What to do on a Copenhagen layover

Every plan below starts and ends at Copenhagen Airport (CPH). Each one allows about an hour from landing to the metro platform and the M2 ride both ways, and gets you back to the terminal 90 minutes before take-off, onward boarding pass in hand. Anyone who still has to check in or drop a bag should leave town earlier.

First make sure you can leave the airport: US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports need no visa, and Indian passports need a Schengen visa. Then check the day. On Mondays the National Museum, the Glyptotek, the Design Museum and Rosenborg Castle are closed, so take one of the first three plans. The walking times between sights are our own allowances from map distances, and every plan buys a DKK 30 metro ticket each way.

4.5 to 5.5 hours: Nyhavn, towers and food

You’ll have about an hour in town on a 4.5-hour layover and about 1.5 hours on a 5-hour one: enough for one part of the old centre, close to its metro stop.

Nyhavn and Strøget

The quickest and cheapest plan, for the shortest layovers: the harbour everyone pictures, then the city’s main shopping street. Nothing to book, nothing that closes.

1. M2 towards Vanløse to Kongens Nytorv, 12 to 15 minutes from the airport.
2. Walk a few minutes to Nyhavn, the canal harbour lined with coloured townhouses and old wooden ships. Allow about half an hour.
3. Walk back across Kongens Nytorv and along Strøget, the long pedestrian street, towards Højbro Plads, about 25 minutes there and back.
4. Leave Kongens Nytorv 2 hours before your flight.

Pick your day. Any day. On Sundays most shops on Strøget open only from about noon to 4pm. From 14 November to 20 December 2026, a Christmas market fills Højbro Plads, at the end of the walk.

Christianshavn and the Church of Our Saviour tower

The best view in this time: a climb up the church tower in Christianshavn, then a walk by its canals. It needs about 5 hours.

1. M2 towards Vanløse to Christianshavn, 12 to 15 minutes from the airport.
2. Walk about 8 minutes to the Church of Our Saviour and climb the tower: adults DKK 70, students DKK 53, children DKK 20. Allow about 45 minutes.
3. Walk back along Christianshavn’s canals for a quarter of an hour.
4. Leave Christianshavn 2 hours before your flight.

Opening hours. The tower is open daily from 9am to 8pm, and to 3:30pm on 31 December. It’s closed on 24 and 25 December and for all of January, and it shuts in rain, snow or strong wind, so look at the sky before you go: if it’s wet, take the Round Tower plan instead, which is indoors.

Torvehallerne and the Round Tower

Lunch in a food market, then a tower over the old town’s roofs. It needs about 5 hours and suits a first visit.

1. M2 towards Vanløse to Nørreport, 12 to 15 minutes from the airport.
2. Walk a few minutes to Torvehallerne, two glass market halls full of food stalls. It’s free to go in, open Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm and at weekends 10am to 6pm. Allow half an hour; what you eat is extra.
3. Walk about 7 minutes to the Round Tower and climb it: adults DKK 60, students DKK 40, under-18s free. Until the end of March it’s open 10am to 9pm on Mondays and Tuesdays and 10am to 6pm from Wednesday to Sunday. Allow about 40 minutes. On those Monday and Tuesday evenings, from 6pm to 9pm, the observatory at the top is staffed, and on a clear night you can look through its telescope.
4. Walk about 10 minutes to Kongens Nytorv and leave 2 hours before your flight.

Opening hours. Neither opens before 10am, so if you land before about 8:30am you’ll wait at the door. Over the holidays, Torvehallerne is closed from 24 to 26 December and on 1 January, and the Round Tower on 24 and 25 December and 1 January. Both close at 3pm on 31 December.

5.5 to 8 hours: museums, palaces and castles

You’ll have about 2 hours in town on a 5.5-hour layover, 2.5 hours on a 6-hour one and about 4.5 hours with 8: enough for one museum or the castle, with a walk. All four plans are for Tuesday to Sunday.

The Design Museum and Amalienborg

Danish design in a museum near the royal palace, then the palace square and Nyhavn. It needs about 5.5 hours, and it’s the plan to pick at Christmas, when most museums close.

