🇩🇰Denmark

The Schengen arithmetic

• 90 days in any rolling 180. Not 90 days per visit and not 90 days per country. Every day anywhere in the Schengen area counts against the same allowance.
• Denmark is a full Schengen member, so a flight from Germany or Sweden is a domestic arrival with no passport check.
• The rolling window is the part people get wrong. On any given day, count back 180 days and add up your Schengen days in that period.
• The passport must have been issued within the last 10 years and be valid for 3 months beyond your intended departure.
• Greenland and the Faroe Islands are not in Schengen. They are Danish, and they have their own entry rules; a Schengen visa does not cover them.

EES: no more stamps

• The EU Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026.
• Your face and fingerprints are registered on first entry at a Schengen external border, and reused on later trips.
• No stamp goes in your passport. The system computes your 90/180 balance itself.
• Keep your own record of entry and exit dates. If the system's view and yours differ, you want the evidence.
• First registration adds time at the border, so allow longer arriving at Copenhagen from outside Schengen for the first time since April 2026.

ETIAS: not yet, and no date

• ETIAS has not launched and there is no announced launch date. The Q4 2026 target that circulated through 2025 was removed from the official pages in July 2026.
• Applications are not open. Any website selling you an ETIAS today is a scam.
• When it comes, the fee is EUR 20, free for under-18s and over-70s. The old EUR 7 figure is obsolete.
• It will be a travel authorisation, not a visa, valid three years or until the passport expires.

Where your nationality lands

• The Schengen short stay visa fee is EUR 90, EUR 45 for children aged 6 to 11.
• Apply through the Danish embassy or its visa centre in your country of residence, usually VFS Global, and allow at least three weeks.
• Crossing to Sweden is a border check in practice. Sweden has run controls at the Oresund crossing since 2016; carry your passport or EU ID card for a day trip to Malmo.

• Between EU countries there is no duty-free limit. Goods bought tax-paid in another member state travel with you; customs may only ask what a very large quantity is for, against indicative figures of 800 cigarettes and 10 litres of spirits.
• Arriving from outside the EU the allowance is one set of numbers: 200 cigarettes, 1 litre of spirits over 22 % (or 2 litres of fortified or sparkling wine), 4 litres of still wine and 16 litres of beer.
• Other goods are capped by value - EUR 430 arriving by air or sea, EUR 300 by land - and the allowance cannot be pooled between travellers for a single item.
• Cash of EUR 10,000 or more must be declared, counting notes, coins, cheques and prepaid cards together. The money is seized for not declaring it, not for carrying it.
• Norway is outside the EU with far lower limits, which is why the border shops at Svinesund exist and why Norwegian cars come south for beer.

Getting seen

• 112 for an emergency. Ambulances are excellent and free.
• In the Capital Region and Zealand, call 1813 first for anything urgent but not life-threatening. They assess you, book you in and tell you where to go - turning up at an emergency room unannounced gets you sent away.
• Elsewhere in the country, each region has its own out-of-hours number (laegevagten), and your accommodation will have it.
• Emergency treatment is free to everyone, including visitors, in a genuine emergency.
• EU and UK visitors are covered for necessary treatment with an EHIC or GHIC card. Bring it.

Insurance anyway

• Insurance still matters for repatriation, for cancellation and for anything that is not classed as necessary treatment.
• Dental care is not free for anyone, residents included, and is expensive.
• Prescriptions cost money but are not extortionate.

Pharmacies

• Apotek is the pharmacy and pharmacists speak English and give good advice.
• Fewer things are sold over the counter than in southern Europe. Even strong painkillers are restricted, and pack sizes are small.
• Every city has a 24-hour pharmacy; in Copenhagen it is Steno Apotek by the Central Station.

Everyday health

• Tap water is among the best in the world. Drink it and refill everywhere.
• Food hygiene is excellent and inspection smileys are displayed in every food business - a frowning face in the window means what it looks like.
• The dark winter affects people. If you are here in January, get outside in the middle of the day.
• Ticks carry borreliosis in forested areas in summer; check yourself after walking in long grass.
• Nothing exotic is required and no vaccinations beyond your normal ones.

