In a nutshell
- We’ve put together 11 real insider tips so you can see more than just the well-known attractions in Copenhagen
- Alternative neighborhoods, extraordinary art installations, and authentic experiences — here you’ll find 11 Copenhagen hidden gems off the main tourist trail.
- And most importantly: we’ll tell you where to find the best ice cream and the best cinnamon rolls in the city — we taste-tested both so you don’t have to.
Cisternerne: Art Underground
The Cisternerne is a truly special place in Copenhagen that most visitors have never heard of.
These underground cisterns stored drinking water for the people of Copenhagen from the 19th century until 1981. After sitting unused for 30 years, the space was opened to visitors as an exhibition venue.
What makes it unique: every year, a new art installation is presented in the cisterns. During our visit, the space was bathed in dim light with an ambient soundscape that was a little eerie, but also deeply impressive.
You’ll find the cisterns inside the beautiful Søndermarken park in the Frederiksberg neighborhood. Admission is included with the Copenhagen Card.
Blox: Café with a View and a Giant Slide
Blox is a striking building on Copenhagen’s harbor that you’re guaranteed to notice during your visit. Despite being so eye-catching, relatively few tourists actually go inside — which is a shame, because there’s plenty to discover.
For starters, there’s the Danish Architecture Center, an exhibition dedicated to architecture, urban planning, and sustainability. One of the highlights is the giant slide that runs from the second floor all the way down to the basement — seriously fun for kids and adults alike.
Read all our tips for Copenhagen with kids here
The café on the rooftop terrace is also wonderful. From up there you get one of the best views in the city — and it’s completely free.
Admission to the Architecture Center costs 115 kroner.
Nørrebro: A Neighborhood in Transition
Nørrebro is probably the most exciting and contrasting neighborhood in Copenhagen.
The diversity hits you immediately as you walk around, and the transitions are often seamless. Multicultural streets lined with phone shops and Arabic food stalls sit right next to polished residential blocks with designer boutiques and charming cafés. Scattered throughout are left-wing autonomous community projects. A wild mix — but a fascinating one.
A great spot for photography is Superkilen Park. For a park, it’s relatively light on greenery — mostly concrete, with skate lanes, playground equipment, and even a boxing ring, interspersed with trees from all corners of the world and lighting featuring Eastern European symbols. Like the whole neighborhood, it’s a wild mashup — maybe not conventionally beautiful, but definitely interesting.
What is genuinely beautiful, on the other hand, is Assistens Kirkegård cemetery, right in the heart of Nørrebro. You can take a breath of fresh air strolling through its grand avenues and visit the graves of famous Danes like Hans Christian Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard.
Perhaps the nicest street for shopping and grabbing a coffee in Nørrebro is Jægersborggade, which starts just behind the cemetery.
Nørrebro is also one of our top picks if you’re looking for budget-friendly hotels in Copenhagen.
Kødbyen: The Former Meatpacking District
Our personal favorite neighborhood in Copenhagen is Vesterbro, which stretches out to the southwest of the historic center. Once a classic working-class area, it has since become a trendy residential neighborhood with lots of great shops, fantastic restaurants, and a lively nightlife scene.
In Vesterbro you’ll find the former meatpacking district, Kødbyen. The halls of Kødbyen were once used to butcher cattle and pigs. Today they’re painted a gleaming white and are home to some of the hottest restaurants in Copenhagen.
Our favorites are Pizzeria Mother and the lunch spot PåLÆG, where you can get what may be the best smørrebrød in Copenhagen.
Many Copenhageners also swear by the ice cream at Ismageriet, calling it the best in the city. We didn’t find it all that outstanding, though — very sweet and rich. Find out where we think the best ice cream is in insider tip number 6.
Vesterbro is also one of the nicest neighborhoods to stay in Copenhagen. It’s also home to some of the most beautiful boutique hotels in Copenhagen.
