Copenhagen Card guide with prices and honest maths

Facts checked in November 2026 against the operator's and attractions' own sources.

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What the Copenhagen Card actually is

Copenhagen has run a city card for decades, and today it is a fully digital product that lives in a free app called Copenhagen Card City Guide. You buy it on the operator's website, in the app itself or through a reseller, then activate it in the app when you are ready to start. From that moment a clock runs in whole hours, not calendar days. A 24-hour card activated at 10:00 on a Tuesday ends at 09:59 on Wednesday, and the clock cannot be paused.

While the card is active you walk into the included attractions by having your barcode scanned at the till. There is no separate ticket to collect and no price to pay at the door. On DISCOVER you also ride buses, the metro, S-trains, regional trains and the yellow harbour buses as often as you like, with no tapping in or out. You simply carry the phone and show the card to a bus driver when boarding or to an inspector on request.

DISCOVER or HOP

The two versions are built for different trips, and choosing the wrong one is the most expensive mistake British visitors make.

• DISCOVER is the all-round card. It includes 80+ attractions across Copenhagen and North Zealand, among them Tivoli Gardens, Rosenborg Castle, the National Museum, the Glyptotek, the canal tour, Kronborg in Helsingør, Frederiksborg in Hillerød and the Louisiana museum, plus every bus, train and metro in zones 1 to 99, which is the whole Capital Region and the airport. It is sold for 24, 48, 72, 96 or 120 hours.
• HOP keeps you in the centre. It includes 40+ attractions in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg and unlimited rides on Stromma's hop-on hop-off buses on up to three routes with an audio guide. It does not include the metro, ordinary buses, trains or the airport ride, and the castles and museums outside the city are not on it. It is sold for 24, 48 or 72 hours.

A detail worth knowing before you go further: for 24 hours DISCOVER is the cheaper of the two (DKK 589 against DKK 600), even though it includes more. HOP is only the better buy if you were going to pay for a hop-on hop-off bus anyway and have no plans outside the centre.

The card in numbers

• 86 attractions flagged for DISCOVER and 46 for HOP on the operator's list in November 2026 (the bus itself counts as one HOP entry).
• Five durations for DISCOVER, from DKK 589 to DKK 1,419 for an adult.
• Zones 1 to 99 of public transport, which reaches Helsingør, Hillerød, Roskilde and Køge.
• One visit per attraction per card, no re-entries (Tivoli lets you back in the same day with a stamp).
• Two KIDS cards at most per adult card, for children aged 3 to 11.
• 24 months to activate a card after purchase.

Copenhagen Card prices by duration

These are the operator's own prices in Danish kroner as listed in November 2026. The pound figures are the conversions the operator itself displays and will move with the exchange rate, so treat them as approximate. Adults are 16 and over, juniors 12 to 15, kids 3 to 11.

Source: copenhagencard.com price table, read November 2026. The operator states that prices can change without notice.

The longer cards get much cheaper per day. A 24-hour DISCOVER works out at DKK 589 a day, the 72-hour one at about DKK 346 a day and the 120-hour one at about DKK 284 a day. That is the main reason the card is usually better value for a long weekend than for a single day. Full details on buying, resellers and refunds are on our prices and where to buy page.

Children are no longer free

Many older guides still say that two children travel free with each adult card. That rule is gone. Today every child from age 3 needs their own card: a KIDS card for ages 3 to 11 (DKK 100 to 260 depending on duration) and a JUNIOR card for ages 12 to 15. One adult can add a maximum of two KIDS cards, and they must be bought in the same order as the adult card because they cannot be added later. A third child under 12 travelling with one adult needs a JUNIOR card. Babies and toddlers up to age 2 need nothing.

Our practical guides to the Copenhagen Card

What is included

The headline attractions are the reason most people buy the card, and most of them are on both versions. The difference is that the out-of-town castles and museums are DISCOVER only. Here is how the big names line up, with the adult price you would otherwise pay. The complete list with filters by area and type is on our included attractions page.

Headline attractions and their normal prices

Adult prices in DKK as published by the attractions or the tourist board in November 2026. Where online tickets are cheaper we show both. Many museums are free for under-18s anyway, which matters for families.

Gate prices from kronborg.dk, nationalmuseet.dk, frederiksborg.dk, rundetaarn.dk and Visit Copenhagen; Tivoli, Rosenborg and Glyptotek from 2026 listings, check before you travel.

Two things surprise people. First, the Round Tower is not on the card at all, although it used to be and many blogs still list it. At DKK 60 it is cheap anyway. Second, Tivoli entry on the card is entry only: the rides cost extra, although cardholders can buy the unlimited Ride Pass at a reduced price through a link the operator provides.

