Reader Bryony and her husband have booked a long weekend trip to Copenhagen in January. They’ve secured discounted hostel accommodation and got a great deal on flights so now they’re looking for budget-friendly recommendations for their trip to this notoriously expensive (but ridiculously pretty!) city.
{Bryony’s Request}
My husband and I have decided not to do Christmas gifts for each other this year but instead put the money we would have spent on presents towards a long weekend in Copenhagen in January. We booked Copenhagen on the spur of the moment after seeing a 25% off offer at the Generator Hostel and return flights for only £50 with EasyJet. So the flights and accommodation are booked and we have a long weekend in Copenhagen to look forward to (I love doing a trip in Jan/Feb to help make those months a little less bleak!). Apart from the Little Mermaid statue and Noma (which we cannot even think about trying to get a table for unfortunately) we know nothing about Copenhagen so any hints, tips and recommendations would be gratefully received We understand that it can be pricey so budget-friendly tips would be very welcome!
It’s several years since I’ve been to Copenhagen (for 24 hours on the way to a wedding outside of the city) and I remember that, yes, it was expensive, but also that it’s a great city for walking. Everything is close by, so wrap up warm (don’t forget your thermals!) and hit the streets to see sights such as the Little Mermaid (for lots more places to put on your sightseeing list check out the Visit Copenhagen site here). From what I can see on Instagram there seems to be lots of great street art to check out, if that’s your thing, and there’s a growing street food movement too, for cheap eats. If you’re into museums it’s worth knowing that most have at least one day a week when they offer free entry, so do your research ahead of your trip and hopefully you’ll be able to get your culture fix for free. Having stayed in hostels in Berlin, Lisbon and Reykjavik over the past year or so I’ve always found the staff to be really knowledgeable about budget things to do during your stay and there may well be a noticeboard somewhere in the hostel advertising stuff to do in the city for not much money (for example I booked a walking tour before I got to Reykjavik, but at the hostel I stayed at there was a notice advertising a free walking tour, sometimes it doesn’t pay to be organised, I guess!). The Generator hostel website has a Top 5 Budget Eateries in Copenhagen feature that would be worth reading. I particularly like the look of Gorm’s but then I’m yet to come across a pizza I didn’t enjoy…
Any Rock My Style readers been to Copenhagen recently? What are the best free but must-see sights in the city? Know any budget-friendly bars, cafes and restaurants? Any other hints, tips and recommendations to help Bryony and her husband make the most of their time in the city? Do share in the comments section below!
Photographs: The awesome @somewhereincopenhagen Instagram feed
I went on a visit to Copenhagen in November 2013. It is expensive and some of the prices are ouch! Stuff we did included a parkrun at Amager Strandpark on the Saturday morning if you’re into running (parkruns are of course free).
I visited the Little Mermaid on three occasions on that trip – the best time was when I went for an early morning run and there was no one else there, otherwise it gets crazy busy with tourists! There’s also the Kastellet which is old fortress in shape of a star that you can walk around http://www.kastellet.info/ and it’s only a mile or so from the Little Mermaid.
Drinks were so expensive over there we stopped converting as it made me cry inside. But the beer was such good quality I never had a hangover. There are lots of good bakeries around so we did buy a great selection of sweet pastries and enjoyed them with a coffee outside. The brunches in copenhagen are great and will fill you up for the day (ours included Eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese, ham, salad, yoghurt + muesli, melon, kiwi, pineapple, pancakes + maple syrup and rye bread!).
One of the bargain things we did was go on a boat tour, it lasted a couple of hours and was definately less than a tenner per person. It was great to see Copenhagen from an alternative perspective. There were various tours running from Nyhavn http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/nyhavn-gdk474735
I’m also a massive fan of scandi-noir and we went on a ‘Killing’ walking tour. This was relatively cheap and quite insightful, but if there are free walkings tours then I’d recommend them above the killing tour.
Have an ace time – I loved it there.
We went to Copenhagen last month and it was glorious, but very expensive! As Chrissi mentioned they do brunch very well so we had brunch every day and that covered two meals. Little places around the latin quarter are very reasonable. Not exactly budget but I would highly recommend bastionen & loven in Christianhaven as an amazing brunch spot by candlelight in a converted mill- so romantic. It works out around £20 each which if you think it covers two meals isn’t too shabby.
It is a wonderful city to explore (and do it by foot it’s very easy) and we can’t wait to go back!
