The best free things to do in Copenhagen
Copenhagen has a reputation as an expensive city and whilst prices aren’t always such a shock for visitors from London, there’s no denying you can find yourself whizzing through the krone a whole lot faster than you’d like. Luckily, the city also has plenty of attractions that don’t cost a penny and many museums that offer free admission on certain days. If you splash out upfront on a Copenhagen Card (from DKK 399/£47 for 24 hours), that will also give you free entry to many attractions as well as free transport. From going for a dip in the harbour to scouting out Copenhagen's lesser known mermaids, Telegraph Travel expert Suzanne King knows the best free things to do.
City centre
Picnic next to a pretty lake
If you fill your basket with picnic supplies in Torvehallerne, you’ll find the perfect place to enjoy them just five to 10 minutes’ walk away in the Botanic Gardens. A handsome 19th-century Palm House, which is suitably jungly and tropical inside, presides over lawns, woodland and a prettily landscaped lake, where turtles swim and water lilies bloom. In summer, there’s a little café in the form of a Citroen van and outdoor tables dotted round the circular pool, so most people tend to gravitate there, but if you want somewhere quieter, just follow the paths round the edges of the park until you find your spot.
Contact: botanik.snm.ku.dk
Opening times: See website
Nearest metro: Nørreport
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Relax under palm trees
There are some fine collections of antiquities and Danish art on display at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. But even if you’re not interested in its cultural attractions, it’s well worth a visit to enjoy the handsome winter garden at the heart of the building, where palm trees flourish beneath a vast glass-domed roof. Tuck into coffee and cakes from the little café there or just grab one of the benches by the fountain and relax. Normally you have to pay to go in, but on Tuesdays entrance is free.
Contact: 00 45 33 41 81 41; glyptoteket.com
Opening times: Tues-Sun, 11am-6pm (10pm on Thursdays); Mon, closed
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Get snap happy
Some of the most charming corners of Copenhagen are areas of old social housing. The pretty terraces of Brumleby and cute 19th-century townhouses east of Sortedams Sø, for example, are all likely to induce serious house envy. Topping them all for photo appeal, though, has to be Nyboder. The area was built to house the navy of King Christian IV in the 17th and 18th centuries, but could have been expressly designed to keep modern-day Instagrammers happy, thanks to its cobbled streets and colourful cottages, with ochre walls, rust-red shutters and green front doors.
Address: Haregade to Øster Voldgade
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Bounce on trampolines
A number of Copenhagen streets and parks offer free-for-all outdoors sporting facilities, from the ball courts and ping pong table in the centre of Sønder Boulevard in Vesterbro to the boxing ring and skate ramps at Superkilen in Nørrebro. The most entertaining option, though – and the one that always takes people by surprise – is the row of trampolines set in to the Havnegade waterfront promenade south of Nyhavn, where you can happily bounce up and down as you take in the views across the harbour.
Address: Havnegade, opposite the end of Peder Skrams Gade
Opening times: 24/7
Nearest metro: Kongens Nytorv
Go mermaid hunting
Yes, of course there’s the one everyone knows – poor besieged little thing, sitting on her rock in the harbour with people scrambling for selfies by her side. But why not go leftfield and have fun finding alternative merfolk? For starters, just north of the Little Mermaid on Pakhuset is her weird sister, the Genetically Modified Little Mermaid. There’s another, slightly startled-looking one by the Black Diamond on Søren Kierkegaards Plads. And if you cross Højbro from Christiansborg to Strøget, look over the parapet in the northeast corner to see Suste Bonnen’s underwater bronzes of a merman and his seven sons.
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Nørrebro
Spend the afternoon in a graveyard
Not as morbid as it sounds. Copenhagen’s beautifully landscaped cemeteries double up as attractive public parks, where the locals come to enjoy sociable strolls along the networks of shady paths or, in summer, sunbathe and picnic on the grass. Best-known is Assistens Kirkegård in Nørrebro, where you can pay your respects at the tombs of such famous Danes as Hans Christian Andersen or Søren Kierkegaard, but also worth visiting are Bispebjerg Kirkegård, famed for its spring displays of cherry blossom, and Vestre Kirkegård, with its peaceful ponds and great displays of autumn colour.
Opening times: April-September, 7am-10pm; October-March, 7am-7pm
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Islands Brygge
Splash about in the harbour
Copenhagen has so successfully cleaned up its once polluted harbour waters, that for years now it’s been safe to swim there – and many do. If you’ve only ever walked along the Islands Brygge quayside in the cooler months, you won’t recognise the place on a hot summer’s day. When the sun comes out and the temperatures rise, the waterfront is alive with crowds of people sunbathing, drinking, playing music and leaping off the diving boards into the Harbour Baths, where different-depth pools cater for children as well as adults.
Opening times:1 June-30 September, 24/7
Nearest metro: Islands Brygge
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Amager
Make a beeline for the beach
Beaches probably aren’t the first thing you associate with Copenhagen, but the city isn’t short of seafront playgrounds. At Amager Strandpark, a 10-minute metro ride from the centre, you get a sheltered lagoon and several miles’ worth of clean sandy beach, with sea baths at either end. In summer it’s buzzing with people sunbathing, taking part in outdoor sports or attending concerts and other events on the broad grassy areas. In winter, when the crowds have gone and things have turned grey and moody, it’s a great place for blustery, head-clearing walks along the shore.
Opening times: 24/7
Nearest metro: Øresund, Amager Strand or Femøren
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Ishøj
Find a hidden giant under a bridge
A few years ago, artist Thomas Dambo created an open-air sculpture treasure hunt, designed to encourage Copenhagen residents to explore natural areas of the western suburbs that were usually overlooked. 'The Six Forgotten Giants' consists of half a dozen outdoor sculptures, all made from recycled materials and hidden around in unlikely places. Most are way off the beaten track, but one, Oscar Under the Bridge, is more easily reached. It's just along the coast from Arken (the museum of modern art) or half an hour’s walk from Ishøj station.
Contact:thomasdambo.com
Opening times: 24/7
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Bispebjerg
Wander around an impressive church
Venture off the beaten tourist track to the northern suburb of Bispebjerg, and you’ll discover the extraordinary Grundtvigs Kirke – where the typical stepped-gable style of a traditional Danish church meets the scale and grandeur of a Gothic cathedral. It was completed in 1940, towers over its surroundings, and the interior is dramatic in its simplicity. Light streams in from vast windows and the unadorned columns lead ever upwards to the lofty vaulted ceiling – so far above it’s as if some almighty hand had reached down and stretched everything out to giant proportions.
Contact: 00 45 35 81 54 42; grundtvigskirke.dk
Opening times: See website
