A family guide to Denmark 🇩🇰 Copenhagen and beyond…

We visited Denmark over xmas and new year for the first time. A brand new place can be quite daunting, travelling by myself with a 4 and 8 year old I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect nor how I could keep us all entertained for the duration of our 7 day trip, but as you would expect, Denmark is filled with abundant merriment, kind/friendly folk, a selection of the grandest hotels I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and naturally a range of activities and days out for families across the board to get involved with. Without a moment to spare for our jam packed schedule, our trip left us with fond memories and another destination ticked off the list! Heres how we got on….

Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center kindly invited us to stay during our visit - an ideal vantage point to the city centre, just a 10 minute walk from Copenhagen Grand central station or København H - where you can get to different areas of the city, country or surrounding boarders with ease.

For the holidays the hotel Conveniently had an additional and larger play room set up inclusive of bouncy castle, soft play, Lego, drawing and board games areas plus a games room - with table football, air hockey and ping pong + a comfy seating area for adults. My 4 and 8 year olds were occupied for…EVER…and It was almost impossible to peel them away! Needless to say I had a moments peace!

The family facilities at the Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center are endless including a picturesque pool complete with a starry night time themed ceiling, regular games room usefully on the same floor as the brasserie, family friendly + cheerful staff, interconnecting family rooms, kids satellite TV channels + a range of tasty kids options for breakfast/lunch/dinner. The hotel is the ideal place to relax and keep the kids occupied after a long day, a vantage point from the bustling city centre or somewhere you could even spend the entire day, if like us you've had a busy trip + the weather is rainy outside, there is plenty to do for both adults & kids.

For adults there is a gym, bar, brasserie - a fine list of well made cocktails, the pool, conference rooms, of course stunning rooms to relax in and even a penthouse floor complete with rooftop bar + steakhouse. The Tivoli Hotel & Convention center is a versatile, high end hotel with outstanding comfort and conveniences. Thoroughly recommended for a family stay during your Copenhagen city break!

Public transport in Copenhagen

You’ll notice there are an enormous amounts of bikes both parked + gliding through the city streets. Most hotels have bikes available and they can be rented inexpensively locally or even hired, resembling a tuktuk or taxi with a seating compartment for yourself + bags! Being a sustainable and eco conscious country, this goes hand in hand with the progressive danish attitude and naturally reduces emissions - a win win for everybody, cycle rich cities are evidently the way forward!

There are options of the metro, bus and taxis with the latter being fairly expensive vs other parts of Europe but efficient, fast and always immaculate - a prompt way to get from A to B on a short journey - especially when you visit in the colder and wetter months like we did! Buses are reliable, regular and offer a variety of principle routes, you can get a Copenhagen card that will give you free entry to 80 attractions across the city and unlimited metro + bus, free for kids under 12 and between 54-133 euros for 24/48/72/120 hours. The metro, much like the London Underground is secretly sprawled beneath the city, granting you access to the most popular locations, services are very frequent and reliable and id say this is probably the easiest for families to use.

Tivoli gardens

When I spoke of my upcoming trip to Denmark, everyone who has visited mentioned the iconic Tivoli gardens amusement park, its just that, but with a twist….a mix of ironic, retro themed rides and shops/stalls amongst stunning scenery and well kept awe inspiring gardens. There are different zones representing diverse cultures and time periods, it was both fascinating and engaging to see and the kids were thrilled with the endless rides, play areas and treats on offer. We had a Tivoli classic pass - which allows you access to all rides throughout the day, but you can get a ticket to access the park only which in itself is fascinating and busy with the beautiful scenes, restaurants, stalls and interesting areas. The vintage yet modern feel is like no other park I have visited, the place really is its own entity and it was especially magical for the Christmas period. During December Tivoli had a magical winter wonderland set up, complete with snowy nordic trees, winter huts selling festive treats, and the most enormous amount of lights twinkling overhead, amongst the trees, throughout the entire park, absolutely breathtaking - especially after night fall. I really couldn’t believe my eyes, I was incredibly grateful in being able to take the kids to witness these wintery scenes, and the famous Tivoli gardens. Memories were made and its an absolute MUST for families, or even adults visiting without kids.

Entry varies depending on wether you’d like use of the rides or not. We were Kindly invited to visit Tivoli gardens but a classic pass including access to all rides and entry plus the aquarium, digital photos, and a few other perks will cost you 439DKK adults + kids 8+ AND 339DKK for kids 3-7 years (59euros/45euros). Other packages include meals, snacks and drinks so this is worth looking at since you can save if you book as a package.

A visit to Billund

You can fly into Billund, just a 20mins walk or 5mins drive to Legoland etc however I thoroughly recommend flying to Copenhagen to experience the city OR flying to billund + taking a few days in Copenhagen too. For those of you from the UK, London Gatwick has direct flights to Copenhagen and London Heathrow has direct flights to Billund. Legohouse, Legoland, lalandia waterpark (also open during the winter months - indoors) are all within walking distance of eachother and very close to the airport so if you're coming to Denmark the Is well worth the visit but you may need to allow 2-3 days for this!

We travelled from Copenhagen via the train, there is a direct train from Copenhagen central station to Vejle that’ll take 2 hours, you can jump on a bus outside directly to Legoland and surrounding parks that’ll take around 45mins. The train will cost around 400DKK depending on the time booked/time of journey. Kids under 12 travel free. The Trafikcentre directly outside of the station has multiple buses to Legoland, the 43/44 go directly to the park and hotel at around 65DKK. We reversed the journey on the way back to Copenhagen - travelling with 2 kids wasn’t too bad but I was sure to pack an iPad, switch and snacks for my sanity! I also made sure all luggage was in the suitcase and only had a small backpack so I didn’t have to account for anything else - the less stuff you have to carry the better! There is also wifi on the train, its super spacious and comfy + easy to navigate. All in all getting to and from Copenhagen wasn’t too bad, if you can.

During our visit to Billund we were Kindly invited to visit Legoland/hotel/house but didn’t quite allow enough time during out 2 nights/3 days to see Lalandia which was a real shame! Billund is a fantastic family break - read more about our trip in our upcoming blog from your trip to the city.

The indoor playground in Blegdamsremisen Trianglen

If you need a few hours to burn some of that ‘just wont stop’ kids energy we all know so well..then why not head over to the indoor playground? From Tivoli hotel we took a 10mins walk to the central station and jumped on the metro to Triaglen - 24DKK - 2 stops away. Trains were every 2-4mins so it was very quick and easy…once out of the metro the softly is straight across the road a 1-2 mins walk. On entering a looked for a member of staff to pay for our entry, I was Kindly advised that it was free entry and to take our coats and shoes off before entering…ideal! Being the xmas break it was naturally busy, but modern, well maintained, safe and lots of fun!

Before leaving the hotel I did a quick search for surrounding things to do with kids, this popped up, but there were handfuls of other play areas to visit too…A few other ideas for families include outdoor parks, boat trips, museums, galleries and markets. In summary Copenhagen and Denmark - very child friendly, so much to do and see, and actually quite an easy trip with kids. A great alternative to a ski trip at this time of year or even a beach break in the summer, if you’re looking for an adventure, Denmark is your next stop, a haven for families. Doing this trip alone with my youngsters was easy, safe and enjoyable - we are delighted with how well it went and will be back for more in the coming years!