We went to Copenhagen about 18 months ago. We bought a Open Copenhagen card (24 hour/72 hour/5 day etc versions) which was an initial expense but it gets you into almost every museum, art gallery etc for free or discounted. It’s well worth planning your trip around this to get the most out if it and is great value if you use it properly. Many places accept it. I think it also works on the bus. We walked a lot (saved money and also saw all the sites), Copenhagen isn’t huge so walking most of it is totally possible. Have a great time. Copenhagen stole my heart forever!
We went to Copenhagen for 3 nights back in April and loved it. We took our 2 year old so weren’t really looking for bars to visit but enjoyed a couple of lovely meals.
Its quite expensive but we didn’t think it was too bad, maybe because we live near Edinburgh where eating out for a few days would also cost a lot. We had a couple of cheapish meals at Wagamama / an american diner then a nicer one in our hotel as it was our anniversary while we were there. One place we did like for food was the pizza restaurant Mother, definitely worth a visit. Our hotel provided breakfast so for lunch almost every day we got hotdogs from the loads of street sellers which were cheap and delicious and suited a 2 year old!
As for sightseeing, as you can imagine ours was more kid related, with a visit to the zoo and aquarium, although we did go over to Malmo, Sweden on the train for the afternoon, took a canal boat tour from Nyhavn (the little mermaid is tiny), wandered around the old town, visited a few shops, went to the design museum and up the old round tower, none of which cost too much although we had pre-bought the Copenhagen card as we knew we wanted to go to the zoo etc. A couple of free things we did were have a wander around Christiania and visit the National Museum.
Hope you enjoy, we would love to go back again as there were loads of things we didn’t get time to see.
We went to Copenhagen in July and loved it! I’m sure that going in winter will be different than we experienced, but it’s still an amazing city.
Some cheap places to eat we enjoyed:
DOP – for hotdogs (there are a few carts around town) such good hotdogs
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/may/05/copenhagen-best-restaurant-guide
GROD – for porridge in the morning (and the street it is on has some cool shops/ restaurants along it too)
http://www.guide-to-copenhagen.com/restaurant/a-different-restaurant-grod
My favourite had to be Torvehallerne market. This is a food market with so many different choices and all of them are quite reasonable. Defnintely check out the smorrebrod stand.
http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/gastronomy/torvehallerne
Enjoy!
I was in Copenhagen for work in June 2011, but managed to catch a lot of the sights in the evening, it really is a beautiful city. My best tip would be to catch a harbour bus around the city. Depending on the route it takes around 2hrs if you stay on for a full circuit or you can just hop on and off. It was MUCH cheaper than the official harbour tours.
We went to Tivoli Gardens which lots of people rave about but to be honest we were pretty underwhelmed and it was very expensive.
I really loved the culture and spent most of my free time wandering around exploring the city. Church of Our Saviour (Danish: Vor Frelsers Kirke) was fantastic, as was Nyhavn, and if you get a chance to wander around the commune at Christiania its a real experience. I would also second running around the Amager strandpark and Kastellet if you like history.
I hope you have a fantastic trip! xo
Hi Bryony, my partner & I went to CH for our babymoon in May. My top tip for Noma-style food is a restaurant called Bror which, while not cheap, will give you a taste of the Noma experience at a more affordable price. Bror translates as ‘brother’ & it’s run by a former Noma chef. Think we spent about £100 on the tasting menu. Like I said, not cheap but much better value than £500 at Noma! And easier to get a table!
My other top tip is Louisiana – an amazing modern art museum a short train ride from the city. It’s not free but you could easily spend a whole day there & it has a great cafe & shop. Wrap up warm as there are lots of outside installations & sculptures.
Unless you love rides, I would give Tivoli a wide berth – it’s basically a really overpriced theme park.
Christiania is definitely worth a visit – it has to be seen to be believed.
Have a wonderful time!
PS I second Candice on the hotdogs!
Hi. I went to Copenhagen this summer. If you want Noma style new Nordic cuisine try Manfreds & Vin. They do a tasting menu for a reasonable price which is a great way to experience the cuisine. It’s a restaurant commonly recommended by chefs. The staff are lovely and speak impeccable English which is really useful for describing the food (I don’t know the word “emulsification” in Danish!)
Also good is the gourmet hotdog stand by the round tower for quick snack and visit the Torvehallerne food markets which are beautiful!
Enjoy Köbenhavn!
I big thank you for all the recommendations – Mike and I had a marvellous time in Copenhagen at the weekend! We bought the Copenhagen cards and made the most of them and also went on a couple of free walking tours. We visited Manfreds on Saturday night which we loved so thanks for that Ali.
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