On our recent trip to Iceland (October 2024), we spent a day in Copenhagen on our way back from Iceland to India. Our day started with an early flight from Reykjavik to Copenhagen and we landed at Copenhagen airport by noon, leaving us with roughly half a day to explore this city (we had a morning flight to Doha on the next day).

Currency

Denmark doesn’t use Euro and instead have their own currency called Danish Kroner (DKK). 1 DKK roughly equals 12.5 INR. Before heading out of the airport, we withdrew some currency from ATM, although, you can go by without any cash in the city and just relying on the cards.

Airport to city transfer

There are 4 main ways by which you can reach the city from the airport – Taxis, Buses, Train and Metro. – 1. Taxis are the most expensive option costing anywhere between 350 to 500 DKK. They are all metered and so, once the destination is set, the cost runs on the distance and duration of the journey, taking around 20 to 40 mins to reach the city center.
2.Buses are also not advised since you can run into traffic and can get delayed quite a bit.
3. The train and the metro take similar times to the city center (around 15 mins) and cost the same. The difference being trains can run into delays and only run every 10 to 20 mins where as Metro is more reliable and runs every few mins. We took the metro from the airport, costing around 30 DKK taking the M2 line and switching to M1 to reach our hotel in 30 mins. There are ticket vending machines on every station and is available in English language as well. You can also consider purchasing the 24 hour city pass depending on your itinerary for the day.

Attractions

Nyhavn

After having lunch at the hotel, we left at around 4 pm to explore the city. Our first stop was Nyhavn. Nyhavn is a 17th century waterfront, canal and entertainment district. The area is lined with multicolored houses (like Amsterdam) and restaurants and is usually buzzing with energy and full of people. This is where you get the postcard image of the Copenhagen city. We took pictures of the the canal with the houses and explored some of the sweet treats around this area (eg: Churros from “Rajissimo”). One can also consider doing a canal cruise from here. It is a guided tour which costs around 99 DKK and is roughly 1 hr long.

Amalienborg Palace square

A short walk from Nyhavn is the Amalienborg Palace square. Amalienborg Palace is the seat of the Danish Monarchy and the complex has 4 identical classical facades (effectively 4 palaces) laid around on an octagonal courtyard.

Frederiks Kirke

We then walked to the Frederiks Kirke (popularly known as the Marble church) which is a church with a beautiful dome.

Shopping

By this time, it was already getting dark and we had to finish our souvenir shopping. So we headed to Stroget shopping street, which is a pedestrian only car free shopping area. A few things to buy from Copenhagen are – Little mermaid figurines, blue porcelain figurines, Viking toys. We finished our dinner at one of the Indian restaurants nearby before taking the metro back to our hotel to end the day before departing to Doha on the following morning.

Other places of consideration

Other places you can consider visiting if you have a bit more time in the city –

Gefion Fountain – Gefion Fountain features a group of oxen pulling a plow and being driven by the Norse goddess Catheon.

Statue of Little mermaid – A short walk from the fountain is the little mermaid statue. The bronze statue is based on the 1837 fairly tale of the same name by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson and has been a tourist attraction since its unveiling in 1913.

Tivoli Gardens – This famous amusement park combines manicured gardens and roller coasters in central Copenhagen