Copenhagen
Denmark
Bikes, design, and harbour swimming
Photo by Nick Karvounis on Unsplash
Photos by Peter Lloyd, Michael Jerrard, Nick Karvounis and Febiyan on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Denmark
May to September
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 76mm in Oct
Where it is
55.68°N, 12.57°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Rent a bike for the whole stay
- Swim in the harbour baths at Islands Brygge
- Visit Tivoli Gardens after dark
- Explore Christiania
- Eat through Torvehallerne market
- Take the canal boat tour
Copenhagen travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Denmark
Very expensiveDenmark kept the krone and did not adopt the euro. Some tourist spots accept euros at a poor rate. Denmark is close to fully cashless — a card covers essentially everything.
ATMs & cards
Danske Bank and Nordea machines are the standard. Cash is rarely needed at all, so one modest withdrawal usually covers a whole trip. Decline conversion.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- Forex Bank machines
- airport ATMs
Use these instead
- Danske Bank
- Nordea
- Jyske Bank
Denmark is close to cashless, so one modest withdrawal usually covers a whole trip.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Denmark
Very safeOne of the safest cities anywhere. The main thing to learn is bike lane etiquette: stay right, signal with your hand, and never walk in the cycle lane — Danes will not slow down.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (4 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Copenhagen — almost everywhere, at any hour
Worth more attention
- Blågårds Plads — and Nørrebro around it, late at night
- Christiania — Pusher Street, where photography causes real trouble
- København H — the central station at night
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Denmark visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Denmark
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Call 1813 in the Copenhagen region before turning up at a hospital with something non-urgent.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodCopenhagen is expensive, but smørrebrød at lunch and the street food halls at Reffen or Torvehallerne keep costs sane. Tap water is excellent — never buy bottled.
Nightlife
Expensive and good: natural wine bars, harbour swimming that turns into drinking, and a small but excellent club scene.
- Kødbyen — the meatpacking district, bars and clubs
- Nørrebro — the bars people actually drink in
- Christiania — its own thing entirely
Closing: Bars 02:00, clubs 05:00.
A beer in a bar: 50–80 DKK
Do not photograph anything on Pusher Street in Christiania.
Getting around
Easy and cheap- BoltWorks here
- DantaxiWorks here
- ViggoWorks here
- UberNot here
Viggo electric, Copenhagen
- From the airport
- Copenhagen airport to the centre 250–350 kr, against 36 kr on the metro
- Against a taxi
- About level, and everything in this market is expensive.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Copenhagen — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Denmark
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 2.2× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fast. Enough to work from a cafe or a beach on a hotspot all day. Mobile runs at 2.3× the global median of 109 Mbps.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Denmark, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Danish
- HelloHejhi
- PleaseVenligstVEN-leest
- Thank youTaktak
- Yes / NoJa / Nejya / nye
4 more phrases
- Excuse meUndskyldOON-skool
- How much is it?Hvad koster det?va KOS-ter deh
- The bill, pleaseRegningen, takRY-ning-en tak
- Cheers!Skål!skoal
There is no everyday word for "please" — politeness rides on tone and on tak.
Religion
Lutheran, and largely secular
The Folkekirke is the state church and most Danes are nominally members, but weekly attendance is among the lowest in Europe.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Take your shoes off when entering a home
- Make eye contact and say skål before drinking
- Be on time; lateness is read as disrespect
- Learn the bike lane rules if you cycle — signal by hand and stay right
Don't
- Do not walk in the cycle lanes; this is the single most common visitor mistake
- Do not boast or flash money — Jante Law disapproval of standing out is real
- Do not expect small talk from strangers; it is not unfriendliness
- Do not tip; service is included and rounding up is plenty
Where to stay in Copenhagen
No Holistay rentals in Copenhagen yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Copenhagen on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Kastrup CPH
15 minfrom the airport· 9 km as the crow flies
Metro M2 to the centre, 15 min.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