Booking

• Copenhagen hotels are cheaper at weekends. The market is corporate, so Friday and Saturday nights can be well below a Tuesday.
• Rooms are small even at high prices. This is normal here, not a bad deal.
• Breakfast is usually included and is a proper spread - rye bread, cheese, eggs, pastries.
• July is the Danish holiday month and the coast, Bornholm and the summer house areas fill completely.
• Book Bornholm and the west coast by spring for a summer stay.

The types

• Hotels are excellent and consistent, and the design end of the market is genuinely good value compared with a plain chain.
• Hostels (vandrerhjem) are used by families and all ages, not just backpackers, and Danhostel is the national network.
• The kro is the Danish country inn - a restaurant with rooms, often historic, and the best way to stay outside a city.
• Summer houses (sommerhus) are the national holiday, rented by the week, usually near a beach and excellent value for a group.
• Camping is well organised and requires a camping pass, which is bought at the site.

Practical

• Check-in is often automated, with a code sent by email; there may be nobody at a desk after 20:00.
• Everything is centrally heated and well insulated, and windows open.
• Wi-fi is fast and free everywhere.
• Airbnb is legal and regulated, with caps on the number of nights a home can be let.
• Copenhagen Central Station and Norrebro are lively at night; ask for a room away from the street.

Buying a SIM

• No registration and no passport. Denmark does not tie prepaid SIMs to an identity document; it is a two-minute purchase.
• Kiosks, supermarkets and 7-Eleven sell them, as do the operator shops.
• TDC/YouSee, Telenor, Telia and 3 own the networks; CBB, Oister, Lebara and Lycamobile resell them and are much cheaper.
• DKK 100 to DKK 150 buys a generous monthly bundle with plenty of data, and the cheap resellers regularly undercut that.
• Coverage is excellent everywhere, including on the trains, the islands and the ferries.

eSIM

• Saily's Denmark plans are USD 3.99 for 1 GB over 7 days, USD 10.99 for 5 GB over 30 days and USD 17.99 for 10 GB.
• All the Danish networks support eSIM too, if you would rather be on a local network.
• For a long weekend the eSIM is the least effort. For two weeks the local prepaid bundle is cheaper.

Who needs neither

• EU and EEA visitors roam at no extra cost under roam-like-at-home, and that covers most visitors to Denmark entirely.
• UK visitors should check their plan. Some UK operators reintroduced daily roaming charges after Brexit and some did not.
• Greenland and the Faroe Islands are outside EU roaming. A Danish or EU plan does not cover them and the charges there are steep.

Why you want data on day one

• Public transport tickets now live in an app (see getting around), and that is the single strongest reason to be online before you leave the airport.
• Wi-fi is everywhere and good - cafes, trains, libraries, the airport - so a small bundle goes a long way.

Sockets in Denmark are Type K at 230 V, 50 Hz - two round holes over a D-shaped earth, which is why a Danish socket looks like a face.

• The earth is a pin on the plug, not a hole in the wall, which is the opposite of the French arrangement and the reason Danish plugs look unlike anything else in Europe.
• A Schuko or French plug fits the hole and earths nothing. Danish safety authorities warn about this specifically: the appliance runs, the metal case is live if anything fails inside, and nothing about the fit tells you.
• A Europlug is safe and fits fine - it has no earth to lose.
• Type E and F sockets have been legal since 2008 and turn up in new buildings, so a hotel may have either.
• 230 V is standard European. Only American 120 V-only equipment needs a converter.

Manners

• Danes are direct and it is not rudeness. A flat "no" is an answer, not an insult.
• Small talk with strangers is limited and silence on a bus is normal.
• Punctuality is real. Being ten minutes late to a dinner is rude; being early is odd.
• "Tak" covers thank you, please and yes please, and gets you a long way.
• Almost everyone under 70 speaks fluent English, and Danes will switch without being asked.
• Hygge is a real thing and not a marketing invention: candles, low light, a long evening indoors with people you like.

Practical

• 230 V, and sockets are type K - the Danish three-pin with the smiling face. A European type C two-pin fits; British and American plugs need an adaptor.
• Shops open Sundays in the cities, and small towns are quiet.
• Supermarkets sell beer and wine from 16, spirits from 18, and there are no state monopoly shops as in Sweden and Norway.
• Bring your own bag or buy one - carriers cost money and nobody hands them out.
• The pant deposit on cans and bottles is refunded at supermarket machines; leaving a bottle beside a bin is normal and is not littering here.
• Denmark is UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer.

