Copenhagen old town walk: from City Hall along Strøget to the Round Tower, Rosenborg and Kongens Nytorv, with what is open each day

One of 2 self-guided walks in Copenhagen. See every walk.

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: Start at Rådhuspladsen, about 110 m from the metro, and finish at Kongens Nytorv, where all four metro lines meet: 3.2 km, about 55 minutes of walking and half a day with the visits. Go Tuesday to Friday. The City Hall is shut on Sundays, its tower tours run at 11:00 and 14:00 on weekdays and only at 12:00 on Saturdays (DKK 60), and Rosenborg is closed on Mondays from 2 November to 23 December. Rosenborg is a timed slot, DKK 140 online. The Round Tower is DKK 60 and sells tickets only at the door. The cathedral, the squares and the King’s Garden are free. Or book a tour: the Classic City Walking Tourad is from DKK 142 for two hours.

The route

Map of the walk numbered stops in walking order

Open the whole route in Google Maps - all the stops in walking order, set to walking directions, which is the version to put on your phone.

The route runs east from the 1905 City Hall along Strøget, the pedestrian street, to the two old squares at its middle, then north through the university’s quarter to the Round Tower and on to Rosenborg, Christian IV’s castle in its garden. It ends on Kongens Nytorv, the square laid out in 1670. Prices are the adult rate in kroner from each operator.

Walk it with a guide

A guide adds the stories, and none of these includes entry to the sights above unless it says so. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

• Copenhagen: Classic City Walking Tour with Local Guidead: from DKK 142, 4.6 stars from 681 reviews, 2 hours. The listing describes a history walk that runs daily at 11:00.
• Copenhagen: City Highlights Walking Tour With Local Guidead: from DKK 315, 4.7 stars from 333 reviews, 2.5 hours, in a small group.
• Copenhagen: Guided City Highlights Tourad: from DKK 476, 4.8 stars from 491 reviews, 3 hours, in a small group.
• Copenhagen Free Walking Tours runs a Classical Tour on tips at 12:00 on Fridays and Sundays from Højbro Plads, covering the cathedral, the Round Tower and Rosenborg, and its Grand Tour leaves the City Hall steps at 10:30 and 14:00 daily. Copenhagen walking tours compares the free and paid walks.

1. Rådhuspladsen and the City Hall

Hall and World Clock free · tower tour DKK 60 · hall Monday to Friday 9:00 to 16:00, Saturday 9:30 to 13:00 · Rådhuspladsen 1

The City Hall is the red-brick building with the green copper tower on the square. The Rådhuspladsen metro station (M3, M4) is about 110 m from its entrance. The hall inside is open to anyone, with Jens Olsen’s World Clock on the same hours, and it is shut on Sundays, public holidays, 1 May, Ascension Day and Constitution Day.

• Tower tours run Monday to Friday at 11:00 and 14:00 and on Saturdays at 12:00, last 30 to 50 minutes and cost DKK 60. They meet inside the main entrance and take up to 49 people. Tickets are sold on the day at the information office or online, and the City Hall says tours can be cancelled when it holds an event.
• Guided tours of the building are DKK 80 for 50 minutes: in English at 13:00 on weekdays and 10:00 on Saturdays. They do not include the tower.

Walk east along Frederiksberggade, the first stretch of Strøget: 440 m to Gammeltorv.

2. Strøget, Gammeltorv and Nytorv

Free · always open · the Christmas market runs 6 November to 21 December 2026

Strøget is the name for the chain of pedestrian streets from Rådhuspladsen to Kongens Nytorv, 1.1 km in all. Gammeltorv is the oldest square in Copenhagen, with the Caritas Well, a fountain Christian IV had put up in 1610, at its middle. Nytorv adjoins it on the east and is dominated by the neoclassical Court House, which was also the City Hall from 1815 to 1905.

The Caritas Well on Gammeltorv. Photo: Jebulon, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

From 6 November to 21 December 2026 both squares hold a Christmas market, free to enter, with a free ice rink and free skate rental. Copenhagen’s Christmas markets has the other markets and their dates.

• Strøget carries on east towards Kongens Nytorv, and this walk leaves it here. If you want the rest, the last stop reaches the same square by another street.

Detour: Christiansborg

Tower free, closed Mondays · Palace Ticket DKK 215 online · adds 1.5 km

Skip this on a short day. Christiansborg stands on Slotsholmen, east of Nytorv, and the detour there and back to the cathedral adds 1.5 km. The tower is free, with a lift and no booking, and is closed on Mondays. The palace is ticketed and can close without notice for state events. Christiansborg tickets has the prices and hours. It stays off the main route because the tower is shut on Mondays, the palace is a visit of its own, and the walk’s other stops lie in a line to the north.

