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Copenhagen is such a great city to visit in Denmark with kids. There is so much to do, people are nice and friendly and there is an abundance of good food around the city. Our trip to Copenhagen with kids was so much fun. It was our first stop when we set out on our five country mini European trip.
There are three Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Oslo, and if you’ve done any research about traveling to any of the Scandinavian countries with kids, then you know how expensive it can get. If you didn’t know that, then you do now ?.
One thing I have to remind myself is that expensive is subjective, simply meaning the term expensive will vary by family size and budget. For us, traveling as a family of six on one income is means that we have a very strict budget, so my goal is to spend the least amount possible when traveling. Our trips consist of me starting with almost no budget, and only including necessary and must have things along the way such as accommodation, meals attractions etc. Keep reading to see our Copenhagen budget in detail.
A Guide To Visiting Copenhagen With Kids On A Budget
Best Time To Travel To Denmark
According to me, the cheapest time to visit Denmark is whenever you can find a cheap ticket. However, if flight prices aren’t an issue for you, then it is best to visit from March up until August. The temperature is warm, and the days are long meaning you have plenty of time to spend time outdoors. Do note that summer travel brings crowds, so plan accordingly and plan ahead.
We traveled to Copenhagen with kids during the last week of September. The weather during the day was 63F and 51F in the evenings. The kids had light sweaters and the boy’s blazers and it was perfect. They didn’t complain too much about the cold because when we spent time outside, they were usually active and moving constantly.
How To Get To Copenhagen
There are plenty of ways to get to Copenhagen depending on where you live. If you’re in Europe, it’ll be a shorter, quicker flight for you versus if you live in the United States.
We flew to Copenhagen on Norwegian Air. We flew out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and landed in Copenhagen Airport (CPH). We had a smooth and enjoyable 10.5 hour flight on Norwegian Air and we will definitely fly them again.
Pro Tips:
- Scooters are allowed on the plane. We store them in the overhead compartment
- Purchase a blow up pillow so that the kids can sleep comfortably. These kids slept 8hrs of the 10hr flight. Win!
Transportation Options in Copenhagen
Bike – Copenhagen is bike town! You can rent a bike and ride around the city. There are plenty of bikes available everywhere.
Public Transportation – Copenhagen has an excellent public transportation system. We took the bus and train everywhere all over the city with the kids. The best way to go about this as a tourist is to purchase the Copenhagen Card which covers 1 adult and 2 adults. We purchased two 72 Hour Copenhagen cards which gave us access to use public transportation within Copenhagen for 72 hours / 3 days. It covered my husband and I, and all 4 kids.
Rental Car – If you plan to drive around Denmark, then you may consider a rental car. You can rent one and pick it up at the airport.
Where To Stay In Copenhagen With Kids
Family Friendly Copenhagen Neighborhoods
There are plenty of kid friendly hotels and hostels in Copenhagen for families. The best places to stay in Copenhagen are:
- Amager – This is located between the city and airport and is the best choice if you land into Copenhagen late or have an early flight out.
- Indre By – This is Copenhagen’s city center and the best place to stay if visiting as tourist because it is central to everything.
- Frederiksberg – This area is upscale, and the neighborhoods are family friendly with parks as well as shops, shops and restaurants.
- Vesterbro – This is considered one of the coolest parts of Copenhagen especially if you are looking for a hip part of town.
- Norrebro – If you want to visit Copenhagen and live like a local, then this neighborhood is perfect. It has a very multicultural feeling.
Best Family Hotels In Copenhagen, Denmark
Scandic Copenhagen: Located along a lake, this hotel is very kid friendly with a kid’s menu and high chair and most especially, a free breakfast buffet. The only downside to this hotel is the small rooms.
Copenhagen Crown Hotel: This is a budget hotel located in the Latin Quarter which is just a 10-minute walk to the train station, the Museum of Denmark, the meat packing district, the Planetarium and Tivoli gardens.
Manon Les Suites: This hotel has family suites with kitchenettes that can sleep up to 7 people making it ideal for big families. There is also a swimming pool, restaurant, bike rental and rooftop bar. It is walking distance from Tivoli gardens, restaurants and shopping.
ProfilHotels Mercur Hotel: Just a 5-minute walk away from Central Station, Stroget (longest pedestrian strip full of stores), The Round Tower, as well as New Harbor and canal tours, is this cost friendly spacious hotel for families with suites that sleep 4 and up to 6 people. This hotel has a game room, outdoor tennis court and a bar.
Tivoli Hotel: This hotel features family rooms and also offer exclusive rates to Tivoli Gardens. This hotel is very kid friendly and has an indoor play area as well as an outdoor play area.
Kid Friendly Hostels In Copenhagen
Steel House Copenhagen: This hostel is located right in the heart of Copenhagen, easy access to the train and bus station. It in located in Vesterbro area of town. They have a gym, pool, bar, and rooms that can sleep a family of 6.
