Copenhagen - Is it expensive?

[Disapointednelly]

Hi all, I'm looking to book a long weekend in Copenhagen for my birthday in April but there's a lot of online discussion about how expensive it is...

Flights and hotel would be around £300 per person for Fri-Mon (getting full days on both). But when you're actually there do you end up spending a lot of money?

We have a recent obsession with Vikings so would love to do museums and travel to some smaller towns outside CPH

Has anyone been recently and can talk about costs? With how expensive everything is in the UK (and I'm up North!) I'm wondering if it won't feel like such of a hit when comparing.

You will never get a real appreciation from these posts op unfortunately. I havent been to Copenhagen but have been to Iceland. I frequently see comments about Iceland being very expensive and whilst it was more than the NE we compared costs, especially on supermarkets and restaurants as being sainsburys (UK) versus M&S (Iceland). So whilst slightly more, it wasnt significant

I've visited Denmark/Copenhagen briefly a couple of times and loved it. Heading over the bridge is great. (PPs recommend Malmö and I'd add Lund.) Can't remember general prices but they're easy enough to check online.

BUT. Don't forget important bits and pieces in a packing rush. I forgot my Lactase tablets on a trip to Norway and had to get some at a pharmacy. £7 in Boots, £19 there. Not Denmark, obvs, but still expensive Scandiwegia... Have a fab trip.

If you love Vikings, do go to The National Museum and see The Viking Sorceress exhibition, It was fabulous. Very varied and well presented. Also if you have time for a trip to Rothskilde (about an hour by train, very easy) it's fun to see the Viking boats which you can go out in (not sure if it's seasonal). The cathedral is magnificent too.

Eating out is not cheap in Denmark. If you were looking for a rigorous breakfast / lunch / dinner set up you'd probably be looking at £100 a day for eating at pretty standard places (ie not high end). I just skipped breakfast, ate danish pastries or ice cream or beer with snacks in the day then had a proper evening meal so kept it down to £50/60.

We went at the end of September, 2 of us (me and DH). We went Thurs-Sun with a live music event on the Saturday. We enjoy a drink!

We had a hotel with breakfast so made the most of it. We also got one free drink in the hotel bar each, during their happy hour when everything was half price if we wanted another.

I've just looked on my Monzo app to see what I spent.

Lunch was snacks from Lidl or leftover pizza (see below), about £4/day.

We had 2 meals out with drinks, one was in Proud Mary Irish pub (their steak salad is lovely!) and that was about £40. We also ate at Sticks n Sushi on the roof of the Tivoli - for a large mixed platter between us to eat plus a beer for DH and cocktail for me it was £65. On the first night we took takeaway back to the room, large pizza (enough for the next day's lunch) and a chicken kebab with 2 cans of pop was £20.

Out and about DH drinks beer which was about £6, I have rum n coke (44cl measure there so about 1.5 UK measures) or cocktails (especially aperol spritz!) which averaged about £10 so not megabucks as long as you're not caning it.

A Baileys hot chocolate by the canal was about £4.

Not outrageous by any standards.

We loved the water taxis and went up and down the river several times, jumping on and off to go and look at stuff.

A hidden gem is the Elephant Gate at the Carlsberg Brewery HQ....

This is where we stayed @LittleMonks11 : https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/2604394?check_in=2024-11-14&check_out=2024-11-19&guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=73a5639b-6073-4402-947b-db29b8aa0f99

Ok - I lived there for 20 months right up to 2022 so here's the tips

Is it expensive- I would say London money but drinking is expensive- that's why you see ( in good weather) loads sat by Nyborg with cans and bottles ( it's allowed) - wine in particular is expensive out date cocktails - £11 a glass is average. Beer not so much.

Food- the 24/7 shops which are all over do cheap snacks and sandwiches - the hot dog stands are amazing ( good one by the round tower) and for about £5 you get an amazing hot dog with crispy onions and remoulade - I'm still tasting it now. My favourite coffee chain espresso house ( very nice) do enormous ham and cheese focaccias which are big enough to share. Meals out- often big enough to share - get in habit of sharing plus an extra portion of fries etc- no one bats an eye. Coffees- a large one in espresso house which is around £5.80 is so big you can share it-carry round a clean beaker and split- we used to all the time. Ice creams are cheap and enormous and amazing quality - they like 'soft ice' which they cover in either cocoa powder or chocolate sprinkles. About £4 for a massive one.

There is a good area of 'ethnic' restaurants called Norrebro ( funky area) - lots of very affordable places there. If you go between April and October there are several good outdoor food areas that have a vibe with music and DJs etc- lots if reasonable and affordable world food options. Broens is one- just over the bridge in christianshavn and the other is Reffen- you go on a boat to this usually - both great fun .

