A Week In Copenhagen With Kids – Itinerary

Arriving In Copenhagen

Getting to Copenhagen from the UK is really easy. There are plenty of direct flights from throughout the UK, we flew from Edinburgh with Ryanair. Track prices on Google flights to find out when the good deals come up.

The other options are to either drive or take the train. Driving can either be via the Channel Tunnel and through Europe or by car ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam and then travelling up into Denmark. By train you can leave London on the Eurostar to Brussels and then the following day take the early morning train from Brussels to Copenhagen. You will arrive in Copenhagen in the late evening.

Copenhagen Card

Before you arrive in Copenhagen I recommend purchasing a Copenhagen Card. It saves a lot of money on entrance fees and public transport. Most of the places listed below are included in the card, plus public transport is free on the card. Under 10’s are included on your card for free too!

Day 1

On arrival in Copenhagen the best thing to do is to dump your bags at your accommodation and then head to the centre for a boat trip, included in the Copenhagen Card. It’s a great way to see the city without tiring out little legs.

Nyhavn is a popular area with pretty coloured houses that everyone wants to photograph. When you get the boat try and get a seat outside for better views. You’re welcome to hop off and on the boat if you would like too.

Next walk the short distance along the Stormgade road away from the canals to the Museum of Copenhagen. It’s got some interesting stories and interactive areas about the history of the city. Around 1-2 hours is plenty of time in the museum for kids, although adults may want to spend longer.

If you still have a little extra time before dinner then pop into the Hans Christian Andersen Experience. It’s attached to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum, although I don’t personally recommend the Ripley’s museum due to how they appear to mock other cultures or people’s differences in some parts of the museum. However, it IS easy to visit both as they are attached together.

If you have sensitive children then they may not like the Hans Christian Andersen stories as most of the endings are a little sad. But this can be a discussion point too.

There are plenty of restaurants around Copenhagen, with many around the road at the entrance to the front of Tivoli. For fussier children there are also more than one McDonalds and Italian restaurants with pizza. Sometimes you just need to go for the easier options when kids are tired!

Day 2

On your first full day I highly recommend going to Tivoli, otherwise the kids will be asking when they’re going all week! Tivoli gardens were designed for a pretty area to stroll around and over time they have added various areas of entertainment. It now has a whole host of amusement rides, stalls, food carts and restaurants, theatre show area and aquarium.

You can read more about Tivoli Gardens here. You can easily spend a whole day here or if you are wanting to stay until evening to see the lights I recommend that you visit some playparks in the morning. Superkilen Park in Norrebro, Faelledparken Osterbro has the tower playground and on the outskirts is a superb nature playground in Valbyparken.

Older children may prefer to hire bikes and go for a tour around the fantastic cycle paths of the city.

Day 3

Take your time visiting the area around Norreport, either walk or hop on the metro to arrive at Norreport station. From here it’s a pleasant walk through the botanical gardens. At the Northern end of the gardens you will find the highlight of your visit here, the glasshouses.

Look out for tree frogs in the first part of the glasshouse you enter, they are hopping about in the mangrove section and you can definitely hear them. Sharp eyes can pick them out though!

The piece de resistance in the glasshouses is the domed section where the trees stretch up to the roof, their leaves grazing the walkway along the top of the dome. The walkway is accessed by a white decorative spiral staircase. It feels like you’re walking above the jungle!

After the tropical forest areas are the Mediterranean and then cactus sections. My kids loved looking at all the types of cacti, plus there is a butterfly house. There weren’t many butterflies when we visited in November, but in summer months it should be full!

Just to the East of the botanic gardens is the Natural History Museum of Denmark. If you have children who love animals or rocks then this is the place to go! When we visited the exhibition was about the massive t-rex skeleton. But the exhibits change throughout the year. The mineral halls are permanent and display a huge number of interesting minerals and gems. Great for budding geologists.

From here head across to the Round Tower, South East of Norreport station, originally an observatory. It was originally built with steps to get to the top. However these were taken out so that the king could drive to the top on a flat slope!

If you still find yourself with time left before dinner then other nearby attractions include Rosenborg Castle and the Workers Museum. All of these are on the Copenhagen Card (there seems to be few things that aren’t included!).

Day 4

The Danish Museum of Resistance is one of the few museums not on the Coepnhagen Card yet. But it’s well worth going to if you have kids that are interested in the World Wars, although I will warn you there are some scenes that are unsuitable for younger or more sensitive children including death scenes (where people were shot etc.). There are several interactive areas and you are given a headset to listen to the stories around the museum. Apparently there are over 4 hours of stories on the recordings, so you won’t want to listen to everything!

