Round Tower: Tickets, Hours and How to Visit
The Round Tower (Rundetårn) doesn’t pull the crowds Rosenborg or Tivoli do, and that’s exactly the case for climbing it: 60 DKK, no advance ticket needed, and a wide spiral ramp instead of stairs that takes about 15 minutes at an easy pace. Christian IV built it in 1642, making it Copenhagen’s oldest surviving observatory building, though the observatory itself is closed for restoration until October 2026, so right now the climb is about the ramp and the view, not stargazing.
Round Tower key facts
| Price | 60 DKK adult, walk-up only, no online ticket needed |
| Hours | Daily, hours shift by season, check rundetaarn.dk before you go |
| Time needed | 30-45 minutes including the view platform |
| Booking lead | None required; the attached observatory stays closed until October 2026 |
How to actually visit the Round Tower
It sits in Indre By, a short walk off Strøget and about ten minutes from Nyhavn, so it slots into a morning easily without a detour from the rest of our Copenhagen guide . There’s no ticket window queue to plan around since it’s cash-and-card walk-up only, buy at the door and start climbing. The ramp itself is the point as much as the top: it was built wide and spiraled specifically so a horse and cart could carry equipment up (legend says Tsar Peter the Great rode a horse to the top in 1716), and it’s a genuinely different climb from the tight spiral staircases at most European towers.
Is the Round Tower worth climbing? Yes, if you want the best low-effort view over Indre By’s rooftops for under an hour of your day. At 60 DKK it’s cheaper than Christiansborg’s combined ticket and far less crowded than Tivoli, and the ramp means it’s accessible to visitors who’d skip a tower with 200 narrow stairs.
How does it compare to Christiansborg’s free tower? Christiansborg’s 106m tower is taller and free, but needs a timed slot booked online in advance and looks out over a different stretch of the harbor and Parliament grounds. The Round Tower is faster to just walk into, cheaper than Christiansborg’s combined 175 DKK ticket if you’re not doing the Reception Rooms anyway, and its rooftop platform sits directly above Indre By’s oldest streets rather than the water.
Can I see the observatory while it’s closed? No, the observatory deck itself, Europe’s oldest still in scientific use, is fully closed for restoration through October 2026. The climb and the open-air platform below it remain accessible the whole time, you’re just not getting the telescope room until the restoration wraps.
Pair the climb with a walk down to Nyhavn for a canal cruise afterward, check current departure times on GetYourGuide . If you’re basing yourself nearby, Indre By hotels put you within a five-minute walk of the tower, the National Museum, and Strøget alike, compare current rates on Booking.com .
Go in the late afternoon rather than midday: the ramp is shaded and cooler, the rooftop light is better for photos, and you’ll beat the tour groups that cluster there right after lunch.