The calendar

• Public holidays: New Year, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Great Prayer Day was abolished in 2024, Ascension, Whit Monday, Constitution Day on 5 June (a half day), and Christmas from 24 to 26 December.
• Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day, is the main event, and everything closes early on 24 December.
• July is the holiday month and small businesses close for weeks.
• Sankt Hans on 23 June is midsummer, with bonfires on every beach and a country in a good mood.

Small things

• Cycling is transport, not recreation. Behave like traffic, signal, and do not weave.
• Queue by the numbered ticket in pharmacies, post offices and bakeries. Take a number on the way in.
• Nudity at the beach is unremarkable and sauna culture is mixed in places.
• Smoking is banned indoors in public places and on station platforms.
• The tap water is the drink and bottled water in a restaurant is an odd request.

The krone

• Denmark uses the Danish krone (DKK), not the euro, and voted to keep it. It is pegged to the euro and barely moves.
• Euros are not accepted in normal shops. A few tourist businesses take them at a bad rate.
• Notes are DKK 50 to DKK 1,000, and the 1,000 is awkward to break.
• Prices include 25% VAT, which is the highest rate in Europe and is baked into everything you see.

Cards and cash

• Cards work everywhere, contactless is universal, and Apple and Google Pay are standard.
• The cash rule (kontantreglen) obliges physical shops to accept cash between 06:00 and 22:00, with exceptions for unstaffed self-service, remote sales and temporary markets.
• In practice almost nobody uses cash, and some places have signs asking you not to.
• Bring two cards from different networks. Visa and Mastercard both work; Amex is patchy.
• Dankort is the Danish domestic card and it is what the terminal expects; a foreign card still works.
• MobilePay is the app everyone uses and it is closed to visitors, because it needs a Danish bank account and a Danish personal number.

ATMs and value

• ATMs are fewer than they used to be and are mostly at bank branches in city centres.
• Always decline the machine's offer to convert to your own currency.
• Denmark is expensive - among the most expensive countries in Europe - and food and drink are where you feel it.
• The lunch deal is the trick: a smorrebrod lunch or a dagens ret costs a fraction of the same kitchen's dinner.
• Tap water is excellent and free, and asking for it in a restaurant is normal.

Tipping

• Tipping is not expected. Service is included in the price by law and staff are paid properly.
• Round up if you like, or leave 10% for something exceptional.
• Card terminals sometimes prompt for a tip, which is an import. Zero is a normal answer.
• The pant is a deposit on cans and bottles, DKK 1 to DKK 3, refunded at supermarket machines. It is why people take your empties.

Tickets changed in 2026, and older guides are wrong

• The physical Rejsekort is gone. The last day you could travel on one was 29 June 2026 and the system shut down the next day; the blue check-in posts are being replaced by yellow ones for the Basiskort.
• What to use now: the Rejsekort app for check-in and check-out, the Rejsebillet app for single tickets and City Passes, the DSB app for intercity trains, or a Basiskort if you want a physical card.
• Ticket machines still exist at stations and in the airport.
• You cannot tap a bank card at the gate, because there are no gates. Have a valid ticket before you step on.
• Inspections are frequent and the fine is about DKK 1,000, payable by anyone, tourist or not.

Trains

• DSB runs the network and it is fast: Copenhagen to Aarhus is about 3 hours, to Odense about 90 minutes.
• Book Orange fares in advance for a fraction of the walk-up price. The cheap tickets are tied to one departure.
• Seat reservations are cheap and worth it on Fridays and Sundays.
• The Great Belt and Oresund bridges are part of the network, so a train to Malmo or across to Jutland needs no planning.
• Bicycles travel on trains with a bike ticket, which is how Danes do a cycling holiday.

Cycling, which is the point of Copenhagen

• The cycle lane is a road. Do not stand in it, do not walk in it, and look before you step off a kerb - this is the most common visitor mistake in the city.
• Rent from Donkey Republic through the app, or from a shop; hotels often have their own.
• Lights are compulsory front and rear after dark, and the fine is around DKK 700. Rental bikes have them; check they work.
• Holding a phone while cycling is illegal, at about the same fine.
• Hand signals are used and expected: arm out to turn, hand up to stop.
• Keep right, overtake on the left, and never on the right of a lorry - the right hook is how cyclists get killed here.
• Helmets are not compulsory and most Danes do not wear one.

