The 14 must-do things in Copenhagen

Nyhavn, the "new harbour", is a canal dug between 1670 and 1673 under Christian V to link Kongens Nytorv square to the port. Its 17th- and 18th-century gabled houses, painted red, ochre and blue, once housed sailors, taverns and brothels; Hans Christian Andersen lived at numbers 18, 20 and 67, where he wrote his first tales.

The sunny (north) side lines up restaurant terraces; the quieter south quay runs past the old wooden sailing ships moored there and the memorial anchor to sailors killed in the Second World War. Canal cruise boats leave from the head of the basin, on the Kongens Nytorv side, and the Inderhavnsbroen bridge, for bikes and pedestrians only, links the quay to Christianshavn.

Opened on 15 August 1843 by Georg Carstensen on the former ramparts, opposite today's central station, Tivoli is the world's second-oldest amusement park still in operation. Its 8 hectares mix gardens, a lake, a Chinese pagoda from 1900, the Moorish palace of the Nimb hotel, a pantomime theatre and an open-air stage hosting free concerts on summer Friday nights.

The rides range from the Rutschebanen, a 1914 wooden roller coaster still braked by hand, to the 80-metre Star Flyer and the Demon. The park opens by season only — summer, Halloween (2 October-1 November 2026) and Christmas — and is transformed each time, pumpkins or fir trees and lights. It inspired Walt Disney on his 1951 visit.

The Little Mermaid (“Den Lille Havfrue” in Danish) is a famous statue in Copenhagen, perched on a rock in the harbour near the Langelinie promenade. It depicts the character from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale.

Unveiled in 1913, it was created by sculptor Edvard Eriksen. The mermaid sits on her rock gazing out to sea, echoing the tale’s theme: the search for an immortal soul and true love.

Despite its small size (about 1.25 m), it is one of the city’s most photographed attractions and a cultural icon of Denmark.

The Rundetaarn, or Round Tower, is a historic building in central Copenhagen. Completed in 1642, it was built as an astronomical observatory for the University of Copenhagen.

Its distinctive feature is a spiral ramp that leads almost to the top without stairs — an engineering feat for its time. The observatory played an important role in the development of astronomy.

Today the tower offers panoramic views of the city from its platform and houses an exhibition space.

Amalienborg Palace is the home of the Danish monarchy in Copenhagen. The complex consists of four separate palaces arranged around an octagonal square, forming a harmonious neoclassical ensemble.

Built in the 18th century for wealthy families, the palaces were acquired by the royal family after the old Christiansborg Palace burned down in 1794. Their design is attributed to architect Nicolai Eigtved.

Visitors can watch the changing of the guard, which takes place daily at noon, and explore the Amalienborg Museum dedicated to Danish royal history.

The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) occupies the Prince's Mansion, an 18th-century rococo townhouse a short walk from Christiansborg. It is the country's main museum of cultural history: Danish prehistory is told through the Trundholm Sun Chariot, bronze lurs and the Egtved Girl, a Bronze Age young woman preserved with her woollen clothes for 3,400 years.

The Viking rooms display silver hoards, rune stones and weapons; the upper floors cover the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the ethnographic collections (Greenland, the Arctic, Africa, Asia) and a section on 20th-century Denmark. A children's museum, with a Viking ship to climb on, occupies the ground floor.

Christiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen, is the seat of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget), the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister’s Office — a rare building housing all three branches of government.

It also contains the royal reception rooms, the royal stables and, in the basement, the ruins of the medieval castles that preceded it.

Its tower, the tallest in Copenhagen, offers panoramic city views and is free to visit.

35 km north of Copenhagen, on the Øresund coast facing Sweden, the Louisiana is Denmark's most visited modern art museum. Opened in 1958 by Knud W. Jensen around a 19th-century villa, it lines up glass and white-brick pavilions linked by galleries that follow the slope down to the sea; the sculpture park — Calder, Henry Moore, Richard Serra, Miró — runs in lawns down to the beach.