We stayed at Steel House Copenhagen with kids and loved it here, especially the kids! I found this hostel on TripAdvisor, and after reading the reviews on it, it routed me to book it on Booking.com. I booked us in a room with 3 bunk beds, meaning it had 6 sleeping spaces, one for each of us. It also had a private bathroom. The kids loved chatting with new people in the lounge and in the communal kitchen of the hostel. If you haven’t stayed in a hostel with kids, you should definitely consider it. Based on our budget, staying in the hostel was the most affordable option for us.
Located just a short walk from Stoget and Nyhavn, this hostel is family friendly with modern industrial décor. They offer quad rooms for families of 4 or bigger rooms for families of with bunk beds.
They have a bar, restaurant, terrace and bike hire on site.
Things To Do In Copenhagen With Kids
Copenhagen Card
The Copenhagen Card covers a lot of tourist’s attractions in Copenhagen. We purchased a 72 Hour Copenhagen card which means that we had 3 days to visit any of the following attractions below for free.
Tivoli Gardens – this is a very famous amusement park in Copenhagen for tourists both young and old. I told the kids about Tivoli when we got there and they were excited, so we were disappointed to find out they were closed during our trip.
Nyhavn – this is where the Canal is located, as well as the beautiful houses along the canal that Copenhagen is well known for. It was too cold, so we did not take a canal tour. A canal tour is included free of charge with the Copenhagen card so it was a bummer that we missed out on this due to the weather.
Experimentarium – this is a science museum geared for kids of all ages. We planned to spend a little bit of time here and then visit another museum but the kids didn’t want to leave. So we ended up spending most of the day here.
Other family friendly attractions in Copenhagen that are free with the Copenhagen Card:
- Ripley’s Believe It or Not
- Copenhagen Zoo
- Children’s Museum at The National Museum of Denmark
- National Aquarium Denmark, Den Blå Planet
- Tycho Brahe Planetarium
- Hans Christian Andersen Fairy-tale House
- The Children’s Labor Museum
Fun Outdoor Activities To Do With Kids In Copenhagen
Fun Indoor Places To Visit With Kids In Copenhagen
- Copenhagen Skate Park – we travel with the kids scooter all over, and so we try to find a skate park in the area so that they can burn off some energy. We would have preferred an outdoor park however it was cold and rainy, so this indoor park was perfect. The kids were excited about riding their scooters and doing tricks. A day ticket cost 50DKK per person, so we paid 200DKK for all 4 kids.
Best Copenhagen Parks and Playgrounds For Kids
- Kings Garden (Kongens Have)
- Frederiksberg Gardens
- Konditaget Lüders
- Skydebanehaven in Vesterbro
- Fælledparken
- Nørrebroparken
- Superkilen in Nørrebro
- Nature Playground in Valby
- Bondegården
- Traffic Playground in Østerbro
Where To Eat In Copenhagen With Kids
There are plenty of great places to eat in Copenhagen. Make sure to check prices to see if it is in your budget before heading out to eat.
Restaurants
- Café No 11
- The Laundromat Cafe
- Gasoline Grill
- Pizzeria La Fiorita
- Greasy Spoon Diner
- Halifax Burger Frederiksborggade
- Sporvejen
- Ristorante L’Appetito – the food here was great, but also very expensive!
- Herkules Pavilionen
- Sporvejen
- Pirateriet
- BOB – Biomio Organic Bistro
- Absalon
- Enigma Kantin
- Hansens Copenhagen – best ice cream in Copenhagen
Street Food
You’ll find road side stands selling hot dogs such as this one that we found below and the food was yummy and much cheaper than going out to eat at a restaurant.
Things To Know About Copenhagen, Denmark
- Currency – the currency in Denmark in Danish Krone (DKK). 1 United Sates Dollar (USD) is equivalent to 6.51 Danish Krone (DKK) (as of September 2018)
- Language – the primary language spoken in Denmark is Danish. However, most people also speak English (86%), German (47%) and Swedish (13%)
- Danes – Danish people are friendly an welcoming.
- Visa – Visas are not needed for American citizens visiting Denmark. Americans can visit Denmark for up to 90 days as a tourist without a visa.
- Car Seats – We didn’t travel by car in Copenhagen, but we did take Mifold’s (grab and go booster seat) for the kids just in case. For more on traveling with car seats, check out “How To ravel With A Car Seat – Everything You Need To Know.”
- Stroller – Instead of a stroller, we travel with the kid’s scooters. It works perfect and the kids can scoot all around the city without getting tired. Copenhagen is stroller friendly so if you need to take a stroller, you won’t have any issues navigating the city. Looking for a good travel stroller make sure to check out this list of “Top 10 Travel Strollers”
Best Tips for Visiting Copenhagen On A Budget
- Consider staying in a hostel, or Airbnb: we stayed at the Steel House Copenhagen and the kids loved it.
