Copenhagen with kids

Best things to do with kids

Theme park · Vesterbro

1.Tivoli Gardens

Opened in 1843 opposite what is now Central Station, Tivoli is one of the world's oldest amusement parks: a garden of lakes, pavilions and thousands of coloured lights with a wooden roller coaster dating from 1914. It opens in seasons — summer, Halloween and Christmas — with concerts, pantomime and restaurants alongside the rides.

Come in the evening when the lights come on; an entry ticket alone lets you stroll, and ride passes only pay off for several rides.

Time needed

3–5 hours

Cost

Mid-priced

Book ahead

Check season dates before you travel; Tivoli closes between its summer, Halloween and Christmas seasons.

• Iconic
• Kids
• After dark
• Couples

Zoo · Frederiksberg

2.Copenhagen Zoo

Founded in 1859 and one of Europe's oldest zoos, Copenhagen Zoo has an elephant house designed by Norman Foster, an Arctic Ring with polar bears and an underwater viewing tunnel, and a children's zoo.

Combine it with Frederiksberg Gardens next door, where you can glimpse the elephants over the fence for free.

Time needed

3–4 hours

Cost

Mid-priced

• Kids
• Outdoors
• Nature

Museum · Indre By

3.National Museum of Denmark

Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, in a former royal palace near Slotsholmen, runs from prehistory to the present: the Bronze Age Sun Chariot, the 3,400-year-old grave of the Egtved Girl, Viking weapons and silver hoards, and a hands-on Children's Museum.

Start with the Danish prehistory galleries, then take children to the Children's Museum to dress up and climb aboard a Viking ship.

Time needed

2–3 hours

Cost

Mid-priced

• History
• Kids
• Rainy day

Landmark · Indre By

4.Rundetårn (Round Tower)

Built by Christian IV in the 1640s as an astronomical observatory, the Round Tower is climbed by a smooth spiral ramp instead of stairs — wide enough, legend says, for Peter the Great to ride up on horseback. The platform at the top looks over the old city's rooftops.

Stop at the library hall halfway up for its exhibitions, and peer down through the glass floor into the tower's hollow core.

Time needed

45 minutes

Cost

Low cost

• Views
• History
• Kids
• Architecture

Experience · Nyhavn

5.Canal and harbour boat tour

A one-hour boat tour from Nyhavn or Gammel Strand loops through the canals of Christianshavn and round the harbour, passing the Opera House, the Little Mermaid, Christiansborg and the Black Diamond extension of the Royal Library. The low boats squeeze under some very tight bridges.

Sit on the open side, bring a layer even in summer, and pick a boat with live commentary.

Time needed

1 hour

Cost

Low cost

• Kids
• Views
• Couples
• Iconic

Waterfront · Islands Brygge

6.Islands Brygge Harbour Bath

Copenhagen's best-known harbour bath has free swimming pools, diving towers and lifeguards in summer, filled with harbour water clean enough to swim in, beside a long waterfront lawn where locals picnic and sunbathe.

Come on a warm weekday evening when locals arrive after work; lifeguards are on duty only during the summer season.

Time needed

2 hours

Cost

Free

• Free
• Outdoors
• Active
• Kids

Palace · Frederiksstaden

7.Amalienborg

Four matching rococo palaces around an octagonal square form the Copenhagen home of the Danish royal family, with a museum of royal apartments in one wing. The Royal Life Guard changes at noon every day, and the green dome of Frederik's Church rises directly behind the square.

Watch the guard change at noon, then walk through to Frederik's Church, whose dome can be climbed on guided visits on some days.

Time needed

1 hour

Cost

Free

• Free
• Iconic
• History
• Kids

Rainy-day ideas

• National Museum of Denmark — Start with the Danish prehistory galleries, then take children to the Children's Museum to dress up and climb aboard a Viking ship.

Where families should stay

Family travel tips

• Den Blå Planet, Denmark's national aquarium, is a short metro ride from the centre near the airport and suits a rainy day.
• Rent a cargo bike to carry small children around the city, as local families do.
• Children under 12 can travel free on public transport with a paying adult, up to a set number per adult.
• The Tower Playground in Fælledparken has climbable miniature versions of famous Copenhagen towers.
• Danes eat early, so family dinners from about 5:30pm are normal and children's menus are common.

Day trips for families

• Kronborg Castle, Helsingør (About 45 minutes by train) — 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.
• Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød (About 40 minutes by S-train) — 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.
• Roskilde (About 25 minutes by train) — 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.
• Bakken and Jægersborg Dyrehave (About 20 minutes by S-train) — 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.
• Møns Klint (About 2 hours by car) — 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.

When to go with children

The best months overall are May–September. July is the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.

Questions travellers ask