3. Vor Frue Kirke and the Latin Quarter

Free · daily 8:00 to 17:00, except Tuesday 14:45 to 16:30 and Wednesday 16:00 to 17:30 · Nørregade 8

Walk north to Frue Plads: 170 m. The University of Copenhagen’s main building stands on the square, with the cathedral beside it, and the streets round them are the Latin Quarter. A church has stood on this site since about 1200. The previous one burned in the British bombardment of 1807, when the spire was hit by an incendiary rocket, and the present church by C. F. Hansen was consecrated at Whitsun 1829.

The portico of Vor Frue Kirke on Frue Plads. Photo: Ib Rasmussen, Wikimedia Commons.

Inside are Bertel Thorvaldsen’s marble Christ and his twelve apostles. Hans Christian Andersen’s funeral was held here. The cathedral is open to visitors every day from 8:00 to 17:00, but not during services or ceremonies, and it closes on Tuesdays from 14:45 to 16:30 and on Wednesdays from 16:00 to 17:30 (not in January). There is no entry fee.

Walk east to the Round Tower on Købmagergade: 370 m.

4. The Round Tower

DKK 60 · tickets at the door only · October to March Monday and Tuesday 10:00 to 21:00, Wednesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 · Købmagergade 52A

King Christian IV built the Round Tower, which has stood on Købmagergade since 1642. There are no stairs for most of the climb. A spiral ramp about 200 metres long winds seven and a half times round the hollow core, and it is the only way up: it ends in two staircases to the viewing platform. There is no lift, and prams cannot get onto the platform.

The Round Tower’s brick wall seen from below. Photo: Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Tickets are DKK 60 (students DKK 40, under 18s free) and are sold only at the tower’s own ticket office, with no pre-purchase. At busy times the tower limits numbers, and the operator says the wait rarely exceeds 20 minutes. It is not in the Copenhagen Card.
• The Library Hall, halfway up, is a hall of 800 square metres that holds the changing exhibition, which is included in the ticket. In 2026 the tower marks 350 years since Ole Rømer measured the speed of light, with Ole Rømer and the Great Discovery running to 3 January 2027 and Light Echoes from 2 October to 3 January.
• Hours: open 362 days a year. It is shut on 24 and 25 December and 1 January, and closes at 15:00 on 31 December. From April to September it is open daily 10:00 to 20:00. On Mondays and Tuesdays from October to March the observatory takes visitors from 18:00 to 21:00, weather permitting.

If the King’s Guard is set at Amalienborg, the daily parade leaves the barracks beside Rosenborg at 11:27 and passes the Round Tower and Kongens Nytorv on its way: see the changing of the guard. Copenhagen’s viewpoints compares the tower with the four others.

Walk north to Rosenborg: 810 m.

5. Rosenborg Castle

DKK 140 online, DKK 150 at the door · timed slots every 10 minutes · Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 16:00 from 2 November · Øster Voldgade 4A

Rosenborg began in 1606 as Christian IV’s garden outside the city, with a pleasure house built from 1611, and reached its present shape in 1624. It holds the Danish crown jewels in the Treasury beneath the castle, and Christian IV’s rooms. Admission is by time slot: tickets are sold every 10 minutes, and in peak season every slot sells out, so buy ahead from the Royal Danish Collection. The Royal Palace Pass is DKK 245 online for Rosenborg, the Amalienborg Museum and Christiansborg Palace. Rosenborg Castle tickets has the rest.

• Hours: daily 10:00 to 17:00 until 1 November, then Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 16:00 and closed on Mondays until 23 December. It is shut on 24 and 25 December.
• Bags: no backpacks. Handbags may not exceed 15 x 23 x 15 cm and must be worn in front. Larger bags go in the free cloakroom lockers, which cannot be opened after closing.
• Copenhagen Card: it gets you in free, but you cannot book a slot online with it.

Nørreport station is 200 m from the castle, if you want to stop here.

6. The King’s Garden

Free · Kongens Have

Rosenborg stands in the King’s Garden, a public park that is free to walk through. The bronze statue of Hans Christian Andersen in it is by August Saabye and dates from 1880. The Royal Life Guard’s barracks stands beside the castle, and the daily march to Amalienborg starts from it.

The rose garden in the King’s Garden. Photo: Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Leave by the garden’s south side and walk to Kongens Nytorv: 960 m.

7. Kongens Nytorv

Free · always open · metro M1, M2, M3 and M4

Christian V laid out Kongens Nytorv in 1670, and it has his equestrian statue at its centre. The Royal Danish Theatre’s Old Stage, which opened in 1874, stands on the square, and Nyhavn runs off its east side. Kongens Nytorv is the only metro station where all four lines meet, and the walk ends at it.

• Next: the Nyhavn to the Little Mermaid walk starts at Kongens Nytorv and follows the harbour to Østerport.

