Everyday practical information for Denmark

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.