Have you bought a plane ticket to Copenhagen and now you have to organize your trip to the Danish capital and you don't know where to start? Let's find out how to plan your low-budget Copenhagen tour trying to save as much as possible with some simple advices.
Hotel
Wakeup Copenhagen - Carsten Niebuhrs Gade ★★
Made a reservation on booking.com a 222€ (DKK 1.650) in total, for two people for 3 nights.
The hotel is very modern, minimal and essential style, with an excellent central location, not even 700m from the central station and the Tivoli Gardens, as well as the main roads. The rooms are all white, minimal and with a splendid panoramic view over the city. All equipped with free WiFi, manual climate control and flat-screen TV. Very important if you travel with a backpack only, in each room there is a hairdryer, towels, shower gel and shampoo. The electrical sockets are European ones so no adapters are needed. The hotel has a luggage storage for € 2.60 per locker with combination for the whole day (with only one locker we were able to put both backpacks) and also a bike rental for € 17 for the whole day. Copenhagen Wakeup has a 24-hour reception, as well as a 24-hour lobby bar with a variety of drinks, snacks and sandwiches.
Transports
✈ Flight for Copenhagen
We flew with Ryanair, booking a couple of weeks in advance, and we spent € 62.50 each return, bringing only the backpack to put under the seat.
- BLQ 6:35 p.m. - CPH 8.45 p.m.
- CPH 10:00 p.m. - BLQ 00-10 a.m.
How to reach Copenhagen centre from the airport
To reach the city center, the metro is the fastest way. The Metro station is located in Terminal 3 near the arrivals hall and the service operates 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. During rush hours, a train leaves the airport every 4-6 minutes and every 15-20 minutes during the night. The journey to the center takes about 30 minutes with a change to get to the Central Station. The ticket costs 4.7 € each (72DKK for two) and you can buy iy directly in the automatic columns, it's very simple.
Copenhagen Metro
Access to the Metro and other means of transport in the city is included in the Copenhagen Card, so if active you can reach the center from the airport with it, otherwise buy the individual rides. Honestly, we never used it, except to get to and from the airport. The city center is perfectly accessible on foot, and for the most distant places we took advantage of the bike rental, which gives you more freedom. In any case, the Copenhagen Metro is recent and consists of 4 lines that serve the city center well and are well connected to each other.
Renting a bike in Copenhagen
With the Copenhagen Card you will have a 20% discount on bike rental for a day, at a price of € 20 per person, with delivery at 5 pm in the various points indicated on the app. We rented it at our Wakeup Copenhagen hotel - Carsten Niebuhrs Gade for € 17 each, and the rental is valid for the whole day until midnight. The bikes were new, comfortable to use, with gears, an automatic lock already inserted in the bike, very comfortable and safe. We rented the bike on the third day, to reach the most distant places in the city, avoiding to take the metro and guaranteeing us complete freedom, but also offering us a different perspective of the city, living it to the full. About half of Copenhageners use bicycles to get to work or to study - the city is built for it. There are cycle paths everywhere, in perfect condition, with signs and traffic lights specially designed, and in the harbor area several bridges have been set up to connect the city and encourage people to cycle to get around.
Travelling to Copenaghen low-budget: how to save money
Danish Krone DKK and payments
The Danish Krone is the official currency in Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The current exchange rate is around € 1 = 7.44 DKK. We didn't change even 1 € on our trip: we always paid with credit cards, even in the markets and in Christiania. Copenhagen is a city fully equipped for contactless credit card payments, so it was never necessary to have cash in hand, saving on conversion. It's important that before leaving you check with your bank the authorization for international payments, and not to be charged with too many commissions. Once you check this thing, you will experience Copenhagen without the hassle of cash, coins or having to change money.
→ Prices and costs in Copenhagen
For an Italian tourist, who can't even dream of Danish salaries, at first glance Copenhagen is certainly very expensive, but in line with their lifestyle. We immediately realized this on the first evening, when we payed € 20 for two beers and a packet of chips. So here are some practical tips for saving money and exploring Copenhagen on a budget:
When booking your flight to Copenhagen, opt for only the small bag only. If you are traveling for a weekend, it will be more than enough even in winter. We only had the backpack, and it was perfect, we were also able to slip in some purchases on the way back, so we saved money by avoiding the purchase of hand luggage.
Get around the city on foot or by bike, if you have to use public transport, use the Copenhagen Card.
Tap water in Copenhagen is drinkable and really delicious, so bring a nice bottle to fill and avoid buying it in bars and supermarkets.
Prepare a packed lunch by buying in supermarkets and discount stores where prices are like Italian ones or eat in the various Christmas markets, or in Food Markets around the city, you will certainly pay less than in restaurants. For breakfast, opt for bakeries or pastry shops, much cheaper than bars. If you have to choose between beer and wine, opt for beer, wine at the restaurant costs a lot.
If you buy souvenirs, take advantage of the discount options for multiple purchases, you will save a few euros: a calamity will cost you at least € 5, but if you take 3 together, for example, it will be € 4.5 each.
For access to museums, churches and other activities, buy the Copenhagen Card, it will allow you to save a lot of money, depending on what you plan to do, choose the duration. But it's a great way to save.
It gives you free access to 87 museums and attractions, offers discounts in bars and restaurants, and public transport is included.
There are several options of varying duration: 24h (57€) - 48h (82€) - 72h (103€)
You can buy it in advance online, and activate it once in Copenhagen. I recommend you don't print the voucher, just select QR code option that you will get through the special app that can be downloaded for free, so that you can activate the Card just before having to use it for the first time. We activated it on Sunday morning (first day) at 11.30 a.m. before entering the Rosenborg Slot, with a validity of 48 hours we were able to use it until Tuesday morning at 11.30 a.m. The app is very useful, with a list of all the options included, and also a map with the location of all the activities, opening hours and useful information. Simple and practical, really convenient: you won't be able to use it with the printed voucher option. I recommend that you choose the option that best suits your schedule, trying to organize the visits based on the validity of the card: we were in the city for 72h, so we initially decided to buy the 72h one, as it seems logical to do. In reality, by organizing the days, we have grouped museums and attractions in two days, so that the 48h one is enough. Keep in mind that the card is free to cancel up to 24 hours in advance to receive a full refund, so you can easily do it the week before you leave.
Here is a small selection of the attractions covered by your Copenhagen Card:
Tivoli Gardens*
Canals Tour *
Rosenborg Slot *
Amalienborg
The Round Tower *
National Museum
Kronborg Slot
Copenaghen Zoo
Marmorkirken
Vor Frelser Kirke *
Copenaghen Contemporary
Ny Glypotek Carlsberg *
Christianborg
ARKEN Museum
Dansk Arkitektur Centre
Geologisk Museum (Statens Naturhistoriske Museum)
Museet for Samtidskunst
Roskilde Museum
Zoologisk Museum (Statens Naturhistoriske Museum)
The ones with an asterisk * are the ones we did using the 48-hour card, spending € 82 each, and saving more than € 40. To find out more about these places, here is the link. On the official website you can select the attractions you intend to visit and it will automatically calculate how much you would spend without the card and therefore how much you will save.
Here are some useful tips you can use to plan your trip to Copenhagen and experience the Danish capital to the fullest on a tight budget.
To find out which places to visit on your low budget weekend in Copenhagen, I'll leave you to the dedicated post. If you need any more information, comment below, I'll be pleased to help you.
For your Christmas guide in Copenaghen, click here.
Have a nice trip (: