The painted quays of Nyhavn, the lights of Tivoli and the spires of the old town – the tables, the hotels and the neighbourhoods, in one guide.
In Copenhagen now
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Weather
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MICHELIN
17 ✱ tables · 6 Key hotels
Photo: Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock
In this guide
Every table and hotel the MICHELIN inspectors have chosen in Copenhagen – 17 starred, 25 Bib Gourmand, 23 more restaurants and 19 hotels – on one map, with our own stories as we write them.
Walk the spiral ramp that winds 7½ times round the hollow core of the 1642 tower and come out on the viewing platform as the light fades over the spires – sunset is about 16:30 at the start of November. Winter hours Wednesday–Sunday 10:00–18:00; adults 60 DKK, under-18s free.
The harbour-front rink at the foot of the Inner Harbour Bridge opens for the season today: Halloween face painting 16:00–19:00 and Disco on Ice from 17:00 to 22:00. Skates and access 65 DKK an hour.
Dinner at a|o|c's no-frills sister bistro on Hammerhøj Kaj, looking across the harbour to the Black Diamond: a Michelin Bib Gourmand for good-value modern cooking built on Danish produce. Friday dinner from 17:30; book directly with the restaurant.
Porridge at Grød (from 09:00 at weekends) or coffee at Coffee Collective (from 08:00) in the glass market halls by Nørreport; the rest of the stalls open 10:00–18:00 on Saturdays.
A short walk to Christian IV's pleasure palace, open 10:00–17:00 until 1 November: the coronation thrones and three silver lions in the Knights' Hall, then the crown jewels in the basement. Under-18s free.
Lunch from a rotating, seasonal smørrebrød menu – à la carte or a curated 5- or 7-piece menu – with 12 Mikkeller beers on tap; Selma has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since 2019. Lunch Wednesday–Monday 11:30–16:00.
The last weekend of Halloween in Tivoli (2 October – 1 November): witches in the gardens, glowing pumpkin-men, all rides running and thousands of lights once darkness falls. Check the evening's closing time on tivoli.dk before you go.
Netto-Bådene's low boats leave Nyhavn about every 40 minutes – on 1 November roughly 10:20–15:00 – past the old Stock Exchange and Holmen's bastions. Adults 80 DKK, children 40 DKK, no booking.
Start at the main gate and walk the ramparts of the fortress Christian IV founded in 1626, then out along Langelinie to Edvard Eriksen's Little Mermaid (1913), a gift from the brewer Carl Jacobsen.
Lunch at Northern Europe's largest street-food market – around 35 food stalls on the waterfront at Refshaleøen – on its final day before closing for the winter. Food stalls 11:30–20:30, bars 11:00–21:30.
Walk up the ski slope on the power plant, or take the lift to the Rooftop Café – free within opening hours (November weekends 10:00–17:00) – and watch the sun go down over the city at about 16:30.
✱ MICHELIN star · Bib Gourmand: good cooking at a fair price · ◆ selected in the Guide · € to €€€€: the Guide's own price bands, from «on a budget» to «spare no expense».
04
Sunset and drinks
Where to drink
Canal-side cocktail dens, natural-wine bars and rooftops above the spires.
On the eighth floor of a 1962 modernist building, ROOF has 360-degree views over the harbour and spires, with cocktails named after the Round Tower, the Marble Church and the Royal Theatre – VisitCopenhagen's pick for a sundowner as the sun sets behind the rooftops.
No sign and no advertising, just a 1740 townhouse on the canal furnished like a private apartment; ranked 34th on the World's 50 Best Bars in 2015 and still one of the city's most talked-about cocktail bars.
Opened in 2012 by the Swedish brothers Michael and Andreas Nilsson, alumni of Milk & Honey in London: 'gourmet cocktails' with every ingredient made in-house.
Hidden behind the shelves of a former bookshop, Humberto Marques's speakeasy pours vintage spirits and shakes cocktails in hand-cranked shakers; a Scandinavian menu with a Portuguese twist.
