Copenhagen is a beautiful city in Europe to visit. What’s not to like? The people are nice, it has culture and history, the food is mind blowing good, and practically everyone speaks English.
Plus, it is the biking capital of the world. You can pretty much bike anywhere in the city.
And if you don’t want to do that, the public transport is top notch (better than most cities in the U.S.).
I spent my birthday this past summer in Copenhagen and I loved every second of it.
If you’re considering visiting the wonderful Danish people, this guide is for you! Here are the 14 must see things in Copenhagen for first timers!
1. Round Tower
The round tower is a 17th century tower in the Denmark City Center. It was commissioned by Christian IV as an astronomical observatory and is one of the more unusual architectural Copenhagen attractions.
While it’s no longer used in that capacity, many amateurs still use the tower to watch the stars.
The signature design of the tower is the flat round spiraling staircase to the top. Yep that’s right! You don’t have to take any stairs to get to the top.
The tower was designed this way so scientists could haul heavy equipment up without breaking their backs.
Here’s a fun fact about the tower: the outer wall of the spiral has a length of 257.5 meters to the top at a grade of 10%, while the inner wall has a length of 85.5 meters, but a grade of 33%.
Loving a good challenge, I decided to hike up near the inner wall and broke a pretty good sweat 🙂
Once you make yourself up to the top you can have great views of the city (and the water) from the observation deck.
If you’re a big fan of architecture, then the Round Tower should definitely be on your list while visiting Denmark.
2. Amager Strandpark
I’m actually surprised that Amager Strandpark isn’t on a lot of people’s to do lists in Copenhagen. When I spoke to fellow tourists in the area, they had never even heard about the place!
That’s good in my view, as it allows you to be surrounded by more locals. Anyways, I think Amager Strandpark is one of the best free things to do in Copenhagen.
Amager Strandpark is a public beach south of the main city center. It’s located on the island of Amager and includes an artificial island.
The beach is a quick metro ride away from the M2 line.
While I didn’t dip my toes in the water (too cold for my weak body), but that didn’t stop the locals from jumping in. The beach is beautiful and actually reminds me of the beaches in South Carolina.
There are several piers and boardwalks you can walk out to along the beach’s 2.9 mile shoreline.
Another cool thing to check out is the wind turbines in the water. They make for some really cool pictures!
Even in the summer I found that the beach wasn’t too crowded. So it’s a perfect place if you want some peace and quiet or a romantic walk with your partner.
3. Nyhavn
Nyhavn is a 17th century waterfront canal in the heart of the city center. The canal can easily be identified with the colorful townhouses along the water.
The townhouses are brightly colored with blue, orange, red, and yellow. And there are a ton of good restaurants, bars, and cafe’s along the canal.
Yes, the food here is a little pricey (we’re talking about ~$50 per person dinner), but totally worth it in my opinion.
And if you’re feeling up to it, you can do a Canal tour. They have tours in several languages other than English.
4. Kronborg Castle
Kronborg Castle is beautiful 16th century castle in Denmark. It is a 1 hour train ride away from the city center. This is a good opportunity to take a day trip from Copenhagen.
You need to take the train from Copenhagen Central Station to Helsingør. The train ride is nice and peaceful although the views aren’t the best.
Once you get to the Helsingør station, the castle is a short 10 – 15 minute walk.
If you’re a big fan of Shakespeare, this castle needs no introduction!
Kronborg Castle is the actual castle Shakespeare set Hamlet in! That’s right, this is the Elsinore castle in Hamlet!
The castle is truly amazing. The castle is surrounded by a small moat. On outer edges of the moat you can see a line of cannons defending this great structure.
The inside of the castle is filled with the history and culture of Denmark. You’ll see things like Christian IV’s study and bedroom along with the Queen’s bedroom.
And if you dare, you can even go underground into the basement. It’s pretty dark in there, so bring a flashlight!
My favorite part of Kronborg Castle was the staff has actors placed all around the place to act scenes from Hamlet. Yes, I’m not joking and it’s pretty amazing.
All of the actors speak English and they often involve the crowd in their dialogue. I think that’s what sets this castle apart from all of the other ones I visited in Denmark.
If you’re wondering what to see in Copenhagen, I think Kronborg Castle should be at the top of your list! It certainly is one of my favorite castles in Copenhagen 🙂
5. Frederiksborg Castle
Frederiksborg Castle is a 17th century castle in Denmark built for the infamous king Christian IV and was at one point the largest castle in Scandinavia.
The castle is located in Hillerod, which is about a 40 – 50 minute train ride from Copenhagen Central Station, which makes it another cool day trip to take!
The castle is beautiful and is surrounded by a moat. And like many castles of this era, there is also a beautiful garden.
I think Frederiksborg Castle is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Copenhagen.
When you walk to the entrance of the castle, you are greeted by a grand water fountain. Be careful if you’re getting close to it to take pictures! The fountain waterworks has a bigger splash area than you would think!
