7 best day trips from Copenhagen

Day trips compared

The day trips

35 km · About 35–40 minutes by train

1.Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

A museum of modern and contemporary art in a seaside villa linked by glass corridors, with a sculpture park of works by Henry Moore, Alexander Calder and others running down to the Øresund and views across the water to Sweden.

Getting there

Regional train to Humlebæk, then a 10-minute walk

Best for

Culture, Couples, Quiet stays

45 km · About 45 minutes by train

2.Kronborg Castle, Helsingør

The Renaissance castle at Helsingør — Shakespeare's Elsinore in Hamlet — guards the narrowest point of the Øresund, with dark casemates, a vast ballroom and Hamlet performances in summer. The Maritime Museum of Denmark is built into an old dry dock beside it.

Getting there

Regional train to Helsingør

Best for

Culture, Families, First-timers

35 km · About 40 minutes by S-train

3.Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød

A Dutch Renaissance palace spread over three islands in a lake, home to the Museum of National History, with a richly decorated chapel where absolute monarchs were anointed and formal baroque gardens.

Getting there

S-train to Hillerød, then a short walk or bus

Best for

Culture, Couples, Families

30 km · About 25 minutes by train

4.Roskilde

Roskilde Cathedral, burial place of Danish monarchs since the 15th century, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Viking Ship Museum on the fjord displays five original Viking ships deliberately sunk around 1070 to block the channel and raised in 1962.

Getting there

Regional train from Central Station

Best for

Culture, Families

35 km · About 35–40 minutes by train

5.Malmö, Sweden

Sweden's third city is a short ride across the Øresund Bridge, with a cobbled old town around Lilla Torg, Malmöhus Castle, the twisting Turning Torso tower and a seawater bathhouse and beach at Ribersborg.

Getting there

Øresund train from Central Station or the airport

Best for

First-timers, Culture, Food lovers

12 km · About 20 minutes by S-train

6.Bakken and Jægersborg Dyrehave

Bakken, dating from 1583 and regarded as the world's oldest operating amusement park, sits at the edge of Jægersborg Dyrehave, a royal deer park of ancient oaks where around 2,000 deer roam freely. Bellevue Beach is a short walk from Klampenborg station.

Getting there

S-train to Klampenborg

Best for

Families, Quiet stays, Couples

130 km · About 2 hours by car

7.Møns Klint

White chalk cliffs rising more than 100 metres above the Baltic on the island of Møn, with beech-forest paths, long wooden stairways down to the beach and the GeoCenter Møns Klint explaining how the cliffs formed. Fossils are often found among the beach pebbles.

Getting there

Hire car or organised tour

Best for

Quiet stays, Families, Couples

Day-trip tips

• Leave early: most trips are more relaxed with a morning departure and a return before dinner.
• S-trains run to the northern suburbs and Klampenborg, and regional trains from Central Station reach Helsingør, Roskilde and Malmö.
• City buses fill the gaps between metro lines, with night buses on the main routes.
• For trips over about 150 km, an overnight stay or an organised tour saves a lot of travelling.

Questions travellers ask