Flat, bike-obsessed and quietly the best-designed city in Europe. Also one of the most expensive, which is manageable if you know where the money goes and where it doesn't.
Copenhagen is genuinely expensive, and three or four decisions account for most of the difference.
Restaurants are where the money goes — a mid-range dinner for two easily reaches £120. The answer is lunch: many of the best kitchens do set lunch menus at a third of the evening price, and the street food halls at Reffen and Broens Gadekøkken feed you well for a fraction. Rent a bike rather than taking taxis. Most of what's worth seeing — Nyhavn, the harbour baths, Christiania, the palaces from outside — costs nothing. Save the spending for one really good meal rather than three average ones.
Design, water and food. The museums are good; the city itself is better.
The postcard harbour with the painted merchant houses. Free to walk, expensive to sit. Go early for the light.
Reffen and Broens Gadekøkken put dozens of kitchens under one roof at sensible prices. The best-value eating in the city.
An 1843 pleasure garden in the middle of the city — rides, gardens and concerts. Magical at Christmas and in summer.
Flat, with segregated lanes on every main street. Forty per cent of Copenhageners commute by bike and you should too.
Thirty-five minutes up the coast by train. Modern art in a building on a cliff above the Øresund. Worth a whole day.
The tallest tower in the city, with a free lift to the top. Best free view in Copenhagen and almost nobody knows.
Compact and flat. Anywhere central is walkable or a ten-minute cycle.
The old centre. Strøget, Nyhavn and the palaces on your doorstep. Convenient and priciest.
The old meatpacking district, now restaurants and bars. Beside the station and much better value.
North of the lakes. The most interesting food in the city and where young Copenhageners live.
Across the water, with canals, houseboats and Christiania. Quiet and characterful.
May to September for long days and outdoor life. December for Tivoli at Christmas, which is the other reason to come.
Midsummer gives eighteen hours of daylight and the harbour baths open for swimming. Winter is dark by half past three and cold, but Tivoli's Christmas season is one of the loveliest in Europe and the hygge cliché becomes obviously true. Spring and autumn are mild, quiet and cheaper. Hotel rates track the season sharply here.
1h 50m to Kastrup (CPH), from most UK airports.
The metro reaches the centre in 14 minutes, running around the clock.
Danish krone, not euro — Denmark stayed out. Cards work everywhere.
Bike, walk, or use the driverless metro. A City Pass covers metro, bus and train.
We'll come back with hotels in the right quarter, restaurant advice that won't ruin the budget, and the payment plan written out in full.
Yes, on food and drink particularly. Hotels are comparable to London. Lunch menus and food halls make it manageable.
Three. Two works but you'd skip the Louisiana Museum, which is one of the best things in Denmark.
Malmö is 35 minutes by train across the Øresund bridge. An easy and very worthwhile day trip to a different country.
In summer and at Christmas, yes — it's a proper historic pleasure garden rather than a theme park. Outside those seasons it partly closes.
Flights, a central hotel and transfers as one package. We book the museum and gallery slots that sell out, and tell you which ones to book yourself.
Guide prices, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights, central accommodation and airport transfers. They indicate what a break of this type has typically cost and are not an offer or a quotation. Your price depends on dates, party, departure airport and availability, and is confirmed in writing before any payment is taken.
Ready-built itineraries with flights, transfers and internal hops booked as one package, ATOL protected. Every one can be reshaped around your dates.
10 nights · May–Jun, Sep–Oct · from £1,449pp
11 nights · May–Jun, Sep · from £1,149pp
10 nights · Mar–May, Sep–Nov · from £849pp
12 nights · Apr–May, Sep–Oct · from £2,399pp
11 nights · Nov–Apr · from £2,199pp
15 nights · Dec–Apr · from £2,399pp
