The M2 metro is the way into Copenhagen: a train every few minutes from the station beside Terminal 3, 12 to 15 minutes to Kongens Nytorv, by Nyhavn, and it runs all night. One DKK 30 ticket covers the ride, and the same ticket works on the train to Central Station.
What's the best way from Copenhagen airport into the city?
For most layovers, take the M2 metro from Terminal 3 towards Vanløse: a train every few minutes, 12 to 15 minutes to Kongens Nytorv, and it runs all night. Buy a 3-zone single, DKK 30, at the machine before you board, and another for the way back. Allow about an hour from landing to the metro, and leave town 2 hours before your flight.
Getting through the border
Before the metro, you clear passport control if you’ve flown in from outside the Schengen area; from a Schengen country you walk straight out. Copenhagen Airport (CPH) doesn’t publish queue times, so plan on about an hour from landing to sitting on the metro.
- The kiosk, then the desk. Visitors from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland now register at a self-service kiosk before passport control, entering details such as the purpose of their visit and where they’re staying, then see an officer. It’s new and can slow the queue.
- EU, EEA and Swiss citizens aged 18 or over with an electronic passport can use the self-service passport gates.
- Bags. On one ticket they go through to your next flight. On separate tickets you collect them after passport control; the lockers by the metro are below.
- A long wait shortens your time in town but never your margin for the flight: you still leave town at the same time.
- A short walk. From the baggage hall to the metro or the train is only 150 to 250 metres, all step-free.
Who needs a visa to leave: visa and transit rules.
The options at a glance
| Metro M2 | DSB train | Taxi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| To | Christianshavn, Kongens Nytorv, Nørreport | Central Station (København H) | Anywhere |
| Time | 12 to 15 minutes | About 15 minutes | About 20 to 25 minutes |
| Single fare | DKK 30 | DKK 30, the same ticket | About DKK 250 to 400 |
| Pay with | Card or coins at the machine, or the Rejsebillet app | The same | Usually a card |
The taxi’s time is our estimate.
Metro M2: the best option for most layovers
- Finding it. The metro station adjoins Terminal 3: follow the signs from arrivals. Take the yellow M2 line towards Vanløse. The airport is the end of the line, so every train from it goes into town.
- The ride. 12 to 15 minutes to Christianshavn, Kongens Nytorv and Nørreport, the stops for every plan on our itineraries but one. Nyhavn is a short walk from Kongens Nytorv.
- How often. About every 3 minutes by day and in the evening, and every 2 minutes at the rush hours, 7am to 9am and 2pm to 6pm. From 1am to 7am, about every 8 minutes on Friday and Saturday nights and every 20 minutes on other nights.
- Tickets. Don’t worry about zones: the ticket you want is the 3-zone single, DKK 30, which covers the ride between the airport and the centre and is valid for 90 minutes on the metro, trains and buses. Buy it before you board, at the machines in the metro station, which take cards and coins but not notes, at the DSB ticket office in Terminal 3, or in the Rejsebillet app. There are no barriers, but inspectors check. Buy a second single for the way back: a 1-day City Pass Small costs DKK 100, so it pays only if you’ll make four or more trips.
- No last train. The metro runs around the clock, every day of the year, so there’s no first train to wait for and no last train to catch. The exception is planned engineering works, which sometimes put buses in place of trains between the airport and Vanløse for a night, from about midnight to 5:30am. If you’ll be heading back late, check the metro’s status page or Rejseplanen, the journey planner, on the day, and allow longer if the buses are running.
DSB train: straight to Central Station
Trains to Copenhagen Central Station (København H) leave from tracks 1 and 2 at Terminal 3 and take about 15 minutes. The station is next to Tivoli Gardens and a short walk from the Glyptotek, so the train is the better ride for those two, and for our Glyptotek plan.
- Tickets. The same DKK 30 ticket as the metro, from the same machines, the DSB ticket office or the app. You can’t buy one on board, and riding without one risks a fine.
- How often. Less often than the metro, though trains run through the night too. Check the departure screens in Terminal 3 or Rejseplanen for the next one, and allow about 10 minutes more than the metro on the way back.
- Everywhere else, the metro is quicker and more frequent, so take it.
Taxis and pre-booked cars
- Taxis wait directly outside Terminal 3. The fare includes the tip, you can usually pay by card, and some taxi companies add a fee for trips from the airport. Expect about DKK 250 to 400 to the centre, and about 20 to 25 minutes on our estimate, more in traffic.
- Pre-booked transfers give you a fixed price and a driver waiting in arrivals.
- When a car is worth it. With heavy bags, young children or a group splitting the fare. Otherwise the metro is quicker into the centre, never stops for the night and costs DKK 30.
Storing bags
- At the airport. Self-service lockers on the first floor of car park P7A, beneath the Clarion Hotel and next to the metro and Terminal 3, and on the ground floor of car park P4, in the Kiss & Fly area opposite the Terminal 2 entrance. They’re open 24 hours, you pay by card at the terminal or by scanning the locker’s QR code, and you can’t book ahead. Prices, seen November 2026:
| Locker | Size (cm) | Per hour | Most for a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 28 x 50.5 x 60.2 | DKK 50 | DKK 100 |
| Large | 43 x 50.5 x 60.2 | DKK 80 | DKK 150 |
| Checked-bag size | 34 x 55 x 83.7 | DKK 100 | DKK 200 |
- At Central Station. DSB’s baggage centre is open Monday to Saturday 5:30am to 1am, and Sundays and holidays 6am to 1am. Lockers cost DKK 70 small or DKK 90 large, and staffed storage DKK 75 or DKK 95, for each 24 hours or part of it.
- Rosenborg Castle lets in no backpacks or suitcases, so leave them at the airport for that plan.
Timing your return
Be back at Copenhagen Airport 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass. On a connection you’re normally checked in already and your bag has gone ahead, so the 90 minutes only has to cover security, the walk to the gate and, for a flight outside Schengen, passport control near the C gates. Copenhagen’s own advice of 3 hours before such a flight is meant for passengers who still have to check in; if that’s you, come back earlier.
So the time that matters in town is when you step onto the platform: 2 hours before your flight at Kongens Nytorv, Nørreport or Christianshavn, or 2 hours 10 minutes before at Central Station.
| Layover | Time in town |
|---|---|
| 4.5 hours | About 1 hour |
| 5 hours | About 1.5 hours |
| 6 hours | About 2.5 hours |
| 8 hours | About 4.5 hours |
| 10 hours | About 6.5 hours |
| 12 hours | About 8.5 hours |
These times assume about an hour from landing to the metro, 25 minutes into Kongens Nytorv with the wait for a train, 30 minutes back to the terminal and 90 minutes at the airport, as in the itineraries.