Denmark is expensive: it is the EU’s most expensive country for restaurants and hotels, and a realistic day in Copenhagen costs around DKK 700 per person on a tight budget, around DKK 1,800 mid-range and around DKK 4,500 at the high end. Travel style decides which band you land in, and travel style is mostly a question of where you sleep.
Every figure on this page is per person, per day, in Danish kroner, with flights excluded. Copenhagen prices are the reference case; the rest of the country usually runs somewhat lower.
On This Page
Is Denmark as Expensive as People Say?
Yes. Eurostat ranks Denmark as the EU country with the highest overall price level and the most expensive restaurants and hotels, while Bulgaria sits at the cheap end. The premium is concentrated, though: it sits in beds, restaurant meals and alcohol, not in everything you buy.
Two forces push Danish prices up. Labour costs are high, and every hour of service in a hotel or restaurant carries them. On top of that, 25% VAT is built into shelf and menu prices, so the number you see is the number you pay.
The currency is the Danish krone, not the euro. The krone is pegged to the euro, so its value barely drifts against it, and a budget planned in kroner holds steady for euro-zone visitors.
Denmark is also good value in places a visitor uses every day. Tap water is safe to drink, and Copenhagen has more than 60 public drinking fountains. Parks, harbour swimming spots and the city’s architecture cost nothing. Supermarket and bakery lunches are reasonably priced, and cycling replaces most short transport fares.
Denmark punishes evening habits more than daytime ones. A traveler who eats out at night and drinks in bars will feel every krone of the reputation; one who picnics at lunch and walks the harbour will find the country closer to Western European norms than expected.
What a Day in Denmark Costs by Travel Style
A day in Copenhagen costs around DKK 700 per person on a budget, around DKK 1,800 mid-range and around DKK 4,500 at the high end. Each band buys a different kind of bed, a different way of eating and a different number of paid sights.
| Travel style | Per day | Where you sleep | How you eat and move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | Around DKK 700 | Hostel dorm bed | Supermarket and bakery food, cycling or walking, free sights |
| Mid-range | Around DKK 1,800 | 3-star hotel | One restaurant meal a day, public transport, a few paid sights |
| High-end | Around DKK 4,500 | Upscale hotel | Restaurant meals with drinks, paid sights and experiences |
Mid-range is the sensible default for a first trip. A 3-star hotel, one restaurant meal a day and a handful of paid sights covers Copenhagen comfortably without the constant trade-offs of the budget band. These are Copenhagen figures; outside the capital the same style usually costs somewhat less.
Season moves the hotel line, not the rest. Summer and big-event weeks lift room prices, while food, transport and admissions stay much the same all year.
Accommodation Is the Line That Decides Your Budget
Where you sleep sets your band. A hostel bed can start at about DKK 145 a night at the cheapest, with dorms commonly DKK 200–350, while the average hotel spend runs around DKK 1,255 a day. Everything else in the budget is small next to that gap.
Hotels dominate the daily number because a room is the one cost you pay in full every night. Food and transport flex with your choices; the bed does not. That is why the three bands sit so far apart.
- Hostel dorm: the only bed that fits the DKK 700 band, and the reason the budget style works at all.
- Mid-range hotel: the bulk of a mid-range day, cheaper per person the moment two people share the room.
- High-end hotel: where the top band gets most of its height.
Couples gain more here than anywhere else. A shared double halves the room cost per person, which can pull a mid-range trip noticeably below the solo figure. The exception runs the other way: a solo budget traveler who books a hotel instead of a dorm breaks the budget band on the first night.
Summer and major events push prices up and thin out the cheaper rooms, so booking early pays most in those weeks. For which part of the city to book, see our guide to where to stay in Copenhagen.
What Food, Transport and Sights Add to Each Day
After the bed, eating out is the second driver of a Danish budget. Local transport and museum tickets are predictable, modest lines that rarely change which band you are in.
Typical ranges in Copenhagen; treat them as orientation and check before you book.
| Item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Cappuccino | DKK 45–55 |
| Draught beer in a bar | DKK 55–65 |
| Inexpensive restaurant meal | DKK 140–160 |
| Mid-range three-course meal | DKK 350–450 |
| Museum or attraction | Many DKK 100–200 |
| DSB Orange, Copenhagen–Aarhus | From DKK 119 |
Eating and drinking
Supermarkets, bakeries and hot-dog stands are the budget lever for food. A budget meal can run around DKK 50–150, against DKK 140–160 for the cheapest sit-down restaurant.
Make lunch your restaurant meal. Lunch menus usually cost less than dinner for similar cooking, and a mid-range traveler who eats out once a day saves most by doing it at midday. Alcohol is the hidden multiplier: two bar beers cost close to a cheap sit-down meal. For where to eat well for less, our Copenhagen food guide covers eating cheaply in Copenhagen.
Getting around
Local transport is one of the modest lines of a Copenhagen day, and a multi-day city pass is cheap relative to the Copenhagen Card. Cycling is the cheapest way around a flat, bike-built city. Single fares, ticket types, zones and passes are covered in our guide to getting around Copenhagen.
Intercity trains are the one transport line worth planning. DSB Orange tickets from Copenhagen to Aarhus start from DKK 119 for a trip of about 2 h 48 min, with 30+ departures a day. They go on sale about two months ahead, and walk-up fares on the same route are much higher.
Museums and sights
Many museum and attraction tickets cost DKK 100–200. Two or three a day add up fast, which is why the free side of Copenhagen matters: parks, the harbour and the architecture fill a day without a ticket. A sightseeing pass only pays on a day packed with paid entries.
Is Copenhagen More Expensive Than the Rest of Denmark?
