6 Days in Copenhagen: First-Timer Itinerary

Six days builds on the 5-day plan with a full day on two wheels: rent a bike, ride the harbourfront, and swim for free at Islands Brygge. Shorter trip? Drop to 5 days . Want one more slow day before flying out? Go to 7 days .

Book these before you go

  • Tivoli Gardens entry: check current dates and pricing on GetYourGuide
  • A canal cruise past Christianshavn: browse departure times on Viator
  • Rosenborg Castle skip-the-queue ticket: book online through GetYourGuide
  • Hotel near Islands Brygge or Nørrebro: compare rates on Booking.com
Day Focus
Day 1 Little Mermaid at dawn, Nyhavn, Strøget
Day 2 Tivoli Gardens, Vesterbro dinner and nightlife
Day 3 Rosenborg crown jewels, King’s Garden, National Museum
Day 4 Round Tower, Christiansborg free tower, canal cruise
Day 5 Freetown Christiania, Nørrebro, Reffen dinner
Day 6 Full cycling day, Islands Brygge harbour baths

Day 1: Little Mermaid, Nyhavn And Strøget

  • Go straight to the Little Mermaid at Langelinie between 7 and 9am, free and unfenced, a genuinely small 1.25m bronze from 1913
  • Cut back through Kastellet, the star-shaped fortress park
  • Reach Nyhavn by late morning, the 17th-century canal houses (built 1670-75) are free
  • Spend the afternoon on Strøget, the pedestrianized spine from Rådhuspladsen to Kongens Nytorv
  • Dinner at a smørrebrød restaurant in Indre By, budget 200-300 DKK with a beer

Day 2: Tivoli Gardens And Vesterbro

  • Spend the day at Tivoli Gardens, dynamic pricing runs roughly 150-200 DKK for adults, Ride Pass from about 299 DKK, check the 2026 season dates on tivoli.dk
  • Dinner in Vesterbro, the old Meatpacking District (Kødbyen) is dense with restaurants and bars

Day 3: Rosenborg, The King’s Garden And The National Museum

  • Start at Rosenborg Castle, 140 DKK online, 150 DKK at the door, one ticket covers the royal apartments and the Treasury holding the Danish Crown Jewels
  • Walk Kongens Have, the free King’s Garden surrounding the castle
  • Lunch at Torvehallerne, the two glass market halls near Nørreport
  • Spend the afternoon at the National Museum of Denmark, 135 DKK online or 150 DKK at the door, it stopped being free in 2016

Day 4: The Round Tower, Christiansborg And The Canals

  • Climb the Round Tower in the morning, 60 DKK, spiral ramp not stairs, though the observatory stays closed for restoration until October 2026, see our Round Tower profile for exact hours
  • Head to Christiansborg Palace, the free 106m tower needs a timed slot booked ahead, the 175 DKK combined ticket covers the Reception Rooms, Royal Ruins, Kitchen, and Stables
  • Take a canal cruise past Christianshavn’s canal houses and the spiral-spire Church of Our Saviour

Day 5: Christiania, Nørrebro And Reffen

  • Walk through Freetown Christiania in the morning, Pusher Street’s hash market was dismantled by the community itself in 2024, so this is a calmer visit than older write-ups describe
  • Head to Nørrebro in the afternoon, Time Out named it the world’s coolest neighbourhood in 2021
  • Visit Assistens Cemetery, where Hans Christian Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard are buried, free and worth an hour
  • Dinner at Reffen, 85-150 DKK a dish, open roughly spring through autumn only

Do I actually need to rent a bike in Copenhagen? No, the metro and walking cover every sight in this itinerary fine. But renting one for a day, roughly 100-150 DKK through Donkey Republic or Bycyklen, is genuinely the best way to experience the city the way residents do rather than a tourist gimmick tacked onto a trip.

Day 6: A Full Day On Two Wheels

  • Rent a bike for the day, roughly 100-150 DKK, Donkey Republic and Bycyklen both run app-based docks across the city
  • Ride the harbourfront from Nyhavn down past Christianshavn to Islands Brygge, where the free harbour baths let you swim in clean harbour water right in the city centre, seasonal and weather-dependent
  • Cycle back through Nørrebro or Frederiksberg for a slower look at residential Copenhagen away from the tourist core
  • Wind down with a hygge evening: a cozy café, a proper Danish pastry, and an early night before departure prep

What’s the single best free thing to do in Copenhagen? Islands Brygge’s harbour baths, hands down. Free, genuinely clean water in the middle of the city, and locals treat it as a normal summer evening plan rather than a novelty, which tells you everything about how Copenhagen actually uses its harbourfront.

Six days, two castles, one hash market’s calmer aftermath, and a full day on a rental bike, this is the itinerary that stops treating Copenhagen like a checklist and starts treating it like the city locals actually live in.