel, meaning you’re guaranteed to leave the city with unspent funds.
Be Prepared - Top Travel Tips
Before we get into the itinerary, a couple important tips for visiting Copenhagen:
High-Cost Destination
We’re not going to beat around the bush here – Copenhagen is EXPENSIVE. Of everywhere we’ve traveled thus far, it’s the clear winner – or loser – on affordability. In fact, restaurants will even charge you for tap water! When we visited in October 2024, a glass of water at a restaurant cost about 25 DKK, or ~$4. Make sure you’ve got plenty of room in your budget if you decide to visit, or your personal list of things to do in Copenhagen will rapidly diminish.
Timing is Key
Due to its high latitude and oceanfront location, Copenhagen’s weather and sunlight hours vary significantly season-to-season. Because of this, you’ll want to plan your travels carefully. In the winter, daily high temperatures average only 35-41°F (2-5°C), and sunlight hours can be as few as 7 per day, meaning the sun sets at around 3:30pm! While its Christmas lights and cozy cafes are a hygge dream come true, the sunlight hours in particular can be pretty limiting for your sightseeing agenda. On the other hand, in the summer, the city gets as many as 17 hours of sunlight a day (with the sun setting as late as 9:45pm), with daily high temperatures ranging between 68-72°F (20-22°C). This is great news if you want to visit the beach or take a dip in the harbor, but it also means the city will be positively thronging with people, both locals and tourists alike.
In our opinion, the best time to visit Copenhagen is in the fall. Temperature and sunlight hours are still moderate, but cool enough to properly enjoy a hygge vibe, and fewer tourists means a more relaxed – and potentially more affordable – visit. Plus, you can’t beat Tivoli Gardens all decked out for Halloween – it’s truly a can’t-miss.
Day 1 - Get Your Feet Wet
- 10:00-12:00 – Start your visit to Copenhagen with a walking or bicycle tour of the city. There are tons of options here, but we chose a design and sustainability-focused walking tour – more below.
- 12:30-1:30 – Head toward picturesque Nyhavn and enjoy a delicious brunch at The Union Kitchen. Their chicken and waffles are fantastic, but spicy! Be careful not to eat any closer to Nyhavn, or you’ll be hit with overpriced dishes that miss the mark on quality.
- 2:00-3:00 – Take a tour of the canals with NettobÃ¥dene. No list of what to do in Copenhagen is complete without a canal tour, and this company offers a super affordable option at just 60 DKK (~$9) for a one hour tour. There are no advanced reservations, so just queue up and join the next available boat. Try to grab a seat inside or up front so you can hear the guide over the boat’s motor. Prefer to guarantee your seat? Try this tour:Â
- 3:30-4:00 – Warm up after your boat ride with a coffee and a delicious Danish pastry at Holberg no 19.
- 4:00-5:00 – Next, take your time just strolling through Nyhavn and along the Havengade Promenaden, appreciating the colorful homes and waterfront views. Don’t miss the trampolines built into the walkway!
- 6:00-7:30 – Time for dinner! We suggest Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant Sanchez and their mouth-watering smokey margaritas.
- 8:00-10:00 – Ready for some community fun? Check out Bastard Café, an absolutely massive board game café and bar that’s perfect for some evening hygge with friends. For just 30 DKK (~$5), you’ll get access to their more than 4,500 board games in their cozy and welcoming space. Reservations are possible, and recommended if you’re visiting on a weekend or with a large group – book your table here.
The Details
Walking Tour
Our favorite way to start off any new city is with a walking tour. It’s the best way to get familiar with what to do in Copenhagen, learn some fascinating tidbits about the city’s history, and pique your interest on which sites or museums you want to add to your itinerary. We typically reserve our tours through GuruWalk, which is an app that offers free – yes, free – walking tours in over 800 cities in 100 countries (and counting!). We’ve included links below to some of their top tours in Copenhagen – don’t forget to tip! But this time around, we really wanted a tour that focused on Copenhagen’s design and sustainability, so we found this tour through Airbnb Experiences.
On our tour, we walked a short route in the area around Copenhagen City Hall while learning tons of interesting tidbits on Copenhagen’s city design and sustainability efforts. We started by visiting the Copenhagen Bench, an installation designed to visually impart the risks of climate change. It sits at 3.3 feet (1 m) high – the sea-level rise predicted to be hit by the year 2100 by the UN Climate Report if global warming continues unchecked. We also learned about Copenhagen’s status as a “low-lit” city, how types of pavements are used to encourage biking or support accessibility, and how Copenhagen uses non-hostile design to help the less fortunate. It was an informative two-hour tour that set us up on the perfect footing to get familiar not just with Copenhagen’s sites, but with its cultural identity.