1. M2 towards Vanløse to Kongens Nytorv, 12 to 15 minutes from the airport.
2. Walk about 12 minutes to Designmuseum Danmark: adults DKK 140, under-27s and students DKK 90, under-18s free. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm, and to 8pm on Thursdays. Allow about 75 minutes.
3. Walk to Amalienborg, the royal palace, whose four buildings stand round one square. The guard changes there at noon.
4. Walk down to Nyhavn and on to Kongens Nytorv, then leave 2 hours before your flight.

Christmas and New Year. The Design Museum opens on 24 December (10am to 8pm), 25 and 26 December (10am to 6pm), 31 December (10am to 8pm) and 1 January (10am to 6pm). It’s closed every Monday.

The Glyptotek, by train

The one plan on the train: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, an art museum beside Tivoli and Central Station, indoors for a wet day. It needs about 5.5 hours.

1. Take the DSB train from Terminal 3, tracks 1 and 2, to Copenhagen Central Station (København H), about 15 minutes. The DKK 30 metro ticket covers it. Trains come less often than the metro, so check the departure screens for the next one.
2. Walk about 8 minutes to the Glyptotek: adults DKK 150 (DKK 135 online), under-27s and students DKK 120, under-18s free. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm, and to 9pm on Thursdays. Allow about an hour and a half.
3. Walk back to Central Station and leave 2 hours 10 minutes before your flight, 10 minutes earlier than the metro plans, because the trains come less often.

Pick your day. Closed on Mondays, from 23 to 26 December and on 1 January, and it closes at 3pm on 31 December. A Thursday gives you the evening. Central Station’s baggage centre has lockers from DKK 70 if you’re carrying a case.

Christiansborg’s tower and the National Museum

A free tower above the parliament building, then Denmark’s national museum, free for children. It needs about 6 hours and suits families.

1. M2 towards Vanløse to Kongens Nytorv, 12 to 15 minutes from the airport.
2. Walk about 15 minutes to Christiansborg Palace and go up its tower, which is free. In November it’s open from 11am to 9pm, and to 5:30pm on Sundays. Allow about 30 minutes.
3. Walk about 5 minutes to the National Museum of Denmark: adults DKK 150 (DKK 135 online), under-18s free. From November to March it’s open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm. Allow about 75 minutes.
4. Walk about 20 minutes back to Kongens Nytorv and leave 2 hours before your flight.

Check the date. The tower opens at 11am, so if you land before about 9:20am you’ll wait for it. Its hours can change through the year, so check them on the day. The National Museum is closed on Mondays and on 24, 25 and 31 December. Christiansborg’s palace rooms close on 24 and 25 December and from 1 to 7 January, so expect the tower to be shut then too.

Rosenborg Castle and the Round Tower

A royal castle in its own gardens, then the Round Tower. It needs about 6 hours, and the castle closes at 4pm.

1. M2 towards Vanløse to Nørreport, 12 to 15 minutes from the airport.
2. Walk 200 metres to Rosenborg Castle: adults DKK 140 online or DKK 150 at the door, students DKK 100, under-18s free. Tickets are for timed slots every ten minutes, so book online to skip the queue. Until 23 December it’s open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. Allow about 75 minutes.
3. Walk about 12 minutes to the Round Tower and climb it (DKK 60). Allow 30 minutes.
4. Walk back to Nørreport and leave 2 hours before your flight.

Bags. Rosenborg doesn’t allow backpacks or suitcases, and handbags can be no bigger than 15 x 23 x 15 cm, so leave your bags in the airport lockers by the metro first.

Opening hours. Land by about 1pm to see the castle before it closes. Over the holidays it’s open 10am to 4pm from 26 to 30 December, 10am to 2pm on 31 December and 11am to 4pm on 1 January, and closed on 24 and 25 December. Its hours from January on aren’t published yet, so check them before you go.

Guided tours in town

Copenhagen’s walking, bike and canal tours start in the centre, not at the airport. A guide takes care of the route, which suits a first visit, but you still make your own way from the airport and back.

• What’s on offer. Viator’s Copenhagen layover tours (opens in a new tab) list bike tours from about US$50 and hop-on hop-off buses from about US$43 (seen November 2026). GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab) lists walking, bike and canal tours of the city.
• Layover needed. Add about 3.5 hours to the tour’s length, plus the walk to its meeting point: a 2-hour tour needs a layover of about 6 hours.
• Check before booking. Where it starts and ends, how long it really runs, and the cancellation terms if your flight lands late.