The permanent collection includes Giacometti, Picasso, Warhol, Yves Klein, Asger Jorn and the CoBrA artists, and the temporary exhibitions draw visitors from across the country. The children's wing offers workshops included with the ticket; the café, with its terrace over the sea, is worth staying for lunch. Allow half a day, travel included.

Built by Christian IV between 1606 and 1624 as a summer pavilion, Rosenborg is Copenhagen's finest Renaissance castle: red brick, pale sandstone, turrets and green spires in the middle of Kongens Have, the "King's Garden", the city's oldest royal park. The apartments keep their painted ceilings, tapestries and porcelain cabinet; the Great Hall on the top floor lines up the coronation thrones guarded by three silver lions.

The treasury in the basement displays the Danish crown jewels and regalia: the crowns of Christian IV and Christian V, the sword of state, emeralds and diamonds still worn by the queen on grand occasions. The garden, free of charge, is locals' favourite picnic spot; the royal guard has its barracks here and marches out every day around 11:30 for Amalienborg.

Founded in 1888 by the brewer Carl Jacobsen, son of Carlsberg's creator, the Glyptotek houses his collection of sculpture and antiquities in a brick palace by Vilhelm Dahlerup (1897) extended by Hack Kampmann's wing (1906) and Henning Larsen's addition (1996), right behind Tivoli. The central winter garden, under a glass dome, shelters palms and a pool.

The collections range from Egyptian sarcophagi and Roman portraits — one of northern Europe's richest series — to Greek marbles, then French painting: Gauguin (some forty works), Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh and a set of bronzes by Degas and Rodin. The Danish Golden Age (Eckersberg, Købke) completes the route.

The Copenhagen Opera House (Operaen) opened on 15 January 2005 on the island of Holmen, exactly on the axis of Amalienborg Palace and the Marble Church, across the harbour. Designed by Henning Larsen and funded by the A.P. Møller (Maersk) foundation, it cost about DKK 2.5 billion; its flat roof cantilevered 32 metres over the forecourt has become its signature.

The main auditorium, with maple balconies and a gold-leaf ceiling, seats about 1,700; a second stage, Takkelloftet, hosts contemporary work. The Royal Danish Opera and the Royal Danish Ballet perform here from August to June. Reach it by harbour bus 991/992 from Nyhavn or on foot over the Christianshavn bridges.

On a former Christianshavn barracks squatted in 1971, Christiania is a self-governing community of about 34 hectares and a thousand residents: hand-built houses, workshops, galleries, vegetarian cafés, the Loppen concert hall and paths along the 17th-century ramparts and moats. The yellow flag with three red dots flies at the main entrance on Prinsessegade, under the sign "You are now entering the EU" on the back of the gate.

Pusher Street, the hash-market street, was dismantled by the residents themselves in April 2024, cobbles torn up, after years of gang violence; the area has since been calmer and police patrol it. The local rules are still posted at the entrance: no running, no weapons, no hard drugs, no cars. Allow an hour's stroll, more if you stop by the lake for a coffee.

Torvehallerne is a food market in Copenhagen, located near Nørreport station. Known for its lively atmosphere, it brings together more than 60 stalls in two glass halls: fresh produce, fish, cheese, pastries, coffee and prepared dishes. It’s an ideal stop for food lovers and a great taste of Danish gastronomy.

Founded in 1859 by the ornithologist Niels Kjærbølling on Frederiksberg hill, Copenhagen Zoo is one of Europe's oldest; its 11 hectares house some 4,000 animals of 260 species. Norman Foster's Elephant House (2008), with its two glass domes, and the tropical house are its most visited buildings.

The route passes the African savannah (giraffes, zebras, rhinos), the Arctic Ring where polar bears are watched underwater, the Panda House designed by Bjarke Ingels (2019) and a children's zoo with goats and ponies. The 43-metre observation tower of 1905 overlooks Frederiksberg Have, the free neighbouring park.