The Best Cinnamon Rolls in Copenhagen
Along with smørrebrød and hot dogs, cinnamon rolls are probably the most iconic food in Copenhagen. We made it our mission to try one every day and crown our favorite.
The most famous cinnamon roll can definitely be found at Sankt Peders Bageri — though it’s no longer a secret spot by any means. Still delicious, if perhaps a bit too sweet for our taste.
Honestly, we never found one single ultimate winner. They’re pretty great everywhere. We were pleasantly surprised by the ones at the bakery chain Farumhus, and you’ll also find excellent cinnamon rolls at Emmery’s and Lagkagehus.
Chain bakeries in Denmark are a completely different breed than what you’d find elsewhere — the quality here is really impressive.
The Best Ice Cream in Copenhagen
With the cinnamon rolls, we weren’t entirely sure which one was the best. With ice cream, though, we’re absolutely certain about our top pick.
The best ice cream in Copenhagen, in our opinion, is at Isoteket. There are two locations in Nørrebro and one in the slightly more outlying neighborhood of Østerbro.
The ice cream is a genuine flavor explosion. The combinations are creative but perfectly balanced.
We tried, among others, chocolate-cardamom, rhubarb-vanilla-star anise, and cinnamon-caramel — and were completely blown away.
Edition Copenhagen: Buy Art on a Budget
There are many wonderful museums in Copenhagen, especially art museums. If you’d like to take home a real work of art but don’t want to break the bank, we have a genuinely under-the-radar pick for you: Edition Copenhagen.
Edition Copenhagen is one of the world’s largest lithography workshops, where renowned artists produce limited-edition prints available for purchase.
All artworks are strictly limited, with most editions running between 20 and 200 copies. Every piece is hand-numbered and signed by the artist. Smaller prints start at around 100 to 200 euros.
Right in the shop in Christianshavn, you can browse and buy many of the prints in person. An even larger selection is available online.
Fuck Q-Park: A Rather Unusual Work of Art
And here’s the ultimate secret spot in Copenhagen: perhaps the most outrageous work of art in the city.
You’ll find it at Dantes Plads, across from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. The sculpture consists of four pigs in long capes protecting an outstretched middle finger.
The artwork was created as a protest against parking company Q-Park, which wants to turn Dantes Plads into a parking lot.
The sculpture has stood there since 2021, and we think it looks a lot better than a parking lot.
Harbor Bus: A Boat Tour for Just 3 Euros
Thinking about taking a boat tour in Copenhagen? It’s definitely worth doing.
But if you’d rather skip the 20 to 30 euros for a boat tour, you can simply ride the harbor bus instead. It’s still a genuine off-the-beaten-path find — and you can ride it with a regular Copenhagen public transit ticket.
The ferries run through Copenhagen’s harbor from north to south (line 991) or from south to north (line 992). The full route takes about an hour and can be done with a 2-zone transit ticket for 24 kroner (about $3.50).
At the northern and southern ends, you’ll get to admire world-class modern architecture. Along the way, you’ll also pass many classic landmarks, including the Little Mermaid.
Watching Soccer in Copenhagen
We love catching soccer games in other cities and countries, and of course we went to a match in Copenhagen too.
The Parken Stadium of FC Copenhagen is not far from the city center. You can watch the Danish serial champions play live — the stadium has a great atmosphere, and last-minute tickets are often still available.
The best views are from the upper tier in Block C or Block A — Block C has the better atmosphere of the two. You can easily buy tickets online at the FC Copenhagen website.
Alternatively, the second internationally known Danish soccer club, Brøndby IF, is also nearby. From the city center, it takes about 45 minutes by train to reach the suburb of Brøndby. Tickets are available on the Brøndby IF website.
Free Water Dispensers
Last but not least, here’s a genuinely useful tip. All over Copenhagen you’ll find water dispensers where you can refill your water bottle for free.
The dispensers are fairly inconspicuous and easy to miss. Luckily, there’s an online map showing all 60-plus water dispensers throughout the city.