Buses, ferries and cars

• Buses use the same tickets and apps and the 1A, 2A and 5C are the useful Copenhagen routes.
• Ferries link the islands - Bornholm, Aero, Samso - and they take cars and bikes and book up in summer.
• Driving in Copenhagen is pointless. Parking is expensive and the city is built against it.
• Outside the cities a car is pleasant, roads are excellent and everything is close.
• The Great Belt Bridge costs about DKK 250 for a car and the Oresund Bridge more; both are cheaper booked online.
• Drink driving limit is 0.05% and enforcement is strict, including on e-scooters.

Apps worth having

• Rejsekort and Rejsebillet for local transport.
• DSB for intercity trains.
• Donkey Republic for bikes.
• MobilePay is what Danes pay with and it needs a Danish bank account, so you cannot use it. Bring a card.

Free motorways with two expensive bridges, and cyclists with priority everywhere.

• The Great Belt bridge between Zealand and Funen and the Oresund bridge to Sweden both charge, and both are among the most expensive crossings in Europe. Book online for a small discount.
• The alcohol limit is 0.5 g/l.
• Dipped headlights are compulsory day and night.
• Cyclists have their own lanes and the right of way, and turning right across a cycle lane without checking is the single most common mistake a visiting driver makes in Copenhagen.
• Copenhagen is a bad city to drive in and a superb one to cycle in. Hire the car when you leave it.

What actually happens to visitors

• Pickpocketing in crowds is the main crime a tourist meets: Copenhagen Central Station, Norreport, Stroget, Nyhavn, Kongens Nytorv and the airport.
• Bags go on your lap in cafes and not on the back of the chair. Distraction thefts are the method.
• Bicycle theft is endemic. Lock a rental to something fixed, not just to itself.
• Violent crime against visitors is rare and the country is genuinely very safe, including for women alone at night.

Christiania and drugs

• Denmark's drug laws are strict and enforced. Possession of any quantity, cannabis included, can mean a heavy fine and in serious cases years in prison.
• Christiania is not a legal exception. The residents themselves dismantled the cannabis stalls of Pusher Street in 2024 after years of gang violence.
• Do not photograph anyone dealing, and be aware the area has had shootings.
• The FCDO advises caution in Christiania and Norrebro after dark because of gang-related incidents, which are between gangs rather than aimed at visitors.
• Airport detection is thorough and a small amount in a pocket is a genuinely bad end to a holiday.

Traffic

• The cycle lane is the hazard. Look left before crossing one, and never stand in it to check a map.
• Cyclists have priority and traffic turning right must give way to them, which is the opposite of the instinct many drivers arrive with.
• Pedestrian crossings are respected and jaywalking is fined, though rarely.
• E-scooter riding while drunk is prosecuted like drink driving.

Weather and water

• The sea is cold and the currents on the west coast of Jutland are dangerous. Swim at flagged beaches; rip currents drown people every summer.
• Winter is dark rather than severe: four hours of usable daylight in December, ice on cycle paths, and wind off the sea that makes 2 °C feel much worse.
• Storms close bridges, including the Great Belt and Oresund, occasionally at short notice.

Practical

• Emergency number is 112, and 114 for police matters that are not emergencies.
• Terrorism cannot be ruled out, as anywhere in Europe, and the threat level is public.
• Report theft online or at a police station to get the report your insurer needs.

The numbers

• 112 is free from any phone, including one with no SIM, and operators answer in English.
• 112 works across the whole EU with the same guarantee of an English-speaking operator.
• 1813 is the one you are most likely to need. Around Copenhagen it decides whether you need a doctor, and where, and it books the slot.
• 114 is for reporting a theft or anything not currently happening.

If something goes wrong

• Report theft to the police online at politi.dk or on 114, and you get a case number by email - which is what your insurer needs.
• A stolen passport means the police first, then your embassy, which will be in Copenhagen.
• The 112 app transmits your position when you call, which matters on a beach or in a forest.
• Emergency care is free and nobody will ask for a card before treating you.

Worth saving now

• Your accommodation's address and nearest metro or S-train station.
• Your insurer's 24-hour assistance number, and your EHIC or GHIC if you have one.
• 1813, if you are staying anywhere near Copenhagen.
• Denmark's country code is +45, and all numbers are 8 digits with no area codes.
• Your embassy in Copenhagen, most of which are in Osterbro and Frederiksstaden.