Bicycle Tour
Of course, we also learned on our tour that Copenhagen’s sustainability efforts have now led it to rival Amsterdam as the biking capital of the world. In fact, it’s one of the top things to do in Copenhagen! With so many bikes on the road though, a bike tour isn’t for the faint of heart – we hadn’t biked in a while, so we were a bit intimidated by this option. However, if you’re comfortable on two wheels, it’s an excellent way to see the city, covering a lot more ground in two hours than you can on foot. If a bike tour sounds like the right fit for you, we recommend checking out some of these top options on Get Your Guide:
Day 2 - Shop Til' You Drop (and Recover)
- 9:30-10:30 – Start your day with a hearty brunch at Ø12 Coffee & Eatery. A trendy spot with a warm and greenery-filled aesthetic, we recommend their fluffy pancakes or delicious eggs benedict.
- 10:30-1:00 – Time to experience Copenhagen’s iconic design aesthetic from a different angle – your shopping bag. Stroll down the main shopping street, Strøget, and don’t miss our favorite store around the corner, Notre Dame. This home goods store featuring Nordic designers is so cute and quirky, I had to practically drag Hillary out of it.
- 1:00-2:30 – Take metro line 3 to the Nørrebro neighborhood and grab a bite at cozy Cafe Stefanshus.
- 2:30-4:30 – Next, amble along Jægersborggade, a street full of local artisan shops. Here you can find handmade jewelry, ceramics, and other handcrafted goods. We highly recommend Vanishing Point and their gorgeous hand-knitted sweaters.
- 4:30-5:30 – Take a walk through Assistens Cemetery before you leave the neighborhood. It’s a gorgeous park and also the resting place of Hans Christian Andersen.
- 5:30-6:30 – Just on the other side of the park, don’t miss Ramen to BÃiru for dinner. After all my travels, it’s still some of the best ramen I’ve ever had. Also – make sure to use the bathroom – just trust me, it’s hilarious.
- 7:00-9:00 – After a long day on your feet, treat yourself to some spa time at Aire Ancient Baths – the perfect answer to what to do in Copenhagen when you’re exhausted from touring. More below.
The Details
Aire Ancient Baths
Sauna is practically a sacred ritual in Nordic countries, and one of the top things to do in Copenhagen to get in touch with the local culture. While Aire Ancient Baths isn’t a traditional Nordic-style sauna (check out the epic waterfront CopenHot if this is what you’re looking for), it’s a luxe and relaxing experience from start to finish that you’ve more than earned after all that walking. More than just a sauna, Copenhagen’s Aire Ancient Baths offers a whole suite of massage and wellness services in a unique and historic setting – the former Carlsberg factory, dating back to 1881. This lovingly restored location takes you back in time as you enjoy its series of cold, warm, and hot-water baths, salt bath, and sauna, in a quiet, phone-free space lit by candlelight.Â
A basic package comes with 90-minute access to the pools for 875 DKK (~$136), or you can upgrade to the Ultimate Baths (my choice), which includes a fresh juice and self-administered body scrub and face mask for 1,000 DKK (~$156). Hillary opted for one of their packages including a massage, which start at 1,360 DKK (~$212). If you’re looking for something really unique, you can even lean into the Carlsberg setting and enjoy a Beer Soak, a package that comes with a 30-minute soak in Carlsberg beer, a 15-minute head massage, the baths, and a Carlsberg to sip on for 1,810 DKK (~$283).
After your spa time, you can clean up in their luxurious locker rooms, with high-quality L’Occitane shower products, hairdryers, robes, and a dryer for your swimsuit. Truly, Aire pays attention to the details through the entire experience, and we highly recommend a visit. Check out all their packages and book your experience here.
Day 3 - Towering Views and Epic Thrills
-  9:00-10:00 – Take a stroll through Copenhagen’s City Hall to appreciate its stunning art and architecture. City Hall is free to enter, but if you prefer, you can take a guided tour for 70 DKK (~$11) – learn more here.
- 10:30-12:30 – Next, take metro line 3 or 4 to Christiansborg Palace, home of the Danish Parliament and an excellent free viewing tower – more on this below.
- 1:00-2:30 – From here, take metro line 1 or 2 to Torvehallerne, a huge food hall and market where you can grab lunch and explore what the local chefs, farmers, and artisans have to offer. Here you’ll find meat and produce vendors, baked goods, floral stands, and coffee, beer, and wine bars. It’s a great way to sample Copenhagen’s cuisine and mingle with the Danes.
- 3:00-9:00 – Time for the grand finale! Spend the rest of your day at the world-famous Tivoli Gardens, a theme park built right in the center of town and one of the top things to do in Copenhagen – more on this below.
