Copenhagen is known for being a expensive city but I didn’t find it as atrocious as I thought I would. When you compare the things we were doing and eating with the same things in London they were only marginally more expensive. It certainly isn’t cheap like much of Europe is but it isn’t as expensive as I had previously thought.
One thing that makes Copenhagen a popular choice for many people are the cheap and easy flights into the city. When searching ‘everywhere’ on the Skyscanner app I regularly see Copenhagen flights for under £50, making it a popular choice if looking for the cheapest flights. However, not everyone makes the most of these cheap flights as they fear about the price once there. Below I have outlined what we spent while in the city and how you could save money in places we spent quite a bit. There were also something we did because it was winter and freezing out, so you could potentially save money by visiting in summer.
Pre-trip Spendings
Flights: £103.48 for return flights for two with Easyjet
Accommodation: £127 for a private room in Generator Hostel
To save money you could book a dorm bed instead of a private room.
Insurance: I get this free with my bank for Europe trips. If you are a UK resident I would highly recommend using a bank that offers free Europe travel insurance to save money of those weekend breaks
Total pre-trip for 2 people £230.48
Copenhagen Spendings over three days for two people
Food
Day 1
Snack at the Christmas market for 2 Dkk 80
Afternoon Tea at Nimb with champagne Dkk 806 – (This was a real treat and something that doesn’t need to be spent, instead we could have just had a bigger snack at the Christmas market).
Burgers (x2) at Cock’s and Cows with side, beer and gløgg Dkk 388
Day 2
Breakfast at Hafnia: 2x hot chocolate and 2x breakfast dishes Dkk 195
Danish Pastries (x2) Dkk 60
Dinner at Höst: 5 Course meal and glass of wine for 2 Dkk 1000 – (This was another treat as we wanted to sample a ‘typical’ Danish meal, this restaurant was described as for modest budgets but it was still very expensive. To save money we could have found a similar priced place to the previous night).
Day 3
Breakfast at Hafnia: 2x hot chocolate and 2x breakfast dishes Dkk 210
Lunch at Copenhagen Street Food Market for 2 Dkk 170
2x Sandwich and juice Dkk 169
Total Dkk 3078
If you took into account my money saving suggestions then your total could be as little as Dkk 1800
Drink
Coffee Dkk 49
2x gløgg with rum at Tivoli Gardens Dkk 110
2x gløgg at Tivoli Gardens Dkk 80
Coffee and lemonade Dkk 72
4x gløgg in a pub Dkk 260
2x hot chocolate Dkk 98
2x gløgg Dkk 110
2x water at airport Dkk 63
We drank a lot of gløgg and hot drinks because it was so cold outside and we needed to warm up a lot. It was also Christmas time so wanted to enjoy the Danish version of mulled wine. We could easily have found another way to keep warm instead of spending so much money of drink.
Total Dkk 842
If you didn’t have any alcohol while in Copenhagen then your total could be as little as Dkk 282
Attractions
Tivoli park entrance for 2 Dkk 220
Grosenborg castle for 2 Dkk 175 (I used my student ID to get a reduced entrance at the castle.)
Entry to the Round Tower for 2 Dkk 50
Total Dkk 445
Transport
2x metro ticket from airport to hostel Dkk 72
2x metro ticket from hostel to airport Dkk 72
We walked everywhere in the city, the only time we paid for transport was to get to and from the airport. Copenhagen is a very easy city to walk around with small distances and an easy layout to the city. It is an easy way to save money. We also chose attractions to visit that were within walking distance.
Total Dkk 144
Other
Locker for luggage before check in Dkk 40
Locker for luggage after check out Dkk 50
Postcard (x2) and shot glass Dkk 34
Total Dkk 124
Total spent in Copenhagen
Total spent for two people Dkk 4633 // £530
Total you could spend if budgetting strictly for 2 people Dkk 2795 // £320
Pre Total £230.48
Trip Total + £530
£760.48
÷ 2
Total for one person for 2 nights and 3 days in Copenhagen £380.24