A basement dressed like the owner's grandmother's 1960s living room, with seasonal menus that won Best Bar and Best Menu at the 2017 Bartender's Choice Awards.
Named after the red velvet curtain next door at the Royal Theatre, TATA serves classic cocktails in a vintage setting; take the lift to the planted rooftop for a drink above the old-town roofs.
Hotel Scandic's rooftop terrace, open to everyone, looks straight down on Nørreport and across the spires of the old town – classic G&Ts and Jungle Birds with the city at your feet.
A calm wine shop and bar since 2009, in four rooms with modern art, a stone's throw from Christiansborg; the focus is natural wine from small top producers.
Run by the wine merchants Rosforth & Rosforth, who supply some of Copenhagen's best restaurants: biodynamic and natural wines by the harbour, with small sharing plates of local, organic produce.
Sources: VisitCopenhagen and the bars' own pages, read 28 October 2026.
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Where to stay
The hotels worth the trip
The MICHELIN Guide's Keys first – its mark for hotels with character, service and a sense of place – then the rest of its selection and the ones we would book ourselves.
What VisitCopenhagen calls the ultimate harbourside walk: 13 kilometres from the postcard of Nyhavn to the houseboats of Christianshavn and the quiet backwaters of Sydhavn, mixing city life and raw nature.
Past Nyhavn and the Inner Harbour Bridge ('the Kissing Bridge', 2016), Christianshavn and Broens Gadekøkken, Islands Brygge and its harbour bath
All year; harbour baths and outdoor cafés are mostly a summer affair.
Flat and paved; hop on the yellow harbour bus at several points to cut the distance (VisitCopenhagen).
Start: Nyhavn, at the Inner Harbour Bridge (Inderhavnsbroen); the loop can be joined anywhere
The city's favourite loop: 6.35 km round three lakes, shared with joggers, couples and families feeding the ducks – and some of the best views of the city.
Past Sankt Jørgens Sø, the deepest lake, Peblinge Sø, Sortedams Sø and its two bird islands, Fiskeøen and Fugleøen
All year.
Level paths, ducks to feed (VisitCopenhagen).
Start: Peblinge Dossering, by Peblinge Sø (Nørrebro side); the path circles all three lakes
A walk on the ramparts of the fortress Christian IV founded in 1626, with the harbour alongside and Edvard Eriksen's Little Mermaid (1913) on her rock at Langelinie just beyond.
Past The star-shaped ramparts of Kastellet, founded by Christian IV in 1626, The barracks still used by the military, The Little Mermaid on her rock off Langelinie Pier (Edvard Eriksen, 1913)
VisitCopenhagen lists 06:00–22:00 from 1 April to 30 September; winter hours are not stated in the sources read.
Open to the public as a green lung for walks and jogging (VisitCopenhagen).
Royal gardens with canals and a palace on one side of the road and wild, hilly Søndermarken – owls in the old trees – on the other; both are on VisitCopenhagen's autumn list, and the old cisterns beneath Søndermarken are now an underground gallery.
Past The statue of Frederik VI at the main entrance, The canals of Frederiksberg Gardens, Frederiksberg Palace
Frederiksberg Gardens open 06:00–17:00 in late October and November (VisitCopenhagen calendar); boat tours on the canals in summer only. Søndermarken is open parkland.
Playground in Søndermarken; the zoo is next door (VisitCopenhagen).
Start: Frederiksberg Gardens, main entrance by the statue of Frederik VI
A UNESCO-listed royal hunting landscape, unchanged for some 350 years, where deer graze under the oaks a short train ride from the city – VisitCopenhagen's autumn favourite.
Past Bakken amusement park at the edge of the woods, Herds of free-ranging red, fallow and sika deer – more than 2,000 in all, Ancient solitary oaks
Open all year. The Hermitage itself opens to visitors only 1 May – 30 September (VisitCopenhagen).
Open woodland with deer close to the paths; horse-drawn carriage rides start outside the station (VisitCopenhagen).
Start: Klampenborg S-train station (main exit, where the horse carriages wait)
Twenty square kilometres reclaimed from the sea in 1943 and left to nature – wide skies, reeds, grazing herds and birdlife, right beside the modern buildings of Ørestad.
