Money, cards and ATMs in Denmark

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.