37 Tips I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Copenhagen, Denmark

✅ Here’s the exact list I share with friends visiting Copenhagen (my free guide): https://bit.ly/Copenhagen-Guide-Camden

These 37 tips to know before visiting Copenhagen are what I wish I knew before my trip to Copenhagen, Denmark. Hopefully these travel tips will help you from making some of my mistakes when traveling through Copenhagen!

☕️ Every Tuesday, I share a travel tip you’ll actually use — like advice from a friend who travels nonstop — https://bit.ly/TheTuesdayTravelTip

Universal adapter I used in Copenhagen — https://amzn.to/3N0YzAg

The eSIM I used in Copenhagen to keep my phone connected — https://airalo.pxf.io/CamdenDavid — You can get 15% off by using code: CAMDEN15

DISCLAIMER: I only express my opinion based on my experience. Your experience may be different. Links above may include affiliate commission or referrals. I’m part of an affiliate network and I receive compensation from partnering websites. This video is accurate as of the posting date but may not be accurate in the future.

Copenhagen has to be one of the coolest cities in the entire world but there are some things I wish i’ had known before visiting I just got back so I got a lot to share with you first thing to note is that Copenhagen is really expensive I knew it was expensive going in I didn’t realize just how expensive so be prepared for that that way you’re not caught off guard also keep in mind that this is a completely cashless place I didn’t see anybody use cash I never needed at once so leave that at home just get ready to use your cards but let’s talk about some of the biggest culture things of like how can you actually save money and how do people partake in life the most important thing to note is public transit is like just exceptional here one of the top five in the world the best that I’ve ever seen so you’re first going to interact with this when you’re coming from the airport really easy to get from the airport there’s trains and metros right once you get out of like baggage claim and come out into the main thing of the airport you will see this big area you go and you buy your ticket right there it couldn’t be any easier it’s going to take you right downtown now once you’re actually downtown you’re definitely going to want to get some sort of Metro pass I ended up doing the 24 or 48 hour pass that’s just what worked well for me but there are some mistakes that I made so bear with me here we’re going to explain some important things first thing that I screwed up day one is you go to the metro stop and you’re like all right I’m going to navigate this new system you go down the Escalade and you’re like wait am am I in a mall where where the heck am I this is way too nice to be a metro station nope that’s just how nice they are here in Copenhagen so you are in the right place but make sure that along the walls that’s where you buy your ticket I made the mistake of just getting on the train thinking that maybe I buy it there because I didn’t see anything there is no place to actually scan in it’s not how it works in Copenhagen instead you buy a ticket it’ll look something like this you just hang on to this now there will be people who come around and check tickets sometimes there is a hefty Hefty fine if you get caught without a ticket so make sure that you buy a pass put it in your wallet have it safe and make sure that it’s ready if somebody comes and checks definitely do yourself a favor at some point during your trip go to the very first cart because there’s no driver you get to act like the driver and they put this cute little sticker where like kids kind of play around and act like they’re controlling the train but even for adults it’s pretty fun to just watch out the window and say wow we’re going pretty quick and actually see the public transit system that they have built it is very impressive anyways another thing around transportation and this is really a tip for not annoying the locals because tourists do this all the time and the first one is thinking that Copenhagen is your opportunity to just ride bikes and explore and have fun I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do it but recognize that the bike Lanes here that is a form of public transit for the locals they’re using it to get from point A to point B so if you’re a tourist who has never ridden a bike before maybe consider not renting a bike or if you do just make sure that you understand the bike rules understand when you can turn right which you can’t do on red make sure you understand the hand signals because it can get pretty dangerous when you get tourists on a bike who don’t really know what they’re doing and locals they’re used to it they’re flying through every day and yeah it’s just a pain point for them so be cognizant of that another thing that you’re going to want to be cognizant of which I’m probably not doing in this video is lower the tone of voice a little bit things are quiet things are peaceful here and it’s really easy to identify the tourist being really loud around their peaceful little canals and beautiful areas so respect the culture and don’t be that annoying tourist another thing that is really important culturally that I just wish I knew I wish I knew how cool Copenhagen was and what I mean by that is I did not feel like I was dressed appropriately I wish I would have brought my cooler clothes these people just know fashion which I did not expect I wasn’t dressed poorly but these people take it to another level so if you’re