The best hostels in Copenhagen, including shuffleboard, beer pong and tattoo parlours
Despite its expensive reputation, Copenhagen still has plenty of free attractions, inexpensive activities and places to eat and drink on the cheap. You can stretch your budget even further by opting to stay at one of the growing number of hostels in the city, some of which have the kind of good looks and plentiful facilities you’d expect from a full-service hotel. Whether you want a super-central location, an abundance of activities, or chic Danish design, our selection of the best hostels in Copenhagen will fit the bill.
Hotel Danmark
Copenhagen, Denmark
8Telegraph expert rating
This boutique hotels with bunks is just a few minutes' walk from attractions such as Tivoli and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. It consists of two linked buildings, one a listed 18th-century property, which retains its original façade, the other a 1969 block, attractively clad in racing green and emerald tiles at street level. It's got an appealing outside (popular roof terrace, lots of greenery) as well as in (slatted wood walls; low leather seating and a brass-clad reception desk that doubles as a bar). The dorm rooms here, each with bunk beds sleeping six, provide probably the swishest backpacker accommodation in town. Read expert review From £88 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• An expert guide to a weekend in Copenhagen
Generator Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
8Telegraph expert rating
The conveniently situated Generator blurs the lines between hostel and hotel, with design-led interiors, buzzy communal areas and a combination of private rooms and en-suite dorms. All of the main city-centre attractions are within a 10-minute walk. The first-floor communal area is a large loft-style space broken up into a series of smaller zones, with a cheerful mishmash of furnishings ranging from the retro and recycled to modern design classics including Philippe Starck chairs. You'll find plenty of entertainment downstairs, including a pool table, arcade games, table football, darts board, five shuffleboard tables and even a petanque court. The hostel also lays on live music, DJs and other events. Read expert review From £57 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best restaurants in Copenhagen
Steel House Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
8Telegraph expert rating
The distinctive steel-clad building that was once home to the Danish Union of Metalworkers has now been transformed into a cool urban hostel, with smart dorms (or small private rooms), plenty of communal space for meeting fellow travellers and an impressive range of facilities. There’s an all-day buzz in the communal ground-floor area, a high-ceilinged, open-plan space with different zones for eating and drinking, lounging or using the guest tablets. The look is New York-loft inspired – industrial and deliberately raw, with rough concrete or bare brick on the walls, exposed piping overhead, and plenty of metal elements paying tribute to its previous incarnation. Read expert review From £58 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best things to do in Copenhagen
A&O Copenhagen Nørrebro
Copenhagen, Denmark
7Telegraph expert rating
A&O’s first Danish hostel opened its doors in the neighbourhood of Nørrebro, just over a mile from the city centre. It offers clean and comfortable rooms, an extensive breakfast buffet and a 24/7 bar serving pizza and sandwiches. The vast, bright reception room has a smooth, polished concrete floor that’s filled with various clusters of seating areas, from soundproof orange booth chairs to grey sofas. White and grey walls in rooms are decorated with graphic grey-and-white maps splashed orange. Rooms are split into single and family rooms, classic hotel rooms or shared dorms (both mixed and female). Read expert review From £47 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in Copenhagen
Urban House Copenhagen by MEININGER
Copenhagen, Denmark
7Telegraph expert rating
Urban House Copenhagen by Meininger calls the vibrant neighbourhood of Vesterbro home. There’s a buzzing bar with locally brewed beer, a retro laundrette, a tattoo parlour and plenty of shared spaces in which to chill out. Décor is a mish-mash of old and new, with worn beer crates as tables, low-hanging vintage fringed lampshades and floral wallpaper contrasting with a modern green carpet with birds, skulls and crossbones. Bedrooms are clean and comfortable with soft grey painted walls, photographic prints and double-glazed windows to keep out the hum of the city. Each room has a private bathroom and there’s a few extra shower rooms on the third floor. Read expert review From £54 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best free things to do in Copenhagen
Danhostel Copenhagen City
Copenhagen, Denmark
7Telegraph expert rating
This is ‘Europe’s largest design hostel’, standing at 16 storeys tall with a vast 1,020 beds, centrally located on the Langebro Bridge. The reception area is spacious and trendy with plenty of places to sit and hang out. There are rooms for one, two, three, four, six or eight people, all of which come with a clean, grey-tiled bathroom with a shower. The laid-back Bar50 is lined with deep green and blue tiles and high tables with stools or leather sofas. The feel is functional and minimal over design-lead: there’s Gubi furniture and Bestlite lamps, painted mural artwork and wraparound windows looking out over the canal. Read expert review From £58 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Copenhagen Downtown Hostel
Copenhagen, Denmark
7Telegraph expert rating
This super centrally-located lively hostel has a boho lounge with a buzzing bar and reasonably priced shared dinners. The atmosphere is relaxed hippy-chic, with a bit of a Moroccan feel to its long woven striped benches, wooden floors, vintage furniture, white paper globe lighting and colourful tiled bar. The events calendar includes the likes of a pie-eating contest, live music, beer pong and Mexican fiestas. Rooms have a stylish overnight train cabin feel, and have nifty under-bed storage, lockers, colourful carpets, Seventies-style dressing tables and coat hooks made from metal piping. Read expert review From £55 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best boutique hotels in Copenhagen
Annex Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
7Telegraph expert rating
Annex sits within the stylish Absalon Hotel, a 1938-opened family-run hotel that’s been passed down through three generations. It’s got 90 colourful private bedrooms, is in Copenhagen's hippest neighbourhood, Vesterbro, and only four miles from the airport. The hostel is quiet and private in feel and has a small but cosy hangout room with geometric print leather chairs, green rugs, globe lighting, cacti dotted about and red cushions in the window seats. Outside there’s a courtyard for summertime drinking and a small mini-golf course. Rooms have carpeted floors, colourful walls and open wardrobes. Read expert review From £52 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Contributions by Sara D'souza & Suzanne King
Prices cited on Booking.com are subject to change in high season and during popular holidays and events.
