Copenhagen Travel Guide

Getting There By Air

Airlines offering flights to Copenhagen from the UK include Scandinavian Airlines, British Airways, BMI, easyjet, Lufthansa and Finnair.

København Lufthavn (CPH)
Tel: 3231 3231.
Website: www.cph.dk

Copenhagen Airport is located at Amager, 8km (5 miles) from the city center. International flights use terminals 2 and 3. Terminal 1 handles domestic services to destinations on Jutland and Funen.

Airport facilities
These include banks (with currency exchange), ATMs, a post office, tourist information and hotel reservations in the international arrivals hall, travel agencies, duty-free shops, restaurants, children's play areas, childcare facilities, 24-hour first aid and left-luggage lockers. There is a 5-star Hilton Hotel (tel: 3250 1501; www.hilton.dk) linked to terminal 3. Car hire is available from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt. Wireless connection is available throughout.

Transport to the city
Copenhagen has the fastest and cheapest airport-to-city-center rail link of any European capital (just 13 minutes). DSB (tel: 7013 1415; www.dsb.dk) trains run every 10 minutes to the city from terminal 3. A Metro line (tel: 3311 1700; www.m.dk) between the city and the airport runs daily, seven days a week (journey time - 14 minutes). Public buses take 20 to 25 minutes to the city and beyond, running until midnight daily. Night bus 96N runs from after midnight until 0400 from terminal 3 to City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen). A taxi to the city costs around £27 (journey time - 20 minutes).

Approximate flight times to Copenhagen
From London - 1 hour 45 minutes; from New York - 8 hours 30 minutes; from Seattle - 11 hours; from Sydney - 24 hours.

Getting There By Road

The speed limit is 130kph (80mph), 110kph (68mph) on motorways, 80kph (50mph) on main roads and 50kph (31mph) in urban areas. Drivers must keep their headlights switched on at all times during the day. An International Driving Permit is not required but may be preferable if the national driving license is not in English. Although not necessary, Green Card insurance is recommended. The legal driving age in Denmark is 18 years. The Danish Road Directorate operates a Traffic Information Center (tel: 1888) offering non-stop traffic information daily. There are emergency phones along all Danish motorways at intervals of 2km (1.2 miles).

Emergency breakdown services
Dansk Autohjælp A/S (tel: 7010 8090).

Routes to the city
Highway E20 (with a connection to E45) crosses Denmark from west to east and intersects with E47 and E55 to the southwest of Copenhagen. The E47 runs south to Rødbyhavn, with ferry connections to Germany. There is a toll bridge across the Store Bælt between Sjælland and Fyn. If you plan to cross the 16km (10 miles) bridge and tunnel complex, between Sjælland in Denmark and Scania in Sweden, there is a £40 toll each way. Odense is located in Fyn, on the E20, connecting with the E45 highway in Jylland, which travels north to Århus and Aalborg.

Driving times to the city
From Odense - 1 hour 30 minutes; Århus - 3 hours; Aalborg - 3 hours 40 minutes; Malmö - 40 minutes.

Coach services
There are several different coach stations. Eurolines Scandinavia (tel: (45) 3388 7000; www.eurolines.dk) operates bus services with connections to more than 500 European destinations, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris and London. Bus company Abildskou A/S (tel: (45) 7021 0888; www.abildskou.dk) runs services from Aalborg and Århus to Copenhagen and also a number of services linking the capital with other destinations in Jutland.

Getting There By Rail

Rail Services
All international trains to Copenhagen arrive and depart from Hovedbanegården central station (tel: (45) 7013 1415), located on Bernstorffsgade near the Tivoli. Facilities include currency exchange, a post office, shops, fast-food outlets and a supermarket.

Rail Operators
Danish State Railways (DSB) (tel: (45) 7013 1415; www.dsb.dk) operates punctual, clean and well-equipped trains. Direct trains run from Copenhagen to various European destinations, including Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo and Hamburg; all require seat reservations. InterCity Lyn Express trains offer a direct connection between Copenhagen and other major Danish centers, such as Odense (journey time - 1 hour 15 minutes), Århus (journey time - 3 hours 30 minutes), Esbjerg (journey time - 3 hours 30 minutes) and Aalberg (journey time - 5 hours 10 minutes). There are also frequent regional train departures to cities in the surrounding area, including three trains an hour to Helsingør (Elsinore).

Getting Around in Copenhagen, Denmark

Public Transport

There is an integrated bus and urban train network in Copenhagen, known as S-tog (tel: 7013 1415; www.dsb.dk).

Buses and trains run daily 0500-0030 and there are additional night buses from City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen) to the suburbs. There is a year-round, harbor bus service (buses 901 and 902) connecting the Royal Library on Christians Brygge with Nordre Toldbod, with stops along the waterfront, offering four departures per hour.

Copenhagen's Metro (tel: 7015 1615; www.m.dk) runs from 0500-2400 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday and all night between Thursday and Saturday. The Metro connects 22 stations, and is still expanding.

Fares for the Metro, buses and trains are calculated on a zone structure indicated on colored maps at stations and bus stops. Ticket prices depend on the number of zones traveled and are available from the bus driver, at ticket offices or vending machines at stations and at the bus terminus at City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen). Ticket tariffs are doubled between 0100 and 0500.

Discount cards (klippekort) are available for 10 journeys offering savings of 40%, and 24-hour tickets are available at stations, the bus terminus or tourist information office. The Copenhagen Card entitles the holder to free, unlimited travel on buses and trains in the metropolitan area, as well as discounts on car hire and selected tours.

Taxis

Major taxi companies in the city include Taxa 4 x 35 (tel: 3535 3535 ), DanTaxi (tel: 7025 2525) and Hovedstadens Taxi (tel: 3877 7777). All taxis can be booked by telephone or hailed in the street. If you want to pay by credit card, inform the driver at the start of your journey. It is not customary to tip the driver (a service charge is included in the fare), but to round up the final amount instead.

There are also cheaper cycle taxis, including rickshaws from Copenhagen Rickshaw (tel: 3543 0122). Cycle taxis can be ordered by telephone, hailed in the street or found at dedicated ranks in the center, such as Tivoli and City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen).

Driving in the City

Copenhagen is refreshingly free of traffic; many residents prefer to cycle, walk or rollerblade.

Parking meters are in operation in the Old City contained within parking zones: the Red Zone (the most expensive), the Green Zone and the Blue Zone (the cheapest). Tickets are available from coin-operated parking meters, which are color coded to indicate the zone. Multi-story car parks in the city are open 0600/0800-2000/0000. Some are closed Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Car Hire

To hire a car in Copenhagen, drivers must be over 21, hold a valid driving license and an international credit card. Individual car companies may impose their own age restrictions. Main operators in Copenhagen include Avis (tel: 3251 2299; www.avis.dk), Hertz (tel: 3250 9300; www.hertzdk.dk) and Europcar (tel: 3355 9900 or 7011 3355; www.europcar.dk). Copenhagen Limousine Service (tel: 7026 0601; www.cphlimo.com) offers luxury car hire.

Bicycle Hire

There are cycle routes throughout Copenhagen. Between April and September, the city provides free bicycles to get around. There are 110 City Bike Parks (tel: 3616 4233; www.bycyklen.dk), where deposits are paid for collection and refunded upon return.

Several companies hire bicycles for trips outside the city, including Københavns Cykelbørs, Gothersgade 157 (tel: 3314 0717; http://cykelboersen.dk), and Københavns Cykler, Central Station (tel: 3333 8613; www.rentabike.dk). ID and a deposit are required.