Overnight: rest at the airport, then the tower at 9am

The Church of Our Saviour tower at opening

For a late-evening landing and a flight the next afternoon. Because the metro runs all night, you can rest at the airport and still be in Christianshavn for the first climb of the day.

1. Rest in the terminal, which stays open all night for anyone with an onward boarding pass, or book the Clarion or Comfort hotel beside Terminal 3 if you can enter Denmark. Leave your bags in the lockers by the metro.
2. Take the M2 to Christianshavn at about 8:30am, 12 to 15 minutes, and walk about 8 minutes to the church.
3. Climb the Church of Our Saviour tower when it opens at 9am (DKK 70), then walk along the canals.
4. Leave Christianshavn 2 hours before your flight.

Your flight needs to leave after about 12:30pm for this plan: a landing at 11:30pm and a 12:30pm flight, for example, is a layover of 13 hours. With a later flight, the Round Tower, Torvehallerne and the museums open at 10am, and Christiansborg’s tower at 11am. The tower is closed on 24 and 25 December and all of January, and in rain, snow or strong wind.

24 hours

A full day and a night: time for most of the plans above, and an evening in town.

• Store your bags or check into a hotel. At the airport covers the lockers and the two hotels beside Terminal 3.
• Start at 9am with the Church of Our Saviour tower in Christianshavn, then take the metro to Nørreport for Rosenborg Castle from 10am (Tuesday to Sunday).
• Lunch at Torvehallerne, then climb the Round Tower and walk down Strøget to Nyhavn.
• In the afternoon, the National Museum or the Glyptotek (both to 5pm, the Glyptotek to 9pm on Thursdays).
• From 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, finish at Tivoli Gardens, next to Central Station, for its Christmas season. Tickets and each day’s hours are on Tivoli’s website.
• The metro runs all night, so an evening in town doesn’t depend on a last train.

Rest at the airport

There are no hotel rooms or sleeping pods past security at Copenhagen. You can stay in the terminal overnight for free, pay for a lounge by day, or sleep at one of the two hotels beside Terminal 3, which are before passport control, so you need to be able to enter Denmark. At the airport covers prices and left luggage.

Stay in the terminal overnight

Terminals 2 and 3 are open 24 hours, and the airport lets you stay overnight as long as you can show a valid boarding pass if staff check. It’s free. The lounges close in the evening, so for a night you’ll be on the terminal’s own seats.

Lounges you can pay for

Five lounges past security sell entry, from DKK 229 to DKK 349:

• SAS Lounge, near the C gates: DKK 349, with showers, about 5am to 10:30pm. You need an SAS or SkyTeam boarding pass, and can go in from 3 hours before your flight.
• Aspire Lounge, near the A gates: DKK 339, 6am to 10pm, open to anyone.
• Pearl Lounge, past passport control by gates C26 to C28: DKK 300, with showers, 5:30am to 9pm, for flights outside Schengen only.
• Danske Bank Aviator Business Lounge, between the A and B gates: DKK 289 for up to 3 hours, when there’s room, until 8:30pm.
• Carlsberg Aviator Lounge, between the A and B gates: DKK 229 for up to 3 hours, 5am to 8:30pm.

Hotels at Terminal 3

The Clarion Hotel Copenhagen Airport is a short walk from Terminal 3; the airport’s luggage lockers are in car park P7A beneath it. The Comfort Hotel Copenhagen Airport is also a short walk from Terminal 3 and the metro, and is the no-frills choice, with no room service or minibar. Both are before passport control. Neither publishes a daytime rate, so for a few hours’ rest ask the hotel directly, or book the night.

Tips that make a Copenhagen layover easier

• Buy your ticket before you board. There are no barriers on the metro or the train, but inspectors check, and riding without a ticket means a fine. One 3-zone single, DKK 30, covers the airport ride for 90 minutes.
• Two singles beat a day pass. A 1-day City Pass Small costs DKK 100 and covers the airport, so it pays only if you’ll make four or more trips.
• Pay by card. Cards are taken almost everywhere, including the ticket machines, which don’t take notes. Denmark uses the krone, not the euro, and tipping is optional.
• Step-free from the start. The metro and train stations at the airport are step-free, which helps with a case or a buggy.
• Mondays and January. Most museums close on Mondays, and the Church of Our Saviour’s tower closes for all of January.