Best Museums in Copenhagen: Our 7 Favorites

Louisiana Museum

• Admission: 145 DKK
• How much time to plan: about 2 – 4 hours
• Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday

The Louisiana Museum was our absolute highlight on our last trip to Copenhagen. If you only want to visit one of the museums in Copenhagen, make it this one.

The museum offers modern art at its finest, in every form imaginable: paintings, architecture, photography, nature, and a huge sculpture garden.

It’s also a great pick if you’re exploring Copenhagen with kids. There’s a dedicated Children’s Wing where kids can paint or build their own sculptures.

The museum sits a little outside the city center, but you can easily get there by train or car in about 45 minutes. And the upside of its location: it’s right by the sea, surrounded by greenery.

Glyptoteket

• Admission: 135 DKK
• How much time to plan: about 1.5 – 2 hours
• Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday

The Glyptotek is one of the most significant top museums in Copenhagen — and the building alone is seriously impressive. It’s designed as a Greco-Roman winter garden filled with palm trees. We love the atmosphere in there.

True to that theme, inside you’ll find a vast collection of ancient art: Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Etruscan. There are also some modern works, primarily by Danish and French artists.

One last tip worth keeping in mind: on the last Wednesday of every month, admission is always free.

Statens Museum for Kunst

• Admission: 130 DKK
• How much time to plan: about 2 – 3 hours
• Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday

Copenhagen is famous for its art scene, and the Statens Museum for Kunst — SMK for short — is the largest art museum in Denmark.

The collection spans Danish and international art from the Renaissance right through to today. Already sounds pretty good, right?

But there’s more: the art collection once belonged to the Danish royal family and now belongs to the public. And the beautiful building sits right in the middle of the leafy Museum Island, surrounded by three parks.

Designmuseum Danmark

• Admission: 140 DKK
• How much time to plan: about 1.5 – 3 hours
• Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday

The Danish Design Museum totally blew us away. It celebrates Danish design in everyday life, with a particular focus on furniture and household objects.

Danish design is world-famous, and here you’ll find everything Denmark has produced over the years under one roof: furniture, lamps, ceramics, textiles, and so much more. The pieces are quintessentially Scandinavian — above all functional, understated, and elegant.

One more thing: the green courtyard is home to a genuinely excellent museum café that’s well worth a stop.

MACA

• Admission: 160 DKK (about 21 euros)
• How much time to plan: about 1 – 2 hours
• Opening hours: daily

The MACA is relatively small, but we loved it anyway. It’s perfect if you have an hour or two to spare.

The focus is on contemporary art and street art. Banksy, of course, couldn’t be left out — there’s actually quite a lot from the anonymous artist here. But you can also discover plenty of works by Danish artists. The graffiti is seriously cool.

Another big plus: the MACA is a real under-the-radar pick in Copenhagen. It’s usually not very crowded, so you won’t be squeezing past people to see the art.

Experimentarium

• Admission: 250 DKK
• How much time to plan: 2 – 4 hours (kids could easily spend a whole day here)
• Opening hours: daily

We’ve named the Experimentarium the best museum for kids in Copenhagen — and it earns that title.

The name gives it away. It’s an interactive science museum for children, where kids learn about natural sciences, technology, and human abilities through hands-on play. The whole thing is put together with a lot of heart and variety.

Kids get to X-ray teddy bears and toys, go wild in the Bubblearium with giant soap bubbles, press buttons at all kinds of stations, and practice applying bandages. Most things are labeled in English, so you can easily explain everything as you go.

The Experimentarium has also thought of the practical stuff: nursing rooms, stroller parking, plenty of clean restrooms, and you’re welcome to bring your own food.

Museum of Illusions

• Admission: 139 DKK
• How much time to plan: about 1 – 2 hours
• Opening hours: daily

Not into history or ancient art, but love taking cool photos and being genuinely surprised? Then you absolutely have to check out the Museum of Illusions.

It’s a ton of fun and perfect for Instagram. Staff members are even on hand to help you get your whole group in the shot.

The museum is highly interactive and constantly tricks your senses. Each illusion comes with a scientific explanation that’s genuinely fascinating. Standouts include the Infinity Room with its wall-to-wall mirrors and the Ames Room, which makes you look like a giant or a dwarf.

The location is great too — you’ll find it right on the pedestrian street Strøget. Perfect if your accommodation in Copenhagen is central and you’re doing a tour of the city.

Book tickets for the Museum of Illusions online

Save Money with the Copenhagen Card

The Copenhagen Card can save you a lot of money — especially if you’re planning to hit several of the best museums in Copenhagen. The card alone covers over 40 museums. Pretty incredible, right?

On top of that, you can use Copenhagen’s public transportation for free and get into other Copenhagen attractions at no extra cost.

The card comes in two versions: the Copenhagen Card Discover, which includes public transit and 80 attractions, and the Copenhagen Card Hop, which doesn’t include public transit and covers around 40 attractions, but comes with hop-on/hop-off buses.

We especially recommend the Discover Card, since it includes public transit and all the museums we’ve mentioned above. For a detailed comparison, check out our full article on the Copenhagen Card. You can also take a look at the table below to see at a glance which museums are included in which card.

Buy the Copenhagen Card Discover

Buy the Copenhagen Card Hop