worried about fitting in maybe bring some of those fancier trendier clothes where you’re trying to be a bit more expressive not the plain black t-shirt that I’m always wear in or green one this is my nicer stuff I guess I probably just need to accept that I’m not cool enough to fit in in Copenhagen they’re just on another level the next really important thing to know is that food quality is really high in Copenhagen like exceptional dining options pretty much across the board that is where you can expect things to get pretty pricey but a big recommendation here is make sure to make reservations most of the places even at that mid tier level did require reservations especially on the weekend so let’s jump into some food recommendations cuz there are so many good ones the first spot that I absolutely loved was a place called The 1612 and kind of like a brunch restaurant but just incredible quality in terms of the ingredients they were using beautiful presentation and just really really tasty highly highly recommend them now if you’ve only got a couple days to visit and you want to sample a bunch of the local dishes there is this kind of Market slf food hul that is really popular it is kind of in that Central touristy area and there will be tourist so it is a great spot to try a couple different things do note that the prices are going to be a little bit higher it’s not the best quality but it will give you that opportunity to sample around but what about all that great coffee and pastries that you see all over social media well I’ve got some suggestions here for bakeries there is one and really in my opinion only one choice and that is Juno the bakery this is a little bit further out this isn’t a pretty local area of town but guys it is well worth the visit I’m going to go out on a limb and say this was the best pastry that I’ve had anywhere around the world and if you’re new here I mooved two new country every single month been doing that for 3 years so I don’t say that lightly this place is incredible highly recommend there’s always going to be a line be prepared to wait it was well well worth it everything we could have hoped for and more so that’s the only bakery that I’m going to recommend here in terms of coffee you’ve got some more options the first one is this place called prologue coffee this is down in the meat packing district and it’s a really trendy spot great coffee one of the little like Pro tips here and I can’t confirm this so locals help me out if this is is true I think that they are actually serving the baked goods from Juno the bakery so if you don’t want to venture all the way up to Juno you might have the opportunity at having some of the things at prologue coffee I could be wrong but I have a suspicion that they are doing that but another place that I highly highly recommend is called Orsa and this is a cafe it is in a really trendy area of town and the folks who go there well they are trendy themselves this place is focused on like music and Specialty coffee really Vibes they do have a little bit of outdoor seating that kind of spills onto the street just a really popular place to be and a great cup of coffee definitely recommend them and one of my other personal favorites was this place called hip hop this one kind of feels like a hole in the wall but it’s run by two guys who left prologue to create their own place in hip-hop and I mean great cup of coffee nothing to complain about if you’re looking for a fancy night out there’s a place called Ruby that has exceptional cocktails they’re currently I think top 100 in the world in terms of bars really cool atmosphere wonderful drinks and we had a great experience there and if you can’t get into Ruby there’s another spot called the bird not quite as good but still a really cool environment to drink in definitely would recommend reservations at both in both really great spots if you’re looking for that cocktail type of evening now let’s talk about some of the places that are completely free that are really worthwhile to walk around at and two places that are a little bit controversial we we’ll get there but the first spot is I’m just going to circle it on this map here I think most tourists will really enjoy just setting aside some time to wander in this area there’s just a lot of different type of architecture you’re going to be up on the water really unique house boats it’s just a very interesting place to be so definitely give yourself some time to do that another spot that you might have heard of is Freetown Christiania it’s a really unique part of town used to be army barracks and there have been a lot of people who have lived in it since and there’s some interesting rules around that area it kind of operates separately but is definitely still a part of Copenhagen just a really unique part of the culture and the history to learned about a lot of art so definitely go and appreciate that and take in what it has to offer if you want to be walking by the water there’s a spot near the planetarium that just offers a great Viewpoint a lot of people will be picnicking around there you can swim that water that water is just beautiful and you can walk like just straight across town along that body of water so really pretty area to be in if you want the Botanical Garden Park is beautiful and I think a lot of people think that you need to be paying for it it is not the Park area itself is completely free and very worthwhile you also have the castle the castle part you do have to pay for but the king’s Gardens are completely free and also stunning so