The Details
Christiansborg Palace
Visiting Christiansborg Palace is what to do in Copenhagen if you want insight into some of its oldest history. Once home to the Danish kings, it now holds the unique distinction of being the only building in the world that houses all three branches of government. It took an interesting journey to get here though. Christiansborg Palace was initially constructed in the Baroque style in 1740 as the home of King Christian VI, and was the largest castle in Europe at the time. However, it burned down just 54 years later. It was then rebuilt in the Neoclassical style in 1828, now to be used by Parliament, but tragically burned down again in 1884. The third – and current – incarnation of the Palace was built in a blended Neoclassical-Baroque style in 1928. This building, plus the original Royal Stables and chapel that survived both fires, are now open for visitors.
On a tour of Christiansborg Palace, you can explore the Royal Reception Rooms, the Royal Kitchen, the Throne Room, the Royal Stables, and the ruins of Copenhagen Castle upon which it was built, which date back 800 years. Tickets for all of the attractions cost 215 DKK (~$34). The Palace is open from 10am to 5pm (with extended hours in the summer) and free guided tours in English are offered at 3pm.
Pro tip: Even if you aren’t interested in touring the whole Palace, make sure to visit its tower, which is free to enter and offers panoramic views of the city. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Sweden!
Tivoli Gardens
Founded in 1843, Tivoli Gardens is one of the oldest operating amusement parks in the world, second only to Bakken, also located in Denmark! But Tivoli is more than just rides – it offers lush gardens, live performances, carnival games, shopping, and delicious cuisine. It also celebrates the seasons, transforming with decorations and themed food and drink vendors – especially magical during Halloween and Christmas. In fact, it’s so magical that Walt Disney used it as the inspiration for Disneyland! The park is open from 11am to 10pm (midnight on Fridays and Saturdays) and costs 180-260 DKK (~$28-$41) for entrance and 189-339 DKK (~$30-$53) for a rides pass, depending on date and time of entry. Make sure you stay past sunset to see it light up in all its glory.
Honorable Mentions
Looking for something a little different? We’ve got four more Copenhagen attractions that didn’t make the cut, but might be up your alley:
This is one we’re bummed to have missed, as The Church of Our Saviour’s spiraling spire is an iconic city sight – both from afar and from the top. While the church is free to enter, the real treat is paying the 69 DKK (~$11) to climb its tower. While the views from the top are incredible, what makes this tower unique is the method of ascent. It’s one of very few buildings in the world where you’ll reach the top by climbing 400 stairs that spiral not within the tower, but around its exterior. Make sure to plan this visit for a day with nice weather, as it understandably closes for precipitation or heavy winds. Opening hours are from 9am to 8pm.
Another opportunity for views of the city, the Round Tower is Europe’s oldest functioning astronomical observatory, built in 1642. This tower also has a unique ascent, as instead of stairs, you’ll climb a spiraling ramp that wraps 7.5 times around the core of the building. It was actually designed to allow horses and carriages to reach the top! This makes it an easier climb for kids, seniors, or people with mobility issues, while still gifting you with panoramic views of the city from the top. Don’t miss the section of glass flooring near the top that allows you to peer into the hollow core of the tower. The Round Tower is open from 10am to 6pm (later in the summer) and costs 60 DKK (~$9) to enter.
Amalienborg Palace is the official residence of the Danish royal family, and what to do in Copenhagen if you want to witness the changing of the guard. As it’s a working royal residence, only parts of it are available for viewing by tourists, but a museum inside showcases royal interiors from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as exhibits on the modern monarchy. Tickets for the palace are 125 DKK (~$20) and require timed entry between 10am and 4pm (later in the summer), but the main attraction – the changing of the guards – is completely free! It occurs every day at noon and is a rare opportunity to save some money while in Copenhagen.
For a more traditional palace experience, head to Rosenborg Castle, a Renaissance-era pleasure palace built by King Christian IV in the early 1600s. Here you can explore perfectly preserved royal rooms, furnishings, and artifacts, including the Crown Jewels and Royal Regalia. Tickets for the castle are 140 DKK (~$22) and require a timed entry between 10am and 4pm (extended hours in the summer). When you’ve finished exploring the palace, grab a snack from a nearby market and enjoy a picnic in the Kongens Have, the surrounding King’s Garden.
We hope this post on what to do in Copenhagen helps you to build your ideal Copenhagen itinerary. The list of things to do in Copenhagen is endless, especially if you appreciate the outdoors, slow travel, and finding your own personal hygge, but this design-focused itinerary was perfect for us! We absolutely loved our visit there, and hope you do too. Comment below what your favorite activity in Copenhagen was!
Planning to visit Stockholm while you’re in the area? You can get there in just a quick and easy 5-hour train ride! Stockholm is one of our favorite cities we’ve visited, so we highly recommend it – check out our guide The Top Things to Do in Stockholm in Autumn: A 3 Day Itinerary to make planning your trip there a breeze. And make sure to fill out your itinerary with some of our top bar and restaurant recommendations in our posts 13 Incredible Stockholm Cocktail Bars and Where to Eat in Stockholm: 14 Top Restaurants.