- Grocery shop and cook meals instead of eating out: we only ate out once while in Copenhagen. We traveled with bread, nutella, peanut butter and sardines, and bought a few other items at the grocery store.
- Purchase a Copenhagen Card: the Copenhagen Card (24 Hour Card is $62/Adult & $31 Children/ages 10-15yrs old) covers certain attractions and transportation within Copenhagen for 1 adult and 2 kids. This card can be purchased online, or at the airport after you pick up your luggage.
- Take public transportation or rent a bike instead of taxis: we took public transportation from the airport to our hostel and to every single place we visited in Copenhagen.
- Get a sim card for your phone at the airport: instead of paying unnecessary cell phone fees while out of the country, you can purchase a sim card at the airport for very cheap which will cover internet and phone calls while you’re in Denmark. We purchased a sim card at the airport after we picked up our luggage.
- Exchange money before you travel: exchange range at the airports have ridiculous fees. Be smart and save yourself money by arriving in Denmark with some cash in hand. We used our credit card in Denmark with no issues, so you won’t need to have much cash on you. We only carried $100USD worth of cash which is equivalent to 650.80DKK and that was enough for 3 days total because we didn’t use cash to pay for much.
Copenhagen Travel Costs
I don’t usually list the air fare because it depends on when you travel, where you fly from, and if you purchase your ticket using miles. However, I’ve seen air fare from LAX to Copenhagen for as low as $350. SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) also runs a yearly deal where kids under the age of 12 fly free with a paid adult. You can also check Skyscanner (my favorite website), or Skyscanner App (my favorite travel app) and use the flexible option to find the cheapest time of the year to fly to Copenhagen from wherever in the world you are.
- Accommodation (2Nights): Steel House Copenhagen – $382
- Transportation + Attractions: 72 Hour Copenhagen Card – $214
- Meals: Ristorante L’Appetito – $124
- Other Misc Food – $100
- Skate Park – $31
- Souvenirs – Key chains for the kids & a tea cup/coffee cup for myself – $20
- Total amount spent in Copenhagen for 2 Nights and 3 Days – $871
What other countries did we visit on this trip?
- Denmark
- United Kingdom
- Italy
- Morocco
- Spain
Booking Your Trip To Copenhagen – Tips & Tricks
How To Book Cheap Flights When You Travel
If you are looking to book the cheapest flights you can possibly find on the internet, then make sure to use Skyscanner when searching for flights. Don’t forget to download the Free Skyscanner App also which is very handy. This is how I was able to get $12.40 airfare from Los Angeles to London, as well as $9.40 airfare from London to Italy.
How To Book Affordable Accommodation When You Travel
When booking accommodation, TripAdvisor is the way to go because you can read reviews and see photos from other travelers to get a feel of where you will be staying. Other great sites to book hotels are HotelsCombined, Booking.com and Hotels.com. Don’t forget to check HomeAway and VRBO for house and villa rentals too. Perfect for when you travel with a large family, and also to save money when hotels are expensive. Another favorite of mine is BookVIP – they offer huge resort savings.
How To Book Activities When You Travel
My favorite website to search for activities, tours and especially skip the line tickets is Viator and Get Your Guide. This makes trip planning so much easier because you don’t have to search several sites as both websites have several options to choose from. Same also goes with TripAdvisor Attractions – you can search and book activities as well as read reviews.
How To Book Rental Cars When You Travel
Instead of checking every single website, I use RentalCars.com, Car Rental 8 and Skyscanner Car Rentals to find car rentals all over the world with just one click. If you plan to park at the airport, visit Airport Parking and make a reservation.
Why Travel Insurance Is a Must When You Travel
People book trips and forget the most important part, purchasing travel insurance. Because we travel often, I purchase our travel insurance through Allianz for a year at a time which means that we are covered for all trips within that year. Travel insurance will protect you and your family against theft, injury illness, flight cancellations and so much more. It is a MUST!
Looking to save even more money when you travel?
Visit my Travel Resources page to see all the reliable and trustworthy brands that I use to book my travel with. I only recommend brands that I’ve used and can vouch for, so you’re in good hands! ? Also check out these posts below:
- How To Save Money On Flights
- Best Websites To Find Cheap Flights & Error Fares
- Tips On How To Make Travel Affordable For Families
Top Travel With Kids Tips
Traveling with kids and have a few questions you need answers too, these posts below will help your trip run smooth.
- Best Travel Gear For Kids
- How To Travel With Kids Internationally Alone
- Top Must Have Items When Traveling With Kids
- Everything You Need To Know About Traveling With A Car Seat
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