another spot that I think a lot of tourists end up missing is the assistant cemetery and I know it probably sounds weird putting a cemetery on the list but this one really is very very beautiful and a very peaceful place to walk through so I would recommend there just be respectful of course and probably my favorite completely free thing to do is the garden of the Royal Library it’s just a stunning little garden great place to sit and relax for a little bit so definitely recommend checking them out but let’s talk about two spots that are a little bit controversial the first is niof and this is a place that all the tourists you’re definitely going to want to see and the reason that it’s controversial is because it is really more of a tourist attraction most locals aren’t hanging out in this area yet it’s the most like picturesque part of Copenhagen so it’s controversial in the sense that yes you definitely want to go to it but it’s not representative of all of Copenhagen and most of the restaurants and shops around there they’re going to be priced trying to take advantage of tourists so just keep in mind you don’t need to whip out the wallet anywhere near that little area you’re just not going to get the best bang for your buck so keep that in mind and the other kind of controversial place is The Little Mermaid statue so I think this one gets a little bit of a bad wrap for a couple of reasons one it’s a little bit further out than where most tourists end up venturing off to and two the statue is rather small and that’s really all there is out there so if you get lucky and have a nice weather day I think it’s a great thing to go do especially if you just want to see a different area of Copenhagen or if you have little ones who really want to see that statue but is it that place that you have to go and see on your trip probably not especially if you only have a couple of days and want to focus on some of the other things but you make the call there but let’s talk about where you should actually stay which area of town is going to suit you best depending on the sort of trip you’re looking for so the first area that you might consider is uster and this is a beautiful area of town it’s very residential a little bit upscale and a bit further out than some of these other spots this is probably best if you’re there for a longer period of time maybe if you have families otherwise if you’re only there for a couple of days you’re probably going to want to be a little bit more centered to the action next place that you might want to consider is norboro noro feels a bit younger this definitely has like an edge and just like cultural flare to it a lot of good Cuisine over there kind of like the Melting Pot area of the city definitely a spot to check out and some great things but a little bit more afford able than that first spot now if you’re looking for more of that nightlife type of scene Vester bro might be your best option it is a place that has a little bit more grit than other areas of town I do hear that that area of town has changed quite a bit over the years but it is definitely an area where there’s a lot of young people definitely some nightlife some great dining options and it does put you in pretty good proximity and I was actually over there and I did enjoy my time but if you’re not wanting quite as much grit maybe if you’re traveling with families Maybe right to the north of that you have Fredericksburg which kind of gives you the best of both worlds you have easy access to that night life but Fredericksburg seems a little bit more upscale a bit more residential probably a little bit of a safer feeling as well for family so keep that in mind now if you’re looking for that really Charming feel chrisin havav is just wonderful beautiful little area really safe and it’s really Central the downside here is it’s extremely expensive very scenic but you do have to have the money to Pony up to stay there well out of my price range but if it’s within yours it’s probably going to be a great place to stay but don’t feel like you have to be there cuz again the Metro is wonderful the next place that you might consider staying is what I’m just going to call the city center and it’s everything circled right here there’s nothing wrong with this place it’s going to give you great access to most of the things that tourists are looking for but recognize that by staying here you’re putting yourself where most of the tourists are which means higher prices things that are a little bit more of that is trap you’re not going to get as much of that local feel so if you’re looking for that local experience this probably isn’t the area even though you will probably spend some time here especially as a firsttime tourist but my biggest tip on where to stay is try to put yourself wherever you can afford but closest to the M3 line the M3 is the metro line it’s red on the map and it’s the only line that does just a full loop and it’ll get you just about anywhere in the city in about 15 minutes so my priority would be getting as close to one of those metro stops as you can CU it’s just going to give you tremendous access to everything else and then you don’t need to worry about spending up for accommodation closer to the center of the city so I hope that makes sense but if you want just kind of my unfiltered thoughts on Copenhagen and some of the cultural things that I identified I did make a whole video you can watch that right here if you have any questions leave them in the comment section I hope this was helpful and we’ll catch you guys next time