Past Nature Centre Amager, with a nature playground, café and equipment to borrow, Grazing cattle, deer and horses, Bird towers over the wader reserve
All year; part of the area is closed to visitors to protect birds.
Nature playground and café at the centre; rangers suggest routes; bikes and outdoor kit for hire at symbolic prices (VisitCopenhagen).
Start: Nature Centre Amager (Naturcenter Vestamager)
Sources: VisitCopenhagen and Naturstyrelsen, the Danish Nature Agency, read 28 October 2026. Coastal paths close in rough seas – check before you set off.
08
With kids
Copenhagen for children
Pandas, sharks, a playground for learner cyclists and Tivoli in its Halloween lights – plus Vikings, Hamlet's castle and Louisiana for a day out.
Founded in 1843 and a two-minute walk from the station, Tivoli dresses itself in pumpkins, witches and thousands of lights for Halloween, then reopens as a Christmas garden with Father Christmas, a Santa Train and stalls.
Halloween in Tivoli 2 October – 1 November 2026; closed 2–12 November; Christmas in Tivoli 13 November 2026 – 3 January 2027.
To do · Ages Child ticket 3–11; some dome films are animations for younger childrenTycho Brahe Planetarium
Knud Munk's cylinder on the lake holds the largest dome screen in Northern Europe, with films on volcanoes, astronauts and space, plus exhibitions – a starry answer to a dark November afternoon.
Children can touch a 16-ton meteorite from outer space and gawp at crystals and gemstones in the Mineral Hall; each year the museum also hosts the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.
Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–17:00, Wednesday until 21:00; closed Mondays (VisitCopenhagen calendar, October–November 2026).
Christian IV's pleasure palace of 1606–34 keeps the Danish crown jewels in its basement, and upstairs the Knights' Hall has coronation thrones guarded by three life-size silver lions – a fairy tale children can actually walk through.
Until 1 November 2026 10:00–17:00; from 3 November 10:00–16:00; closed Mondays (VisitCopenhagen calendar).
A spiral ramp winds 7½ times up the 1642 tower, its niches perfect hiding places for children, to a 360-degree view over the spires; on winter Monday and Tuesday evenings you can look at the planets through the telescope.
Winter season (October–March): Monday and Tuesday 10:00–21:00, Wednesday–Sunday 10:00–18:00.
At weekends the National Gallery opens one of Denmark's largest art studios for children: aprons on, fingers in the paint, with SMK's in-house artists on hand with ideas.
Every Saturday and Sunday; a new theme each month inspired by the current exhibitions.
A children's museum inside the Workers Museum where everything may be played with: a 1930s flat and back yard, a grocer's where children run errands as bicycle delivery boys and girls, and bottles to sort at the brewery.
Arbejdermuseet is open daily 10:00–17:00, Thursday until 20:00 (museum's 7-day calendar, read 28 October 2026).
A miniature town of roads, traffic lights, zebra crossings and a petrol station where Copenhagen children learn to cycle – the most Copenhagen playground of all, with free loan bikes and helmets.
Climbing frames modelled on five of the city's famous towers – Our Saviour's Church, City Hall, the Round Tower, the Marble Church and the Stock Exchange spire – so children can scale Copenhagen's skyline in an afternoon.
Public playground; staffed in winter (weeks 42–17) Monday–Thursday 09:00–16:30 and Friday 09:00–16:00.
A 2,400 m² playground and outdoor gym on the roof of a car park, 24 metres up, with trampolines, swings and a climbing spiral – and views over the harbour and the Sound.
Daily 07:00–22:00 (VisitCopenhagen calendar, October–November 2026).
Two glass market halls by Nørreport with fish, seasonal vegetables from local farmers, sourdough pastries, porridge, open sandwiches and food from all over the world – an easy lunch that pleases every age.
Open every day: Monday–Friday 10:00–19:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00–18:00; breakfast stalls from 07:00 (some from 08:00 at weekends).