Where to eat

Conditori La Glace

Skoubogade 3 · Monday to Friday 8:30 to 18:00, Saturday 9:00 to 18:00, Sunday 10:00 to 18:00

A confectioner’s shop that opened in Skoubogade in 1870, 100 m from the cathedral, between the second and third stops. Danish pastries in Copenhagen has the bakeries.

Restaurant Schønnemann

Hauser Plads 16 · daily 11:30 to 17:00 · lunch only

A lunch restaurant serving smørrebrød, the open rye sandwich, since 1877. It is 100 m off the walk between the Round Tower and Rosenborg. Smørrebrød in Copenhagen compares the others.

Møntergade

Møntergade 19 · open every day from 11:30

A smørrebrød restaurant 70 m from the walk between the King’s Garden and Kongens Nytorv. Where to eat in Copenhagen has the restaurants.

The best day to go

The timing that works, on a Tuesday to Friday after 2 November: take the City Hall tower tour at 11:00, walk Strøget to the cathedral by 12:15, have lunch at La Glace or Schønnemann, climb the Round Tower at 13:30 and book a Rosenborg slot for the afternoon, before the castle closes at 16:00. The garden comes last because it needs no ticket.

What closes:

• Sundays: the City Hall, including the World Clock and the tower tour.
• Mondays from 2 November to 23 December: Rosenborg Castle.
• Always on Mondays: the Christiansborg Tower.
• Tuesday 14:45 to 16:30 and Wednesday 16:00 to 17:30: Vor Frue Kirke.
• 24 and 25 December: the Round Tower and Rosenborg. 1 January: the Round Tower, while Rosenborg opens at 11:00.
• After 16:00 from 2 November: Rosenborg.

What does not close: the streets and squares, the King’s Garden and the Round Tower, which is open seven days a week.

Getting there and back

• To the start: the Rådhuspladsen metro station (M3, M4) is about 110 m from the City Hall. Copenhagen public transport has the zones and fares.
• From the end: Kongens Nytorv metro station (M1, M2, M3, M4) is on the square. The M2 reaches the airport in about 15 minutes.
• Halfway: Nørreport station is 200 m from Rosenborg, for a shorter day.
• In reverse: start at Kongens Nytorv and finish at the City Hall, but Rosenborg’s slot and the City Hall’s tower tour times fit better the way round above.

What to do with the rest of the day

• The harbour: the Nyhavn to the Little Mermaid walk starts at Kongens Nytorv, where this one ends.
• The palaces: Christiansborg and the Amalienborg Museum share the Royal Palace Pass with Rosenborg.
• The towers: Copenhagen’s viewpoints compares the Round Tower with four others.
• Guided walks: Copenhagen walking tours sets the free tours against the paid ones.
• The days: 3 days in Copenhagen fits these sights onto the days they are open, and what to book before you go to Copenhagen has the closed days for every sight.
• Where to sleep: where to stay in Copenhagen compares the areas.

Common questions

How long is the Copenhagen old town walk?

3.2 km from Rådhuspladsen to Kongens Nytorv, measured along the streets: about 55 minutes of walking. The Christiansborg detour adds 1.5 km. The visits fill half a day: the City Hall tower tour takes 30 to 50 minutes, the Round Tower is a ramp of about 200 metres, and Rosenborg is a timed slot.

Which day is best for the old town walk?

Tuesday to Friday. The City Hall is shut on Sundays and its tower tours run at 11:00 and 14:00 on weekdays but only at 12:00 on Saturdays. Rosenborg is closed on Mondays from 2 November to 23 December. The Round Tower is open every day, and to 21:00 on Mondays and Tuesdays from October to March.

Is the old town walk free?

The streets, the squares, the cathedral, the King's Garden and the City Hall hall with Jens Olsen's World Clock cost nothing. The City Hall tower tour is DKK 60, the Round Tower DKK 60 and Rosenborg Castle DKK 140 online (DKK 150 at the door). The Christiansborg detour has a free tower.

What do I need to book for the walk?

A timed slot for Rosenborg Castle, sold every 10 minutes and sold out in peak season. The Round Tower sells tickets only at its own ticket office, and City Hall tower tickets are sold on the day at the City Hall information office or online. The cathedral and the King's Garden need nothing.

Can I walk the whole of Strøget on this route?

No. Strøget is 1.1 km of pedestrian street from Rådhuspladsen to Kongens Nytorv. This walk follows it as far as Gammeltorv and Nytorv, turns north to the cathedral and the Round Tower, and reaches Kongens Nytorv through the King's Garden. The rest of Strøget runs east from Nytorv to the same square, so you can finish on it instead.

Where does the walk start and finish?

It starts at the City Hall on Rådhuspladsen, about 110 m from the Rådhuspladsen metro station (M3, M4), and finishes at Kongens Nytorv metro station, where all four metro lines meet. The Nyhavn to Little Mermaid walk starts from the same station.