Things to do in Copenhagen

As you might expect of the country’s capital city, Copenhagen has plenty for visitors to see and do. There are attractions with cultural and historical themes, and others aimed purely at entertaining those who visit them. With theme parks, museums, nature attractions and art galleries, whatever your status or background, you’ll find something to interest you in Copenhagen.

Rosenborg Castle

Designed and used as a summer residence by King Christian IV (from 1606 to 1634), Rosenborg Castle is an attractive Dutch Renaissance style construction, which now serves as a public museum (since 1838) and is hailed as one of the country’s most significant cultural institutions. The museum contains artefacts detailing the history of the country’s royal family as well as articles belonging to the Crown Jewel collection, which are on show in the castle’s cellars. The castle’s magnificent gardens are a pleasant place in which to relax or take a stroll.

Tivoli

Tivoli is a fantastic amusement park, set in the Tivoli Gardens, which have been a part of Copenhagen since their founding by Georg Carstensen. Hailed as Scandinavia’s greatest themed attraction, Tivoli opens for business every year in April and closes at the end of the summer season in September. The park offers a large variety of entertainment, which includes rides for the children, live performances, firework displays at night and plenty of bars and restaurants. The gardens themselves are also well worth checking out, with over 100,000 flowers available for viewing. Visitors to Tivoli will quickly forget that this exciting attraction is set right in the middle of the city.

Kunstindustrimuseet (Museum of Decorative and Applied Art)

Set in a magnificent four-wing Rococo building, the Kunstindustrimuseet is part of the former Royal Frederik Hospital, which was constructed between 1752 and 1757, during the reign of King Frederik V. In the 1920s, the building was restored for the purpose of exhibiting art and today is one of the city’s finest art galleries.

The museum’s collection consists of mainly European decorative and applied art dating from the Middle Ages to the present day, with furniture, pottery, tapestries, silver and glass amongst the displays.  Respectable Chinese and Japanese art collections are also on show, while temporary exhibitions are a regular feature of the facility. A library is also on-site, featuring around 65,000 books relating to art and design themes.

Christiansborg Palace

History lovers shouldn’t miss a chance to check out the Christiansborg Palace, located on the island of Slotsholmen. The palace houses various state departments such as Denmark’s parliament and the Supreme Court as well as the Royal Reception Rooms and the offices of the Prime Minister. Guided tours of the building are available, giving visitors the chance to see the lavishly furnished and decorated rooms such as the Queen's Library, the Banqueting Hall and the Throne Room. Beneath the palace are the well preserved remains of the original castle, built by Bishop Absalon, the founder of Copenhagen.

Danmarks Akvarium

The rather unimaginatively named Danmarks Akvarium, or Denmark's Aquarium in English, is actually one of Europe’s biggest and most extensively equipped sea life facilities. Situated in the Charlottenlund Forest, the aquarium is home to a variety of rare deep-sea species as well as numerous fish and marine creatures. The sharks and piranhas are among the highlights, while the collection of turtles of differing sizes and colours are also worthy of mention.

Frilandsmuseet

Located in Lyngby, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, is the Frilandsmuseet, an open-air museum comprised of a reconstructed village covering close to 36 hectares and including a dozen recreated buildings. Thatched fishermen's huts from Jutland, a primitive Faroe Islands longhouse and a half-timbered 18th century farmstead from one of Denmark’s small islands are among the sights, along with tower windmills and a mid-19th century potter's workshop.

Museums

An extensive selection of museums is on offer in Copenhagen, which, besides those already mentioned above, includes the Arbejdemuseet (Workers Museum), Frihedsmuseet (Museum of Danish Resistance), Orlogsmuseet (Royal Naval Museum), Tøjhusmuseet (Royal Arsenal Museum), Thorvaldsens Museum and the Musikhistorisk Museum (Musical History Museum). The Nationalmuseet (National Museum) is among the most impressive, offering visitors five different departments, each of which focuses on a different period of history. At the Erotica Museum meanwhile, visitors can learn something about the sex lives of famous people such as Freud, Nietzsche and Duke Ellington.