Copenhagen Card: is it worth it? The sums for 24 to 72 hours, and the palace pass that beats it

💡 The Short Version: The Copenhagen Card Discover is DKK 589 for 24 hours, DKK 859 for 48 and DKK 1,039 for 72, with public transport in zones 1 to 99 and the airport. A 24-hour card pays when the day holds about DKK 490 of tickets (three or four paid sights) and loses on a lighter day: three museums cost DKK 410 in singles. For the three palaces, buy the Royal Palace Pass: DKK 245 online for Rosenborg, the Amalienborg Museum and Christiansborg, against DKK 405 apart. Every child over two needs a card, and under-18s are free at the palaces and state museums anyway. The card leaves out the Round Tower, the Marble Church dome, CopenHill, the Netto-Bådene boats and Malmö. Buy at copenhagencard.com or in the Copenhagen Card app. Or buy it on GetYourGuide: the Copenhagen Card Discoverad is DKK 589, the same as the operator’s price.

What the two cards are

Both cards are digital only, held in the Copenhagen Card app on one phone. A screenshot is not accepted. The hours start when you press activate, and you cannot pause them. Buy at copenhagencard.com or in the app: searches for the card also return other sites with the card’s name in their address, and the card sells only through its own site, its app and GetYourGuide.

Adult prices, for ages 16 and over:

Juniors aged 12 to 15 pay DKK 399, 509 and 589 for 24, 48 and 72 hours on Discover, and DKK 410, 525 and 600 on Hop. Kids aged 3 to 11 pay DKK 100, 140 and 180 on either card.

The platform at Gammel Strand metro station. Photo: Leif Jørgensen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The rules that cost money

• Every child over two needs a card. There is no free child, and the Kids card (ages 3 to 11) is sold only with an adult card, at most two per adult. Infants aged up to two do not need one.
• One visit to each attraction, and no queue-skipping: the card is scanned at each entrance.
• Transport must be covered for the whole journey. The card has to be active until you get off, and you show it to the driver on a bus. Discover includes the airport, and the trains to Roskilde, Hillerød and Helsingør. Hop includes none of it.
• Two sights need a booking even with the card. The Our Saviour’s tower takes a free “Copenhagen Card” slot on the church’s booking page, and Home of Carlsberg needs the card number, which exists only after you activate the card.
• Rosenborg cannot be booked ahead with the card. The card is scanned at the ticket office and a timed ticket for that day is issued there. In peak season the slots run out, so check the Rosenborg tickets page before building a day on it.
• The canal tours cannot be booked online with the card. Go to the Stromma box office at Ved Stranden 26 and take a slot there.
• Tivoli is one entrance per card. You can re-enter the same day with a stamp, but not on a Friday Rock night, and the Ride Pass is not included.
• Christiansborg is four separate entries: the Royal Reception Rooms, the Ruins, the Stables and the Kitchen. They close for state events like any other ticket.

The sums

Singles are the cheapest adult online prices from the operators. A City Pass Small (zones 1 to 4, with the airport) is DKK 100 for 24 hours and the City Pass Large (zones 1 to 99) DKK 200. Tivoli is the Christmas 2026 weekday entrance.

• The 24-hour card pays when the day holds about DKK 490 of tickets, because the card replaces both the entries and a DKK 100 transport pass. That is three or four paid sights at DKK 125 to DKK 235 each.
• The longer cards are better value a day. The second 24 hours cost DKK 270 more, the third and the fourth DKK 180 each, so 72 hours is DKK 346 a day against DKK 589 for one. At 72 hours, three paid sights a day at DKK 125 or more beat the card before any transport is counted.
• Free sights never need a card. Free things to do in Copenhagen lists them, and the David Collection and the Christiansborg Tower cost nothing.

The Royal Palace Pass

The Royal Palace Pass is DKK 245 online (DKK 255 at the door) for Rosenborg Castle, the Amalienborg Museum and Christiansborg Palace, valid for 72 hours from your first visit. The cheapest separate tickets are Rosenborg DKK 140, the Amalienborg Museum DKK 125 and the Royal Reception Rooms at Christiansborg DKK 140, together DKK 405, so the pass saves at least DKK 160. Against the full Christiansborg Palace Ticket (DKK 215) the singles come to DKK 480 and the pass saves DKK 235.

Book the Rosenborg time slot when you buy the pass. The card beats the pass only when the day also holds museums, a canal tour, Tivoli or the transport. The Christiansborg and Amalienborg pages say what each site shows.

Day trips

The Discover card includes public transport in zones 1 to 99 and entry to Kronborg, Frederiksborg, Louisiana, Roskilde Cathedral and the Viking Ship Museum. Without it, a City Pass Large is DKK 200 for 24 hours for the same zones.

Helsingør station, the end of the coast line for Kronborg. Photo: Kristoffer Trolle, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

A day on the Kronborg line does not need the card. The card wins only if the same 24 hours also hold a third paid sight. Day trips from Copenhagen compares the trips, and Copenhagen public transport has the passes and fares. The card does not cover Malmö.

The Hop card

The Hop cardad is DKK 600 for 24 hours on GetYourGuide, the operator’s price. It buys Stromma’s hop-on hop-off buses, which cost DKK 279 alone, plus entry to the central attractions, and it has no public transport. It pays only for someone who will ride the bus and visit three or four paid sights. The hop-on hop-off bus page compares the buses.

Families

For two adults and two children aged 8 and 10, the Discover card for 24 hours is 2 × DKK 589 + 2 × DKK 100 = DKK 1,378. Under-18s are free at Rosenborg, Christiansborg, the Amalienborg Museum, the National Museum, SMK, the Glyptotek and the Design Museum, and a child’s Tivoli entrance is half price. The card makes sense for a family only if transport, or paid sights such as Home of Carlsberg (DKK 155 for ages 6 to 17), are the reason. Copenhagen with kids sorts the sights by age and price.

Which to buy

• The three palaces, over a few days: the Royal Palace Pass, DKK 245.
• A full day of palaces, a tower and a boat, or Tivoli with Home of Carlsberg: a 24-hour Discover card.
• Three museums in a day: singles, and a City Pass Small if you need transport.
• Three days with three paid sights a day: the 72-hour card.
• Transport alone: a City Pass, DKK 100 for zones 1 to 4 or DKK 200 for zones 1 to 99.
• A family with children under 12: singles, because the Kids card is DKK 100 each and the main sights are free for under-18s.
• Day trips: a City Pass Large and the entries, unless the day holds a third paid sight.

What to book before you go to Copenhagen has the closed days for every sight, and Best museums in Copenhagen gives the prices that the museum sums use. Copenhagen canal tours says which boats the card covers, and Copenhagen airport to the city shows the fares the Discover card replaces.