The Ultimate Copenhagen in Winter Travel Guide – Where to go, what to eat

When I first told people I was booking a trip to Copenhagen in December, they said: “Why Copenhagen?”

And when I met some people in Copenhagen in a bar, they asked: “Why here?”

And it was sort of a random decision. But when I decided back in July that I wanted to book a trip, I knew I wanted to book it in December. And Copenhagen seemed like the perfect place to be around the holiday season. And, it sort of was. The weather was comfortable for early December and there was holiday cheer and string lights everywhere,

My friend and I went for about five days (honestly could’ve done everything in four) and we stayed at the CPH Studio Hotel, which I can’t recommend enough. The shower was weird but the price was amazing and it was so close to the train station, which was a huge win. The room was also the biggest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. We also flew Norweigan, which was really quite pleasant! I turned 22 while mid-air on a Norweigan flight!

Without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about traveling to Copenhagen in December based on my travels: where to go, what to skip, what to eat, and where to shop.

The highlights of the trip a.k.a my absolute must-visit destinations if you go to Copenhagen:

You have to visit Nyhavn for photos and then climb aboard one of the boat tours.

First, take so many pictures of the colorful houses! We booked our tour in advance with The Grand Tour, but we still had to pick up tickets and wait, so booking online was kind of… pointless? But, sure. So definitely suggest the boat tour, but don’t bother booking online if you think it’ll save you time or money.

Note that you’ll literally have to duck during the tour due to the low-lying bridges around Copenhagen, but overall it was really funny, informative, and beautiful. Blissfully, the tour was in Englis. We got to see so many Copenhagen landmarks, including the famed The Little Mermaid statue, which was as disappointing as I’d anticipated. Even the tour guide said so.

Be sure to get a waffle on a stick along the river before your tour, because it lasts a little over an hour! I got my waffle dipped in chocolate and it was one of the tastiest parts of the trip.

And be sure to bundle up. We opted to sit on the outer part of the boat, but toward the end of the tour, things got quite chilly. 

Do some shopping at one of the Flying Tiger locations. 

Okay, yes, it’s a chain, but still. I’d been to the store in New York City, but the one in Denmark was even cooler because the store is Danish. There are so many of them throughout Copenhagen and it’s such a good place to pick up unique and affordable little souvenirs and Danish snacks.

Here, I bought cool band-aids, Danish cookies, and other candy bars I couldn’t find anywhere else. Definitely a fun place to walk around in.

Make some time to explore The Design Museum.

This museum was FREE for students and young people, which was cool. There are so many rooms that we got lost a few times. It’s a great way to spend a rainy day in Copenhagen and getting there wasn’t overly difficult. It covers fashion, furniture, graphics, fonts, and all things design.

It’s also right by the Amalienborg Palace, so we got to see that, too, just by taking a quick walk. For the record, this photo was taken at Amalienborg Palace but that is not the palace I’m standing in front of, amaze.

Take a dip at Copenhot, hot tubs along the edge of Copenhagen.

This one we booked in advance, and I recommend you do as well. Also, triple check your reservation time and nd bring flip-flops, two things we failed to do. Also, bring your own towels and wear a cozy hat! This experience was stunning and I totally recommend doing it at night, because seeing the city lights over the water was stunning.

That being said, the area this is in is industrial and a bit sketchy, to the point where our taxi driver didn’t want to drop us off because he was concerned. Also, our taxi ride from the Amager Stran area cost $40! For one way! Transit and a lot of walking could’ve been an option, but we didn’t feel comfortable doing it. So, minus the $80 in fare, the experience was actually incredibly cool.

Embark on the Carlsberg Brewery Tour and Beer Tasting Experience.

This was pretty far to get to, but it felt like an entire miniature town. There were horses, gift shops, a museum, and a few food trucks and tiny markets set up. We opted for the museum entrance and beer tasting. To be honest, the museum didn’t particularly interest me and my friend didn’t love the beer (to be fair, we don’t really like beer)… but this was a part of the trip I would recommend! I know, it sounds like a paradox. It was overall pretty cool and the gift shop was impressive.

Tivoli Gardens is one of the oldest amusement parks and it’s amazing night and day.

This was the place I was most excited to see. We visited once at night to wander around and see the lights, foods, games, and shops. Then, we visited later on in our trip to buy the unlimited ride pass (which is worth it if you plan to go on more than two or three rides, which we did). I’m so glad we went more than once! It felt necessary to see the entire park.

They don’t mess AROUND with rides! I’ve been to many amusement parks, but these rides were seriously fast and wild. I must also note that there isn’t much English around the park, so the map isn’t super handy unless you speak Danish. That being said, we navigated everything just fine.

I also won a giant chocolate bar filled with like 50 chocolate bars from playing one game of luck! It was a journey to bring it home. But, it’s tasty. Daim tastes like a Heath bar, as I’ve been told by friends and family.

Other things I saw and did in Copenhagen that were fine a.k.a the things I suppose I could’ve skipped and/or was mildly disappointed by:

The Round Tower was…not super impressive.

I’m going to be real here, walking around the spiraled cobblestone pathway didn’t feel worth the view. The building isn’t much of a tower — in fact, we almost missed it because we were expecting something that towered over the city a bit more than it really did. It’s worth seeing, but if you have limited time I wouldn’t really recommend going out of your way to see it.

Tovellerhane didn’t have as many ready-to-eat options as I’d hoped.