Yes. The bands on this page are Copenhagen figures, and hotels and restaurants elsewhere in Denmark usually run somewhat lower. The gap sits in beds and eating out, not in supermarkets or trains.
Copenhagen inflates the number through demand: more visitors compete for hotel rooms, and the capital’s dining scene sets higher menu prices. Much stays constant nationwide — supermarket prices, the VAT built into them, card-first paying and DSB fares, which are a fixed add-on wherever you travel.
For a first trip, the practical reading is short. A Copenhagen-only stay budgets on the Copenhagen bands. Adding Aarhus or Odense lowers your hotel line for those nights and adds a train fare, while the food line barely moves.
How Much Does a Week in Denmark Cost?
Multiply your daily band by the number of days, add the intercity train if you leave Copenhagen, and lower the room share if you travel as a couple. Visit Copenhagen’s own three-day sample lands at about DKK 5,300 per person, and a mid-range week runs into the low five figures in kroner.
Worked from the daily bands alone, a seven-day trip per person comes to roughly:
- Budget week: roughly DKK 4,900 (around DKK 700 × 7).
- Mid-range week: roughly DKK 12,600 (around DKK 1,800 × 7).
- High-end week: roughly DKK 31,500 (around DKK 4,500 × 7).
These are estimates built on rounded bands, so read them as a planning order of magnitude. A couple sharing a room lands below the solo figure, because the bed is the largest line and it splits in two.
The totals exclude flights, shopping and travel insurance. Price those separately. For how long to stay and which places to combine, start with our guide to planning a trip to Denmark.
Paying in Denmark: Kroner, Cards and Tipping
Pay by card almost everywhere, carry a small amount of kroner for the odd cash-only stall, and do not budget for tips — service is already included in Danish prices.
Denmark uses the krone, not the euro, and the peg keeps the exchange rate stable. Contactless cards and mobile payments are widely accepted. Cash is accepted but rarely needed.
Tipping is optional. Rounding up the bill for good service is the local habit, and nobody expects a percentage on top.
The 25% VAT is already inside every shelf and menu price. Non-EU visitors can reclaim it on qualifying purchases; the rules and steps are in our guide to claiming the Danish VAT refund.
Spending money abroad
A Wise account converts your money at the mid-market exchange rate and shows every fee upfront, with a card you can spend in the local currency.
Check Wise’s rates and fees for your currency →
Tripstou may earn a commission if you sign up through this link, at no extra cost to you.
How to Cut the Bill Without Cutting the Trip
The savings that move a Danish budget come from the big lines: book summer hotels early, eat your restaurant meal at lunch and buy Orange train tickets ahead. Skipping a coffee changes almost nothing.
- Book early for summer and events. Rooms are the largest line, and the cheaper ones go first in peak weeks.
- Eat out at lunch. Midday menus usually cost less, so the one restaurant meal of a mid-range day costs less too.
- Build meals around supermarkets and bakeries. Prices there are the part of Denmark that does not carry a restaurant premium.
- Buy DSB Orange tickets about two months ahead. The cheap fares sell out, and walk-up fares are much higher.
- Drink tap water. It is safe, Copenhagen’s fountains refill a bottle for free, and bought drinks add up quickly at Danish prices.
- Buy a sightseeing pass only for heavy days. It pays when the day is full of paid entries, not when you visit one museum.
- Cycle. A bike replaces most short fares in a city built for it.
The Numbers in Brief
- A day in Copenhagen costs around DKK 700 per person on a budget, around DKK 1,800 mid-range and around DKK 4,500 at the high end, flights excluded.
- Accommodation decides the band: a hostel bed can start at about DKK 145 a night, while the average hotel spend runs around DKK 1,255 a day.
- Denmark’s premium sits in beds, restaurant meals and alcohol, so evenings out cost far more than supermarket and bakery days.
- Hotels and restaurants outside Copenhagen usually cost somewhat less, while supermarket prices and DSB fares stay much the same across the country.
- Cards work almost everywhere and tipping is optional, so a Danish budget needs only a small amount of kroner and no tipping line.
- Booking summer rooms early, eating out at lunch and buying DSB Orange train tickets about two months ahead are the moves that cut the total.
Denmark Cost Questions, Answered
How much is a beer in Copenhagen?
A draught beer in a Copenhagen bar typically costs DKK 55–65. Beer bought in a supermarket costs far less, so a budget traveler who drinks in bars every evening is the one most likely to overshoot the DKK 700 band.
Is the Copenhagen Card worth it?
Only if you pack several paid attractions into each day of a short stay; reviewers put the break-even at roughly four paid sights over three days. It is not worth buying for transport alone, because a multi-day city pass covers getting around for far less. Inclusions and the transport alternatives are set out in our guide to Copenhagen tickets, zones and passes.
Is Denmark more expensive than Sweden or Norway?
Denmark costs more than Sweden on the EU’s own comparison, which puts Denmark at the top of the EU for overall prices and for restaurants and hotels. Norway sits outside that EU ranking; it is also an expensive country, so crossing a border does not turn a Nordic trip into a cheap one.
How These Prices Were Checked
This page sets out a per-person, per-day budget for Denmark in kroner, with Copenhagen as the reference case; it is not a guide to ticket types, where to eat, which hotel to book or how to claim back VAT.
Written with AI assistance, these costs were then gone over by Alex Perrut, working in tourism since 2015, for the Tripstou editorial team. How that works is set out in our editorial process.
Official sources consulted: Visit Copenhagen, DSB, Eurostat.
Did this guide save you time or money? Tripstou is independent and reader-funded — if you'd like to give something back, you can support the site with a crypto contribution of any size.
