Where to stay in Copenhagen?

Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark, may have just about 1 million inhabitants but it is still large enough to offer more than satisfying shopping, colorful night life and cultural activities. It is an intimate, safe and very easy to explore city which has started its life as a small Viking fishing village in 10th century and became Denmark's capital in 15th century. Copenhagen became the most important city in its region in 17th century and today, it is the 3rd richest city in the world. It is not only a major Scandinavian finance and commerce hub; with Tivoli Gardens, the Little Mermaid statue, Amalienborg Palace, Christianbsorg Palace, Rosenborg Castle, Frederik's Church and many museums, it is an important tourist destination.

In this post, we will answer where to stay in Copenhagen question. Most Copenhagen hotels can be found in the Copenhagen city center, which is called Indre By, and the southwest of the center, an area called Vesterbro. Hotels in Copenhagen, like other Denmark hotels, are expensive. So book your Copenhagen hotel online to avoid more expensive prices and chase the hotel discounts. If you leave the hotel reservation to the last minute, you can spend almost all your Copenhagen travel budget to a hotel room!

If you are looking for relatively budget Copenhagen hotel, one of the 3 hotels of Cab Inn hotel chain are good options. Hotel Cabinn City is a central and relatively cheap Copenhagen hotel. CABINN Metro Hotel is 10 minutes to Copenhagen city center by metro and is 5 minutes away from Copenhagen Airport by train. The rooms are quite small but basics like TV, shower and toilet are decent.

Copenhagen map and regions. Indre By, the center of Copenhagen. Most Copenhagen hotels
Indre By and Vesterbro.

Indre By

Indre By (means Inner City) is the Copenhagen City Center and this area within the city walls was all Copenhagen until 1850s when King Christian IV has allowed people to settle outside city walls. Indre By is naturally the historic center of the city and most of the sightseeing and tourist attractions of Copenhagen are in Indre By.

In the heart of Indre By, city's medieval part, named Strøget, can be found. Cornered by Rådhuspladsen, Slotsholmen, Kongens Nytorv and Nørreport, this square shaped area is full of historic buildings, churches and narrow streets. This is also the shopping hearth of Copenhagen. To the south of Strøget, you can find parliment house in Slotsholmen, and giant Christiansborg Palace (plus some museums).

The answer to the title of this blog post is Indre By. But already expensive Copenhagen hotels are extra expensive in this area. If you want to stay in this historic center of Copenhagen, you can take a look at our Copenhagen Indre By hotels page.

Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen

Tivoli

Tivoli is between Copenhagen City Centre and Vesterbro and is the most tourist oriented part of the city. Staying in a  Tivoli hotel puts you just in the geographical center of attractions in Copenhagen. You can find infamous Tivoli Gardens, central train station and  lively Rådhuspladsen town hall square here. Tivoli is also home to museums like Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and Nationalmuseet and modern art and architecture centers like Danish Design Centre.

For a comprehensive hotels in this popular part of Copenhagen and details like nightly room rates and guest reviews as well as price comperisons, you can check our Copenhagen Tivoli hotels page.

Vesterbro (Sydhavnen. Enghave, Valby and Vanløse)

Although central, Vesterbro was not considered a safe place until recently but thanks to a huge renovation effort, it is now one of the alternatives to accommodate in Copenhagen.  If you are looking for a Copenhagen budget hotel, you can find the cheapest ones near central train station and the neighbourhoods behind Trivoli. Although the area still has some junkies and prostitutes in the night, you can also find some of the best Copenhagen hotels here.Safety here can also be increased by taking Vesterbrogade direction to walk to your hotel instead of Istedgade.

There is almost nothing interesting for tourists in Vesterbro. The most important attraction here is probably Carlsberg Brewery. The only reason you would stay here is the proximity of the location to Copenhagen City center and the price of the hotel room. For hotels here, check Copenhagen Vesterbro hotels page.

Carlsberg Brewery and its famous Elephant Gate

Christianshavn

If you have not decided yet on where to stay in Copenhagen, we can also recommend Christianshavn, a neighbourhood just outside the city center. With its nice cobblestoned streets, canals and old Dutch style houses, the area is nicknamed as "Little Holland" and is a very beautiful place to see. This area is on an artificial island between Indre By and Amager and once, it was considered a separate city. The main attraction in Christianshavn is Christianshavn itself and its Amsterdam like aura.  Freetown Christiania is also a place to see here. The area was famous among tourists to "smoke" but thanks to the official effort it is difficult to find something to smoke now. Hardcore drugs are illegal in Copenhagen so even if you may see its trade, stay away from them.

For a comprehensive, price compared list of Christianshavn hotels, you can visit Copenhagen Christianshavn hotels page.


Amalienborg and Nyhavn

Amalienborg Palace is towards the north-east of Copenhagen city center and is home to Denmark's royal family since 1974. The neighbourhood next to this area, Nyhavn is famous with its pastel colored buildings, colorful cafes, restaurants and bars right next to beautiful canals. This area is lively all around the year and is the starting point for most Copenhagen canal tours.

For a comprehensive list of Amalienborg and Nyhavn hotels, Copenhagen Amalienborg and Nyhavn hotels pages.

Copenhagen Nyhavn and its colorful buildings