The castle has pretty much everything you would expect. It has knight’s armors, royal seals, a church, and even glass stained windows.
You’ll truly get a glimpse of how the royalty of Denmark lived so many years ago.
When you are done exploring the castle, step outside and into the gardens. While the gardens are not as big as Versailles (it would be hard to top that!), they are still breathtaking.
The lovely garden has a nice fountain and water stream running throughout its center. Hike up to the very top of the gardens and get a beautiful look at the castle from the distance!
6. Day trip to Malmo
Okay, technically this isn’t in Copenhagen, but I figured I would put it here since it’s so close!
Ever wanted to go to Sweden? Well, you can knock it off your bucket list now! Malmo is Sweden’s third largest city and it’s only a 40 minute train ride from Copenhagen Central Station.
If you plan on making the trek be sure to bring your passport. They check everyone on the train once you get into Malmo. But oddly enough, they never checked me once I got back to Copenhagen.
Anyways, Malmo is a beautiful city and worthy of at least 1 day out of your stay in Copenhagen. Don’t worry, like many Scandinavian countries pretty much everyone speaks English.
Oh and I would highly recommend buying an all day pass from the Malmo Central Station once you get off the train.
The ticket costs about SEK 150 and will give you access to all public transport in the city for one day (bus, metro, train, etc), AND it includes your ticket back to Copenhagen.
Trust me, it’ll save you a good chunk of change.
Anyways, Malmo is a beautiful city. Here’s what I recommend you do…
Ribersborg beach
First, check out Ribersborg Beach – it’s a quick 10 minute bus ride from central station. The beach is incredible. There’s a giant pier in the center of the beach that has a nice restaurant. On the pier is also a bath house in case you wanted to relax in a sauna and get a tan.
Also, you will be able to get great pictures of the Turning Torso from the shores of the beach.
Malmo Castle
After that, head over to Malmo Castle. The castle was first build in 1434 and has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since then. The castle now houses several different museums about the history of the region and even has an aquarium!
Stortorget
Next, head over to Stortorget, a historic market square in Malmo. It was constructed in 1540 and was at one point the largest market square in Northern Europe. Even today it is used to house many festivals.
At Stortorget’s center stands a statue of King Karl X Gustav, who had conquered the former Danish provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland and united them with the Swedish Empire. But you’ll have to ignore the KFC off to the distance 🙂
Lila Torg
A short walk from Stortorget and you’ll find yourself Lila Torg (“little square”)
Here you’ll find cobblestone streets, bars, restaurants, and many little mom and pop shops. It’s a great place to stop for a beer and people watch. Be warned, some of the restaurants in this area can be pricey ($40+ per person dinner).
7. Kastellet
Kastellet is a star shaped fortress in Copenhagen’s east side. It’s actually still used as a military center and you’ll often see soldiers walking around.
I went in the morning and it was beautiful. In fact, many locals run around the fortress grounds in the morning.
Kastellet is the best preserved fortress in Northern Europe. There’s even a church, a prison, and even a windmill located in the fortress!
The grounds of the fortress are incredibly beautiful and I would recommend spending at least one or two hours here. There’s even a moat around the outer perimeter of the fortress.
And you’ll see a ton of large ducks swimming around in the water!
8. Carlsberg Brewery
If you love beer, Carlsberg needs to be on your list of places to visit in Copenhagen! Visit Carlsberg houses a small brewery, a tasting room, and a very neat museum.
And this is where it all started! Yep, this is the site where J.C Jacobsen brewed his very first beer!
Throughout the day, they give special tours and other events. Unfortunately, I arrived too late in the day to get the special tours. However, I still had a ton of fun.
The museum is really cool. They house one of the (if not the largest) beer collections in the world. The museum teaches you all about the history and process of beer making.
Best of all? Your ticket comes with a free beer (must be 18+)!! Once you are done with the museum, go to the outdoor bar and enjoy a beer on a hot summer’s day.
And if you’re feeling up to it, take the stairs up to their large tasting room. All of the bartenders there are very knowledgeable and they’ll set you up with some very tasty beer!
9. Tivoli Gardens
Ah Tivoli Gardens…what can I say?
As someone who has been to Disneyland several times, I can say Tivoli is truly magical. While it’s nowhere near as big as Disney, it has something else Disney can’t touch: history and culture.
I think Tivoli is one of the best must do things in Copenhagen in the summer…and it’s a great place to visit at night!
Tivoli is the second oldest theme park in the world! It opened to the public in 1843 and legend has it Walt Disney visited this very park, which inspired him to create Disney Land.
Anyways, the park is incredible. It was 25 different rides and tons of great street food. Be warned, they do charge by the ride unless you buy the unlimited pass.
The unlimited pass costs about $50. If you don’t get the pass, expect to pay $3 – $10 per ride depending on which ones you go on.
If you’re a big fan of roller coasters, Tivoli Gardens has 5 of them. I think my favorite out of all of them was The Demon. It reaches a top speed of 48 mph (77 kph) and goes upside down 3 times! The Odin Express is another great roller coaster to go on.