Transport on the card

With DISCOVER you can use every metro line, bus, S-train, regional and local train and harbour bus in zones 1 to 99, which is the entire Capital Region. That includes the airport, so if you activate the card on landing the metro or train into town is covered. It also covers the trains to Helsingør for Kronborg, Humlebæk for Louisiana, Hillerød for Frederiksborg and Roskilde for the Viking Ship Museum. First class is not included, and nor is the train to Malmö, which is in Sweden.

The card has to be valid for the whole journey. If it expires while you are on a train from Helsingør, you are travelling without a ticket and the fine is at least DKK 750. HOP covers no public transport at all, only Stromma's sightseeing buses. More detail, including the bus routes, is on the transport page.

Is the Copenhagen Card worth it?

The honest answer is: only if you are a busy sightseer. The card is priced so that two or three paid attractions plus a day of transport roughly break even. Above that you save, below it you lose. Below are three worked days with real prices. We always use the cheaper online price where an attraction offers one, so the savings are, if anything, understated. Longer plans for two and three days and for families are on the is it worth it page.

Three worked examples in kroner

Adult prices in DKK. Transport without the card is priced with the official City Pass, the tourist transport ticket sold by Denmark's public transport operators.

Tivoli priced at the low end of its range; on many dates it costs more, which improves the card's result.

Look at the first row. Three famous sights in a relaxed day do not justify the card, especially if you walk everywhere, which in central Copenhagen is easy. The card starts to pay when you add a fourth or fifth attraction, or a day trip north where the return train fare alone is part of the saving.

Who usually saves

• First-time visitors with two or three full days who want the big castles, Tivoli and a day trip to Helsingør or Hillerød.
• Travellers who land at the airport, activate on arrival and pack the first afternoon.
• Families with children aged 3 to 11 who want Tivoli, the Zoo and the canal tour, because the KIDS card is cheap against children's tickets at those three.

Who usually does not

• Slow travellers who visit one museum a day and spend the rest of the time in cafés, parks and shops.
• Anyone whose list is mostly free things: Nyhavn, the Little Mermaid, Christiania, the Royal Library garden, the changing of the guard at Amalienborg.
• Parents of teenagers who mainly want museums, since many museums let under-18s in free and a JUNIOR card costs from DKK 399.
• Visitors in town over a Monday, when many museums are closed.

If you are unsure, compare the card with the rival options on our City Pass comparison page. For many light sightseers a City Pass for transport plus two or three single tickets bought online is the cheaper route.

How to buy and activate

There are three ways in. You can buy on the operator's website and receive an order number by e-mail, buy directly in the app, or buy from a reseller such as GetYourGuide or Tiqets and receive a voucher code. Whichever you choose, the card itself only exists in the Copenhagen Card City Guide app. A reseller voucher is not a valid card until it is redeemed in the app, and screenshots are never accepted.

From purchase to first attraction

1. Buy the right cards in one order

   Choose DISCOVER or HOP and the duration. Add KIDS cards for children aged 3 to 11 in the same order: they cannot be added later.

2. Redeem at home

   Download the free app, enter your order number including the dashes, and the cards appear under My cards. Redeeming does not start the clock.

3. Check your phone's time zone

   When you land, make sure the phone shows Danish time before you activate, otherwise you can lose an hour.

4. Activate when you start

   Tap activate and swipe. All cards in the same order start together, and activation cannot be undone or paused.

5. Use it offline

   After activation the card works without data, so roaming charges are not an issue. Show the barcode at each attraction and to the bus driver.

Plan the first hours with care, because the clock runs through the night. If you land at 18:00, activating straight away gives you a free ride into town and an evening at Tivoli, but it also uses a quarter of a 24-hour card on a dark evening. For a 48- or 72-hour card that trade-off is usually fine. For a 24-hour card it is usually better to pay for the airport metro and activate the next morning. The full routine, including transfers between phones and what happens if your battery dies, is on the how it works page.

Tips that save money

• Avoid Mondays for museum days. The National Museum and Kronborg, among others, are closed. Frederiksborg and Tivoli in season are open.
• Check Tivoli's season. The 2026 summer season ran to 20 September and the Halloween season to 1 November. The Christmas season runs from 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 (closed on 24 December). Between seasons the garden is shut.
• Book time slots. Home of Carlsberg and the Church of Our Saviour tower need pre-booking, and Rosenborg gives out same-day time slots at the castle. The card does not skip queues.
• Take the canal tour from Ved Stranden. The card covers the Stromma canal tours, and the tourist board notes the free departure is from Ved Stranden. You can reserve a slot at the box office there.
• Put the day trip in the middle. Helsingør and Humlebæk are on the same coastal line, so Kronborg and Louisiana fit into one day with the card covering the trains.
• Accessibility. A disabled adult or junior cardholder may bring one attendant free. No proof is needed when buying, but carry documentation in English for the visits.

Frequently asked questions