Danish museum of resistance, castle and little mermaid in morning and museum of Denmark in afternoon

Beside the museum is the Kastellet which was designed as defensive fortress. You can walk along the ramparts and see the old windmill and buildings. Although most are now used by the military there are two small museums that are occasionally open, but probably aren’t of interest to the kids.

To the East of the Kastellet is the Little Mermaid statue (it can get busy!). It is just a statue of a woman with what looks like a tail draped over her lap.

On the way back South from the Little Mermaid, following the shore you will come to the Gefion Fountain (just round the corner from the Danish Museum of Resistance). The fountain depicts the Norse goddess Gefjon driving oxen pulling a plow. In ancient legend it is said that Gefjon plowed up part of Sweden creating the lake Vanern and throwing the land into the sea creating Zealand, the islands to the East of mainland Denmark where Copenhagen is located. It’s an interesting story to impress the kids with!

After this catch the metro back to the centre to visit the National Museum of Denmark. This is a huge museum with both an interactive children’s museum and tons of amazing exhibits. You will want to spend a entire afternoon here, or come back another day to finish exploring the museum.

The children’s wing has lots of fun things to play on and climb up, perfect for toddlers to those aged around 10 and under. But don’t spend all your time here, make sure you visit the exhibitions themselves. There is plenty from early humans and Norse beliefs to Vikings, dollhouses and animals. Make sure you get a map that shows where the ‘boredom buttons’ are. These buttons can make the less interactive areas more fun for kids. Press the buttons to be entertained and educated about parts of history.

Unfortunately not all the buttons were working when we were there, but most did. It definitely makes what could be boring for kids much more fun. My two loved this museum a lot and we would have stayed longer if it wasn’t closing time!!

Day 5

Today you’re heading out of the main city to the town of Roskilde. Head to the main train station to catch the train. If it looks a little confusing check in the tourist information office for the correct train platform. Hop off at Roskilde and walk the 10 minutes along the road (or catch a taxi) to the Viking Ship Museum. We used Google maps and walked through a lovely grassy park area to get there, it’s fairly easy to find.

The Viking Ship Museum contains the remains of 5 ancient Viking ships. These ships were originally buried in the fjord as blockades to stop other boats coming into the harbour. The museum shows the discoveries, how they were uncovered and the process of building their own Viking ships based on those found in the fjord. There is a great film about it and a lovely area where kids (and adults!) can dress up in Viking clothing and act out being Vikings on two half ships. This kept mine happy for quite a long time!

After you have finished at the Viking Ship Museum head back to the station (after a play at the little playpark beside the museum). Catch the train to Lejre Station and either walk or catch the shuttle bus to Lejre Land of Legends.

This is a unique open-air museum with the reconstruction of the largest Vikings Kings Hall ever found. You can visit a series of reconstructed settlements from the Iron, Stone and Viking ages. There are also plenty of activities for all ages, including using a bow and arrow and sailing in a dugout canoe.

It’s an easy 30 minute train ride back to Copenhagen from Lejre Station to grab something tasty for dinner.

Day 6

The amount of time you will want to spend here depends on your kids! I suggest catching the train out to Experimentarium, which is on the outskirts of the city first thing in the morning. Then if you have time left later on you can visit other places in Copenhagen.

For kids around 12 and under you will probably find they will want to spend all day experimenting with the different areas, giving them time to go back to the areas they enjoy most. There is also a cafe and picnic area inside, so either bring a pack lunch or buy lunch at the cafe.

There is so much to explore in this museum, although the favourites for my two were definitely the water area (lots of interesting discussion about water erosion and dynamics) and the cargo area with giant marbles.

The giant marbles are products that are both exported and imported to Denmark. With the kids needing to collect the correct products and trying to reduce the carbon footprint. The products are sent down marble runs or moved across using ships the kids can push along. Then put in new marble runs on the other side. It really does sound complicated written down but the kids understood the concept very quickly and loved this area the most!

There were kids and adults of all ages here, even teenagers in school groups having enormous fun together (they seemed to like the body/exercise area best!).

Day 7

If you have an early flight and not much time I highly recommend take the Metro across to Christianshavn to climb the 400 steps to the top of the church spire. It looks cool from the outside, but is even more amazing from the top! It’s also included on the Copenhagen Card and tickets can be booked for entry times online. It only takes half an hour or so to climb up and back down again, with some time to savour the views at the top. Easily managed in around an hour using the Metro from the centre of Copenhagen.

For those with a bit more time you may want to visit the Planetarium or Copenhagen Zoo. Both are just to the West of the centre of Copenhagen and can keep you busy for the whole morning or longer!

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