Copenhagen in 6 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)

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Six days is where Copenhagen stops feeling rushed. This keeps the same 5-day route covering the free harbour, both castles, Tivoli and a museum, then adds a genuinely free flex day of parks and gardens instead of packing in a sixth paid sight. The 7-day version extends this one more day for a second pass at the neighbourhoods.

Book these before you go:

Day 1: Harbour, mermaid and the free tower

Nyhavn early, the Little Mermaid at Langelinie, the free walk-in Christiansborg Tower (no ticket, just a possible weekend queue), and an evening walk through Freetown Christiania, calmer since the community cleared out the old Pusher Street dealing stalls in 2024.

Day 2: Rosenborg’s crown jewels and Strøget

Rosenborg Castle (150 DKK online) for the actual Danish Crown Jewels, plus Strøget’s pedestrian spine and the free Amalienborg guard change if the timing lines up.

Day 3: Tivoli Gardens, the splurge that earns it

Tivoli Gardens (dynamic pricing, roughly 150-200 DKK, genuinely closed outside its 2026 seasons), paired with a canal cruise and an afternoon in the Meatpacking District.

Day 4: Museums and a free harbour bath

Pick one museum, the National Museum (135 DKK, no longer free since 2016) or Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, then a free swim at the Islands Brygge harbour baths.

Day 5: Nørrebro, bikes and the free churches

Rent a bike for the day (about 99 DKK from Donkey Republic ) to cover Nørrebro’s free Assistens Cemetery and Superkilen park, plus the free interiors of Vor Frelsers Kirke and Marmorkirken.

Day 6: The free flex day

Spend the morning at the Botanical Garden, free to enter even though the attached Palm House charges a small separate fee for its 1874 cast-iron spiral staircase. Walk north to Kastellet, a still-active star-shaped fortress that’s also a free public park, then along Langelinie past the Little Mermaid a second time, this time without the morning crowds you dodged on Day 1. Use the afternoon to revisit whichever paid sight from earlier in the week you liked most rather than adding a new one, Rosenborg’s gardens and Tivoli’s evening lighting both reward a second, unhurried look. This is also your day to double-check the Copenhagen Card math below before you leave.

Six days, six budgets

Day Focus Approx spend (excl. hotel)
Day 1 Nyhavn, Little Mermaid, Christiansborg Tower, Christiania 250-350 DKK
Day 2 Rosenborg Castle, King’s Garden, Strøget 450-600 DKK
Day 3 Meatpacking District, canal cruise, Tivoli Gardens 600-750 DKK
Day 4 National Museum or Glyptotek, harbour bath, Reffen 350-450 DKK
Day 5 Nørrebro, bike rental, free churches, Vesterbro 150-250 DKK
Day 6 Botanical Garden, Kastellet, Langelinie, revisit a favourite 150-250 DKK

Should you buy the Copenhagen Card for a 6-day trip?

Only if you’re stacking paid sights on the same day, which this itinerary deliberately avoids. Across six days, this plan spends roughly 150 DKK (Rosenborg) plus 135 DKK (museum) plus Tivoli’s dynamic entry on separate days, well under the 859 DKK a 48-hour DISCOVER card would cost if you tried to compress the same sights into two days instead.

Is a free flex day actually worth building in?

Yes, for the same reason a rest day matters on a hiking trip: five straight days of paid sights and queues is tiring, and a park-and-garden day costing under 250 DKK resets your patience for the last stretch. Copenhagen’s free spaces, Kastellet and the Botanical Garden especially, are good enough that this doesn’t feel like a compromise day.

Check the Rejsebillet app or tap your contactless bank card at the Metro gate rather than hunting for the old plastic Rejsekort, it stops working entirely on 28 May 2026.