The Official Copenhagen Card

Copenhagen, Denmark

Travel costs can quickly get out of hand when exploring a new city, so finding ways to save is essential. While planning a trip to Denmark, I learned about the Official Copenhagen Card, which grants access to many major attractions for a set time. I then checked the card’s offerings to see if anything was worth visiting.

I learned there are two types of cards. The HOP card provides access to about 40 attractions, including Stromma’s hop-on, hop-off bus, all in downtown Copenhagen. The Discover card covers more attractions across the capital region, as well as public transport, including buses, the subway, and regional trains in zones 1–99.

Whichever card you get, there are a few things to remember. Other than activating your card, you do not need to be online or have  international phone service to use the app. You can buy the card, but you do not have to activate the card before its first use. The time clock on your card starts as soon as you activate it and ends exactly the number of hours later in your app. Here is how that affects the traveler. If you enter a location before the time runs out, you will be fine, as you are already in the attraction. Also, the app is great for planning your visit as you can see locations of the sites, descriptions of what is available at each location, and opening hours for each attraction. If you go to a site, you receive only one admission per location, so if you want to revisit a location, you would need to purchase another ticket. Finally, the longer you purchase the card, the better the value. We spent four solid days in the capital region with the card, and there were many more attractions I would have liked to visit.

If you use the Discover card as we did and ride public transportation, always ensure the ticket covers your entire ride. Danish public transport does not require tickets to enter, so stay vigilant. Conductors patrol the trains to check tickets. Show them your active card if asked. Traveling without a valid ticket results in a steep fine. On buses, present your active Discover card to the driver when you board.

The Discover card was a great value for us. It covered all public transportation in Zealand while active and admission to the sites we visited in Copenhagen. The only attractions not covered were the ride pass at Tivoli Gardens, the Viking Ship voyage at the Viking Ship Museum, and our Øresund ferry to Helsingborg, Sweden. We managed to return to Copenhagen Airport just before our 96-hour period expired.

The app is free to download and available in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. The Copenhagen Area is a great place to visit, with outstanding, well-preserved castles, historic theme parks, world-class museums, and fun family day-out attractions. If you plan to visit multiple attractions per day, this card is an excellent way to visit the city and the surrounding area. I wish more destinations around the world offered as much value for the Dollar/Euro/Pound spent as the Official Copenhagen Card.