Almost every single travel post I saw highly recommended this bustling food market. But… after walking through it multiple times I couldn’t find anything I really wanted to eat. And, I’m not a picky eater and I was eager to try new food. I was a bit disappointed! You might like this if you enjoy fish? We picked up some pastries here but I wasn’t overly enthralled.

The Copenhagen Zoo was cool but a bit underwhelming.

Okay, I was so excited about this. But for the price, I guess I was a bit underwhelmed. There were lots of animals and you could actually get pretty close to them and see them without huge metal cages obstructing your view, but overall this wasn’t one of my major highlights of the trip!

“Freetown Christiania” wasn’t as big as I thought and there really wasn’t much to see or do unless you wanted to buy weed.

There was some really cool artwork but overall this highly recommended “lawless” and free-spirited community didn’t quite feel worth the visit? As cool as it was to walk through, it only took us like 10 minutes to see the bulk of it and we mostly just observed some people smoking and selling weed. It was definitely something that could’ve been skipped on the trip.

Eats & Drinks!

Okay. A problem I definitely wasn’t expecting to have: It was so so difficult to find meals in Copenhagen. I’m not a picky eater (I’m wont to order something without knowing exactly what it is and eat something in its entirety before asking what exactly I ate). I eat meat! And dairy! And gluten!

But, finding food to eat was overwhelmingly difficult to the point where one meal was a hot dog from 7/11 and another was snacks we bought from the grocery store. I was warned by fellow bloggers that food is expensive, which I didn’t find to be true. Maybe it’s because I’m from New York City and used to “outrageous” food prices, but in Denmark the food was affordable. Paying roughly $5 for a waffle on a stick, $15 for a burger and $20 for brunch didn’t bother me.

But I was so bothered at how much we struggled to find places to eat! So much so that I broke one of my travel rules and ate Italian food and other foods that I can more or less get anywhere.

That being said, when we did find food, it was typically quite tasty.

Lagkagehuset had awesome pastries.

This is a chain of bakery/coffee shops that can be found throughout Copenhagen. My friend and I got a regular and chocolate Kanelsnegle, which is basically like an amazing cinnamon bun pastry creation you can find all over Copenhagen. However, the coffee was super watery. Come here for the amazing pastries, maybe not for the coffee. 

Somersby Hard Ciders (especially Blueberry and Blackberry flavors) can be found at the Carlsberg tour or in supermarkets and they’re amazing. 

My friend and I picked up a bunch of these at the grocery stores and Carlsberg and oh my goodness. This cider might be the best alcoholic drink I’ve ever had. Their blackberry flavor was also amazing and I’ll miss them so much! Won’t miss the pear one, though, yuck!

Æbleskivers are fried dough and they’re worth trying. 

We tried these beignet/pancake/fried dough balls while in Tivoli Gardens, but you can find them almost everywhere. They were pretty tasty.

Jagger is a tasty fast food option.

This Danish fast food chain was very aesthetically pleasing and surprisingly delicious. I had no idea chicken could be so crispy.

Mad & Kaffe is a fun brunch spot.

This was hands-down the place I was most excited to dine at in Copenhagen. The cute brunch spot has multiple locations and the ordering process is simple. The chorizo was amazing. The rice pudding was phenomenal. The cheese! The roasted red pepper cream cheese and toast! Everything was delicious and I loved the ability to mix and match which dishes you wanted. As someone who loves trying a bunch of foods, this tapas-y brunch was a dream. 

The Italian was fancy and delicious.

This was a bit of a splurge, but it was amazing. The three-course meal deal wasn’t too bad and I was so so impressed with my burrata and spinach and cheese ravioli! The three courses also came with dessert, but my bold move ordering the cheese plate didn’t quite pay off. All in all, this place was really great.

Gløgg, a signature drink in Denmark, isn’t for me. 

This is sold literally all over Copenhagen. We tried it the first day and I hated it. It tasted like warm cough medicine to me, but it’s wildly popular in Copenhagen!

My general travel advice for visiting Copenhagen a.k.a things I wish I’d known sooner:

Trains and buses run so frequently! Don’t stress! It’s so hard to get lost since there are only two train lines. Also, always ask “Does this bus go to X?” when getting on a bus! It’ll save you from getting lost more than you’d think.

Just buy the unlimited transit pass. You won’t need to show it very often, but you’ll be thankful to have one when it does get checked. They do always check them on buses, though.

Calculate if the Copenhagen Card is actually worth it before you decide whether or not to buy it. I’m so glad I did! Turns out, the student/young people discounts are so great at some places and the transit is so affordable with the pass that the Copenhagen Card isn’t worth it if you don’t plan to hit up multiple tourist-y spots each day. Calculate ticket prices before buying the card.

Keep a money conversion calculator on your phone. I kept forgetting how much Krones equated to in USD. I used APAPAPAPA so many times during my trip!

Wear a hat! And bring gloves! This mostly applies if you travel in winter as I did. But, it did get quite cold and wet some days. I also suggest wearing waterproof boots, preferably riding boots or once that go up mid-calf on your leg. But ALSO, it’s not nearly as cold as I thought it would be. New York winters are much, much worse than the early December weather in Copenhagen was.

Download Google Maps. Pin the places you want to go! Use it to navigate! The default Maps app that comes with iPhones was more or less useless in Copenhagen.

A lot of the streets and walkways are cobblestone. Wasn’t expecting this. Didn’t feel great on the feet after a while.

So, all in all, it was a pretty great trip. Copenhagen in December was definitely a good call, especially because the string lights and seasonal decor made it all the more magical!