A day in Copenhagen: An EPIC 1 day Copenhagen itinerary

• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Facebook
• Mail

Are you planning a trip to Denmark and want to know the best way to spend a day in Copenhagen?

Copenhagen has become extremely popular for a European city break in recent years. The city has become renowned as a foodie destination, with lots of great bakeries, cafes and restaurants throughout the city. We have just come back from a trip to Denmark and want to give you the perfect one day Copenhagen itinerary for your next visit to the city.

If you only have a day in Copenhagen, planning your day out is the best way to maximize your time in the city. This one day itinerary will give you everything you need including tours, restaurants and hotels in Copenhagen if you plan to extend your stay. Denmark is also known to be quite an expensive country to visit so we will include a list of things to do for free in Copenhagen to help you keep your costs down.

Is a day in Copenhagen enough time?

If you only have a day in Copenhagen it won’t be enough time to see everything but definitely long enough to see the major attractions. Copenhagen is a very walkable city, meaning you won’t need to go too far to be able to see paces like Nyhavn, Tivoli Gardens, Rosenborg Castle & Frederik’s Church in one day in the city.

To maximise your one day itinerary in Copenhagen, the easiest approach is to use this hop on/hop off tour pass, which also includes a river cruise. This is the best way to make sure you get to all of the main sites without the headache of working out the public transport system etc. and will give you a bit of flexibility around planning your day.

How to get from Copenhagen Airport to the city centre

It is very straightforward to get from Copenhagen Airport to the city centre and only takes around 20 minutes by Metro. When you reach the airport follow the signs to the public transport and you will see ticket machines on the right hand side just before the metro station.

You will have a number of options to choose from but a single journey ticket to the city is around 24DKR (€3.50) and around €10 for a 24 hour pass.

Alternatively, we would also recommend this Copenhagen City card, which includes all of the public transport journeys, as well as access to over 80 attractions in the city for one adult and 2 children aged 11 or under.

Where to stay in Copenhagen

Hotels in Copenhagen can be quite expensive so we have compiled a list of hotels for every budget to help you plan your stay. Each of the hotels below have a minimum guest rating of 8/10 and provide easy access to Copenhagen City Centre.

There are a few main areas to choose from for hotels in Copenhagen:

• Vesterboro Hotels – Trendy area full of shops, funky bars and restaurants
• Norrebro Hotels – Lots of bakeries, bars anf filled with culture
• Osterbro Hotels – Laid back area with great shops and the little mermaid
• City Centre Hotels – Main attractions like Tivoli Gardens and Nyhavn

When we visited Copenhagen we stayed at Manon Les Suites, a beautiful, Bali inspired hotel, which you can get more details on below for your stay.

A day in Copenhagen Itinerary

Morning

Breakfast at Buka Bakery

Start your day off with some breakfast/coffee. Copenhagen is filled with bakeries and they are extremely popular for good reason. We would recommend Buka, Hart, Andersen & Malliard or Lille Bakery. For Buka, try out their pistachio croissant or else the mascarpone & raspberry option, both are delicious.

If you want a more substantial breakfast we would also recommend o12 cafe, which has a really nice aesthetic and a great breakfast menu including various pancake options.

Next up, make your way over to Frederik’s Church, a stunning building with a large marble arch dome. You won’t need to spend long here but it is definitely worth a quick detour to see one of Copenhagen’s most beautiful buildings.

Nyhavn

Once you have had some breakfast, it’s time to visit the first tourist attraction of the day – Nyhavn. Nyhavn is the harbour in Copenhagen, lined with colourful buildings and lots of great places for food and drink. It is a little bit more expensive around here than the rest of the city so we wouldn’t recommend spending all day here. That being said, it is a really nice place to relax, watch the city in action and one of the best areas in the city to snap a nice photo.

Afternoon

Lunch & Rosenborg Castle

For lunch, start to make your way back towards the main centre in Copenhagen. We would suggest trying Cantina if you like Italian food or else Gasoline for one of their famous burgers.

Afterwards, take the short walk through the park to Rosenborg Castle. If you are visiting Copenhagen in the spring time this area is lined with Cherry Blossom trees. You can also take this Rosenborg Castle tour, which lets you get access to the Danish Crown Jewels and lots of royal artefacts of the Danish monarchy.

On the way back to the city, make a quick stop along Magstraede to snap some photos. This is a picturesque street along the route so again, not somewhere that requires much time but a nice place to capture the Copenhagen style in your photos.

Tivoli Gardens

For the afternoon, we would highly recommend adding some fun to your day in Copenhagen by visiting Tivoli Gardens.

Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park in Copenhagen City centre and the second oldest amusement park in the world, dating back to 1843. Tickets for the park start at around €20 for adults and around €10 for children (children under 3 enter for free). Ticket prices for entry do not include the cost of the rides in the park, so we would recommend purchasing this pass, which includes your entry fee and unlimited use of the rides while you are there.

The park itself is well worth visiting with over 30 rides, many of which are suitable for people of all ages and really enjoyable. There’s also lots of places to eat etc. so you could quite easily spend your entire day in Copenhagen at this amusement park, particularly if you are trying to entertain your family for the day.

It is important to note that the park is not open throughout the yea so please check in advance for your dates of travel.

Evening – Reffen Street Food Market

For the evening, we would suggest taking a trip to Reffen Street Food Market, particularly if you are visiting Copenhagen in the summer. To get to Reffen you need to catch the 2a bus and get off at the last stop, which takes around 20 minutes. Bus tickets generally need to purchased in advance so you can download the Dot app and purchase your bus ticket online before boarding.

Reffen is a great place to go on a nice evening, sat along the water, you will get some really nice views here at sunset. There are also so may great options for food, from Italian to Argentinian steak, with everything in between. We decided to try a bit of everything while we were here as it was so hard to narrow the choice down to just one thing. If the weather is a bit cooler, there are also a few indoor seating areas with bars so it’s equally good when it is not warm outside.

And that’s it – a great way to spend a day in Copenhagen filled with bakeries, colourful streets, street food and even an amusement park. We appreciate that the suggestions above might not to everyone’s taste so we have included a few alternative options below that you can easily substitute in based on your preference.

Alternative places to visit for a day in Copenhagen

• 1. The Mermaid Statue: For us, this was too far out from the city centre and we didn’t think it would be worth the travel involved but it is very popular
• 2. Copenhagen Zoo: A good option if you are visiting Copenhagen with a young family
• 3. Amelienborg Palace: We could have substituted this in but feel the options above are slightly better
• 4. The Home of Carlsberg: Depending on the nature of your visit, this is a great option too

Frequenty Asked Questions

What currency do they use in Copenhagen?

Danish Krone. While Denmark is in the EU, it chose not to adopt the Euro as its currency.

How much does a day in Copenhagen cost?

While the amount you spend will ultimately come down to your available budget, we found Copenhagen to be one of, if not the most expensive city we have visited in Europe. Below are some examples of every day costs that you can use for comparison with your home town.

• Cup of Coffee (45DKr or €6.50 EUR)
• A Burger, Fries & Drink (165DKr or €20)
• A single metro ticket (24DKR or €3.50)