Photo: Rolands Varsbergs & Danny Samarov/Wonderful Copenhagen
To do · Ages All ages; bob skates and 'skate buddies' for beginnersBroens Ice Rink
A 600 m² harbour-front rink at the end of the Inner Harbour Bridge, with the street-food stalls of Broens Gadekøkken alongside – skating with a view of Nyhavn.
Season opens Friday 30 October 2026, then open every day during the season.
The low blue boats slip under bridges you could touch, past the old Stock Exchange, Holmen's bastions and the Opera – the city's history told from the water, in Danish, English and German, for a fraction of the price of the big operators.
To do · Ages All ages for the walk and lift; skiing and tobogganing need bookingCopenHill (Amager Bakke)
An artificial ski slope and hiking trail on the roof of a waste-to-energy plant, with the world's highest climbing wall (85 m) up the side – walking up or taking the lift to the rooftop café is free within opening hours.
November 2026 – walking path, Rooftop Café and lift: Monday 12:00–17:00, Tuesday–Friday 12:00–19:00, Saturday–Sunday 10:00–17:00.
Thousands of square metres of trampolines plus Denmark's first Clip'n Climb, with more than 30 coloured climbing challenges up to 8 metres high – the rainy-day answer for children with energy to burn.
Open every day all year: Sunday–Thursday 10:00–19:00, Friday–Saturday 10:00–20:00 (doors 09:40).
BIG, Superflex and Topotek1's park of 2012 runs through Nørrebro in three parts – the Red Square for sport and music, the Black Market with its rippling white lines, and the Green Park – filled with objects from around the world.
A 20,000 m² playground of low hills, willow huts, wildflowers, a snail-shaped mound with a lookout and five towers linked by a boardwalk – built as an antidote to commercial amusement parks.
To do · Ages Children 0–2 free; child ticket 3–14Copenhagen Zoo
Opened in 1859, the zoo has giant pandas, polar bears in the Arctic Ring, Tasmanian devils and a 160-metre Leopard Trail overhead – and enough indoor houses to fill a wet November day.
To do · Ages All ages; Miniverset is for children aged 1–5 with an adult; child ticket 2–11, under-2s freeExperimentarium
Denmark's leading science centre, in Tuborg's old bottling plant: everything is made to be touched – step inside a giant soap bubble or ride a rodeo armchair – and a whole area, Miniverset, is for the under-fives.
Daily 09:30–17:00 through late October and November 2026 (VisitCopenhagen calendar).
Seven million litres of water and 735 species: sharks glide overhead in the Ocean Tank, children can help feed the cownose rays, and the rescued sea otters are among the few in Europe.
Open 365 days a year: Monday 10:00–21:00, Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–17:00; daily 10:00–21:00 in peak seasons, including the autumn holiday through 1 November 2026.
More than 50 farms, mills and houses from 1650–1940 rebuilt in the countryside north of the city, with horses, goats and rabbits between them and the Freddy Frogface village, a screen-free play world from Ole Lund Kirkegaard's children's books.
19 October – 27 November 2026: Saturday and Sunday 10:00–16:00, closed Monday–Friday.
Costumes, props and posters from the 100,000-piece collection of the juggler and contortionist 'Barly' Jacobsen – and on Sundays children try the trapeze, juggling and tightrope with professional circus artists.
10:00–15:00 Sunday–Thursday in late October and November 2026 (VisitCopenhagen calendar; no Friday or Saturday dates listed).
Five original 11th-century Viking ships, found in a blockade in the fjord north of Roskilde, plus a boatyard where craftsmen build reconstructions and the 'Climb Aboard' exhibition – the museum says Roskilde is the only place in the world where you can board a real Viking ship.
Winter season 19 October 2026 – 30 April 2027: daily 10:00–16:00.
A 500 m² creative space over three floors where children draw, build and make art in free workshops, in a museum by the Øresund with a sculpture park for more adventures.
Built into an old dry dock beside Kronborg, the museum has DRØMMESKIBET, a play version of a 1950s motor ship where children crawl through the engine room, load cargo, sing sailor karaoke and dress up as captains.
