Few cities change as completely between June and January as Copenhagen does. It is effectively two destinations sharing a street plan, and knowing which one you have booked makes a considerable difference to what you pack and what you plan.
Summer: the city swims
From May the harbour becomes the main public space. The water is clean enough to swim in, there are supervised harbour baths at Islands Brygge and Sluseholmen, and the whole city relocates outdoors until eleven at night, because that is when it finally gets dark.
Hire a bike on day one. Copenhagen is flat, the lanes are separated from traffic, and cycling is not a novelty here — it is simply how people move. A week of bike hire costs less than three days of public transport.
Autumn: the good compromise
September and October give you long light, functioning outdoor life and considerably fewer visitors. It is the best time for the food — the restaurant scene comes back from summer holidays, and the game and root-vegetable end of the New Nordic repertoire is at its best.
Danes do not wait for good weather. They put on another layer and go anyway, and the city is built on that assumption.
Winter: candles, galleries, long lunches
It gets dark at half past three in December and this is not the disaster it sounds like. Every café and restaurant lights candles at lunch. The museums — SMK, Glyptoteket, the Design Museum — are at their best when there is nothing else pulling you outside.
- Louisiana, forty minutes north by train, is worth a full winter day.
- Tivoli opens for a Christmas season and again briefly in February.
- The harbour buses run all year and are the cheapest boat tour in Scandinavia.
Spring: the awkward one
March and April are unpredictable and the city has not quite committed to being outside yet. If you are coming for the food and the galleries it is excellent value. If you are coming for the harbour, wait six weeks.
Whatever the season: eat lunch properly, walk more than you planned, and accept that a coffee in Copenhagen costs what it costs. You are paying for somewhere to sit for two hours, and you should use them.