There is another area called meatpacking area and that has several really good pizza places plus an amazing Chinese- again not stupidly expensive - very good quality - and just share -

I disagree with the person about Stockholm by the way ( and I love Stockholm - we go most years for new year) I think there is less to do if you have kids. Copenhagen also has the beach ( white soft sand) it has Tivoli open most of the year plus a terrific old school fair 15 minutes away on train called Bakken set in woods - it's like Hansel and Gretle. It is slightly cheaper- but not much. If you like vikings go to Roskilde , this also has Viking boats plus rock and pop museum and is set on a fjord, lovely town.

Weather wise by the way- we thought it rained less than the UK and more sun and in winter more snow- definitely more seasonal - lots of fog in winter too

We went this year for 4 nights. It is expensive, mainly eating out or coffee shops (anywhere with a lot of labour)

To give you examples, we are 2 adults and 1 child and we paid nearly £90 for a Wagamamas which would have been £60 at home. Also ate a pizza meal and an Indian; it was about +30%-40% more than UK.

You can balance costs by eating cheaper lunches. Lots of lovely bakeries to pick up sandwiches and pastries, you can definitely keep costs lower in the day. I can't remember spending too much on excursions either and had a fantastic time. Lots of amazing playgrounds for kids there too.

We visited in August and I didn't find it ridiculously expensive now that the cost of eating and drinking out in the UK has gone up.

We had a Copenhagen Card for the full duration so didn't spend any extra on travel or attractions (and we did a LOT!).

We had a big breakfast in our hotel as late as possible. We took snacks from home to keep the kids going and refilled water bottles throughout the day. We picked up some fruit from supermarkets.

We didn't need big lunches so normally picked up a few pastries and shared those.

Instead of traditional sit down restaurants for dinner, we went to one of the street food markets 3 times - Reffen was an absolute highlight but we also tried Broens and Tivoli food hall. It was definitely on the higher end of what I'd pay here but the food was excellent.

Drinks are definitely expensive but we weren't drinking a lot anyway.

I think you can do it on a reasomabke budget but it really depends on what your expectations are for food and drink. Ours were definitely casual and child-friendly so I think that kept the costs down.

We also found that the cost of travel and accommodation was higher for cheaper cities so it all evened out in the end. We loved it, would highly recommend!

@Kialla Reffen is brilliant isn't it!! I agree with your post having lived there - if you want to sit around for long formal boozy evening meals then yes being honest it's pretty expensive - if you go for more casual meals and moderate drinking- it's doable.

@Crikeyalmighty we seriously considered going back several times. The vibe with the music and firepits was perfect - I felt so chilled and relaxed which is unusual at dinner with my children 🤣

@Kialla yep - we used to go a lot in summer - it's a different kind of social scene to be honest- people go out for cheaper happy hours straight after work and go home and cook or grab a pizza or go to Reffen or Broens etc in summer. It isn't cheap anywhere if you are comparing to say Prague or Berlin Turkey or even Spain - but the quality is high . It's more the drinking in bars I think, people are often used to drinking a fair bit on holiday - it's actually pretty cheap for great wine in the supermarkets if you live there- less than UK we found.

Ah thank you - you've all been amazing! So many great tips 😄

Now just have to convince the other half to get it booked!

It's London prices, except alcohol can be more expensive. You don't have to leave a tip though.

@Finnished I forgot to mention that- yep- tipping not expected!!

We did a week self catering there when the DC were 14, 13 and 10 and spent £5K in total but flew from Scotland at the end of August (so outwith the school holidays) so our flights were very reasonable. Accomodation was comparable in cost to London but was nicer, we had more room in a beautiful period flat.

It's a fabulous city with kids. We ate out at lunchtime, averaging about £100 for the 5 of us but that was usually without alcohol then cooked for ourselves in the evening. Food much better quality than in the UK at the museums and the aquarium. Roskilde Viking Museum was a fantastic hit, and the Aquarium plus Tivoli obviously. I loved it.

At the Viking museum in Roskilde you can pay a little extra and take a turn in a longboat. It was great fun!

Yes expensive but check exchange rate, Nordic countries much weaker than GBP at moment so might be ok

We went in August and while it was big city expensive to eat out/drink the cost of transport and things to do was reasonable.
I visited Germany for work since and it wasn’t much cheaper than Copenhagen which I found really surprising as it used to be noticeably cheaper than the UK.
I adored Denmark and already booked to do back!

Thank you @MargoLivebetter looks really lovely. I finally booked a hotel yesterday after endless to'ing and fro'ing.

Very excited now reading all these great posts and tips.

We go in four weeks - just after Tivoli gets its tinsel out! 🎄

@LittleMonks11 absolutely gorgeous at Xmas!!

https://dnm.dk/en/frederiksborg-castle/ is beautiful and it's fun spotting the famous names who've got an order of the elephant in the castle chapel.

https://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/things-do/history/kronborg-castle too is easy to get to.

Re hotels. I'd say they are in general better level than in UK. I like Scandic or Radisson hotels. They often include breakfast (continental with some hot food , but substantial).

Does the Copenhagen card include the Tivoli gardens at Christmas market time, does anyone know? TIA