And I must say, Tivoli Gardens is beautiful at night. The entire park lights up at night. It’s truly a sight you need to see for yourself. I can’t believe how beautiful it was. Seriously, I was in awe as I walked around.
I would highly recommend going to the park at around 8 or 9 at night. At that hours, you’ll never wait for more than 10 minutes to go on a ride. And by that time, it should be dark enough to see the beautiful light shows.
Don’t worry, during the summer, the park stays open until 11 PM or midnight depending on the day of the week.
Also, don’t go to the park like I did after visiting Carlsberg or you may feel a little queasy when going on the rides! Don’t worry, I sobered up pretty quick 🙂
10. Rosenborg Castle
Rosenborg Castle is one of the favorite residences of King Christian IV. It was originally built as one of his summer homes.
The castle even houses many royal treasures, including crowns, swords, and jewelry. You can’t get closer to the monarchy than to actually see their crowns!
My favorite part of the castle was the grand hallway o n the top. The black and white marble steps extends as far as the eye can see. And the room houses several thrones and beautiful statues of animals and even paintings and tapestries.
Outside the castle is the gardens. I must say, the gardens were a little bit of a let down compared to what I’ve seen in Copenhagen and other European cities like Paris.
11. Christiansborg Palace
Christiansborg Palace is a both a palace and a government building in the center of Copenhagen.
It houses the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Danish Prime Minister’s Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark.
Further, parts of the palace are still used by the Danish monarch, including the Royal Reception Rooms, the Palace Chapel and the Royal Stables. You can take tours and visit all three of those locations.
If you’re visiting the palace, I would recommend going up the “Tower”. It’s the tallest building in the city and you will enjoy the views.
There is no fee to get up there, but there is a security checkpoint and they only allow 30 – 40 people up at one time.
12. Amalienborg
Amalienborg is the home of the royal Danish family. The palace contains four identical buildings and a large courtyard with a statue of King Frederick V.
The four buildings make up the palace include:
- Christian VII’s Palace
- Christian VIII’s Palace
- Frederick VIII’s Palace
- Christian IX’s Palace
In the castle museum you can learn all about the history of the Danish royal family. To this day, I’m still surprised by how they lived. The amount of politics is just mind blowing for mere peasants like me!
The palace is guarded by Royal Life Guards (Den Kongelige Livgarde). Their uniform is pretty similar to what you see at Buckingham Palace in London.
If you’re lucky, you can catch the changing of the guard at noon every day. It’s quite the show they give.
13. Freetown Christiania
Freetown Christiania is an interesting place in Denmark. It’s basically a semi-autonomous neighborhood.
They have a different set of rules/laws from the rest of Denmark.
I heard about it before I went to Denmark…in fact a few Danish girls recommended it to me. However, I never took it seriously.
But I decided to give it a try on my last day in Copenhagen. Let’s just say it was an interesting experience!
At first glance, you would think you just walked into the slums of Detroit or Chicago.
But it’s really more of a hippy paradise. The people living here are friendly, care-free and just enjoying life. And yes, you will smell a lot of weed in this neighborhood!
The best way I can describe Freetown Christiania is it’s like a hippy neighborhood.
Throughout the neighborhood there are art studios, coffee shops, and small restaurants. If you want to spend money here, be sure to bring cash as most of them won’t accept credit cards.
14. Eat at Marchal – a Michelin Star Restaurant
Copenhagen is known to have some of the best restaurants in the world. Yes, they are expensive, but they are also really, really good!
Now, Copenhagen is home to a handful of great Michelin Star restaurants. At most of them, you’ll be spending $300+ per person.
The restaurant I decided to go to was Marchal. It’s a one star Michelin restaurant in the beautiful historic Hotel d’Angleterre.
The restaurant is pretty fancy. I would say business casual dress code at a bare minimum.
This is so far the best meal I have ever had!
The restaurant is run by Chef Andreas Bagh.
The service is spot on and they pretty much bend over backwards to make sure you’re taken care of. Also pretty much everyone speaks English at the restaurant like the rest of Denmark.
The menu is a la carte although I wish they had a tasting menu.
I decided to start things off with the tartlet of beef tare tare. It was freaking delicious and incredibly creamy with the mushrooms.
For my appetizer, I had the lemon sole. The fish was nice and tender – basically fell apart when you touched it. And the beurre blanc sauce was to die for.
However, my favorite part of the dinner was the main course by far. I ordered the pigeon baked in puff pastry as I heard good things about it online. The dish did not disappoint! It was amazing!
The pastry was nice and crispy. The pigeon and duck were cooked to perfection and the cherries added a nice flavor to the dish. I think this is the best thing on the menu.
And for desert I had the waitress surprise me so she brought out a Baked Alaska. The desert is flambéed in rum.
It’s truly a great experience. Chef Andreas even came out to my table to explain the dishes! Overall, it would highly recommend Marchal. It is one of the best restaurants in Copenhagen!