Tuesday–Sunday 11:00–17:00, closed Monday (VisitCopenhagen calendar, October–November 2026).
Hamlet's castle on the narrowest point of the Sound, with bastions, cannon batteries, Frederik II's great ballroom and the sleeping statue of Holger the Dane deep in the casemates – a proper castle for sword-swinging imaginations.
Current hours: Tuesday 10:00–16:00, Wednesday–Saturday 10:00–17:00, Sunday 10:00–16:00, closed Monday (kronborg.dk, read 28 October 2026).
Steam engines, the first cars, aeroplanes, a space capsule, a 1920s pewter workshop and a big model railway – a hangar of inventions where children can test old and new technology for themselves.
Until 31 October 2026 10:00–17:00; from 1 November 10:00–16:00; closed Mondays (VisitCopenhagen calendar).
Sources: VisitCopenhagen, Københavns Kommune, the National Museum of Denmark and the places' own pages, read 28 October 2026. Drive times from the town centre without traffic. Check seasons and ages with the place before you go.
09
The atlas
Copenhagen at a glance
The MICHELIN tables, the hotels and the sights, on one map.
Photo: Lazy_Bear/Shutterstock
10
The directory
Every place in Copenhagen
Every restaurant, hotel and sight the MICHELIN Guide lists within 6 km – 91 places, each with its own page. The six nearest the centre of each kind are here; the rest are in the directory, A to Z.
✱✱✱Three MICHELIN StarsGeraniumCreative, Contemporary · CopenhagenRead the story 
✱✱✱Three MICHELIN StarsKadeau CopenhagenCreative, Danish · CopenhagenRead the story 
✱✱Two MICHELIN Starsa|o|cCreative · CopenhagenRead the story 
✱✱Two MICHELIN StarsKong Hans KælderModern French · CopenhagenRead the story ✱✱✱✱Two MICHELIN StarsAlchemistCreative · CopenhagenThe address ✱✱✱✱Two MICHELIN StarsKoanCreative, Korean Contemporary · CopenhagenThe address 
✱One MICHELIN StarakmēFusion, Japanese Contemporary · CopenhagenRead the story 
✱One MICHELIN StarESSECreative · CopenhagenRead the story 
Two MICHELIN KeysHotel d'Angleterre92 rooms · CopenhagenRead the story 
One MICHELIN KeyNimb38 rooms · Copenhagen
One MICHELIN KeyNobis Hotel Copenhagen75 rooms · CopenhagenOne MICHELIN Key1 Hotel Copenhagen282 rooms · CopenhagenThe address One MICHELIN Key25hours Hotel Paper Island128 rooms · CopenhagenThe address One MICHELIN KeyHotel Sanders54 rooms · CopenhagenThe address ◆In the MICHELIN Guide25hours Hotel Indre By243 rooms · CopenhagenThe address ◆In the MICHELIN GuideAbsalon Hotel161 rooms · CopenhagenThe address ◆In the MICHELIN GuideAndersen Hotel69 rooms · CopenhagenThe address 
No. 1SMK – Denmark's national gallery, from royal cabinet to glass-lit modern wingSMK, Denmark's national gallery: Vilhelm Dahlerup's 1896 building, Matisse's Green Line and the Danish Golden Age, with hours and tickets.Read 
No. 2Thorvaldsen Museum – the temple a sculptor built for himselfDiscover Thorvaldsens Museum on Slotsholmen: M.G. Bindesbøll's 1848 building, the sculptor's grave, Jason with the Golden Fleece, hours and tickets.Read 
No. 3Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen – the pleasure garden open since 1843Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen: Georg Carstensen's pleasure garden from 1843, the 1914 Rutschebanen roller coaster, the Pantomime Theatre and the Christmas season.Read 
No. 4Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek – Copenhagen's museum of Gauguin, Rodin and antiquityThe Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen: Carl Jacobsen's museum from 1897, its winter garden, antiquities, Danish Golden Age art, Gauguin, Degas and Rodin.Read 
