Copenhagen walking tours compared: the free tip-based tours, small-group walks from DKK 142, tours timed with the guard and the Segway

💡 The Short Version: The free tours are tip-based: reserve a place at no charge, then pay what the tour was worth. Copenhagen Free Walking Tours’ Grand Tour leaves the town hall steps on Rådhuspladsen at 10:30 and 14:00 every day until Easter 2027 and ends at Amalienborg. Paid small-group walks are from DKK 142 (the 2-hour Classic City Walking Tour) to DKK 476 (3 hours). Two walks are timed with the changing of the guard, from DKK 289. A Segway tour is DKK 426 for an hour. None of the walks goes inside a palace or a museum. Or book now: the Classic City Walking Tourad is from DKK 142 and the Hygge and Happiness walk with tastingsad is DKK 450 (GetYourGuide).

The tours compared

Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price for one adult. The free tours have no price: the operators ask for a tip.

Free walking tours

A free tour and a paid tour cover the same central sights, Amalienborg among them. On a free tour the guide is paid only by tips, so the cost is yours to set.

Copenhagen City Hall on Rådhuspladsen, where the Grand Tour starts. Photo: Axel Kuhlmann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Copenhagen Free Walking Tours

Free to reserve, tip at the end · English · schedule from 1 October to Easter 2027

Copenhagen Free Walking Tours says it is the longest-running walking tour in the city. Reserve on its site to be sure of a place: you can also turn up at the meeting point without one. The tours run in any weather. Groups of 7 or more must contact the company first, and if fewer than 5 people are booked the company may refer you to another operator it trusts.

The Classical Tour covers the cathedral, the Round Tower and Rosenborg, and ends at the food hall for lunch. A Foodie tour and a Queer tour are run by quote only. The Christianshavn tour is the way to reach Christiania with a guide, and it stops at the gate.

Nordic Freedom Tours

Tips at the end · English only

Nordic Freedom Tours has run since 2015, with local freelance guides, and says its tips are mandatory at the end. It also sells pre-paid private tours. It asks guests to book on its own site rather than a platform, and its start times appear at checkout.

Paid walks

From DKK 142 · 2 to 3.5 hours

A paid walk gives a fixed price, and the listings marked small group say so. The tours below cancel free on GetYourGuide.

• The Classic City Walking Tourad is from DKK 142 for 2 hours, 4.6 stars from 665 reviews. The listing says it runs daily at 11:00 and is for all ages. DKK 142 is the lowest date; the standard price is DKK 284.
• The Politically Incorrect intro walkad is from DKK 165 for 2 hours, 4.8 stars from 1,542 reviews. It is billed as a sightseeing walk with a dose of comedy that takes in Nyhavn and the Amalienborg palaces.
• The City Highlights walkad is DKK 315 for 2.5 hours in a small group, 4.7 stars from 333 reviews.
• The Guided City Highlights Tourad is DKK 476 for 3 hours, in a small group, 4.8 stars from 489 reviews.
• The Hygge and Happiness walkad is DKK 450 for 3.5 hours, 4.9 stars from 600 reviews. It covers Nyboder and the cobbled streets, with a pastry, a chocolate and a coffee on the way.
• A private walk is from DKK 411 a person for 2 to 6 hours (private walking tourad), and DKK 523 for a custom tour with a local guidead.

The ochre terraces of Nyboder, the former naval housing. Photo: Nick S., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Walks timed with the guard

The Royal Life Guard changes at Amalienborg at noon, and watching it costs nothing. Two tours build a walk round it.

• Walk and canal tour: Copenhagen highlights and the changing of the guardad is DKK 500 for 3 hours, 4.7 stars from 184 reviews. It combines a walk with a 25-minute public ferry ride through the main canal and ends at the royal palace.
• Walking tour with canal ride and Royal Guard marchad is from DKK 289 for 2.5 hours, 4.7 stars from 93 reviews. It includes the Marble Church and a harbour ferry.

The changing of the guard says where to stand and when the full march runs.

Christiania and Christianshavn

The Christiania and Christianshavn walkad is DKK 325 for 2 hours, led by a lifelong resident, 4.7 stars from 309 reviews. Christiania is free to enter, so the tour pays for the guide. Copenhagen’s free tours cover Christianshavn for a tip, and bike tours include a stop there from DKK 349.

A canal in Christianshavn. Photo: Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Segway

DKK 426 · 1 hour · small group

The guided Segway tourad starts along the car-free waterfront and passes the city’s landmarks, 4.9 stars from 727 reviews.

Which to book

• A first orientation on a budget: the Grand Tour at 10:30 or 14:00, with a reservation and a tip. It ends at Amalienborg.
• A set price and a small group: the City Highlights walk at DKK 315, or the 3-hour tour at DKK 476.
• The cheapest paid walk: the Classic City Walking Tour from DKK 142 at 11:00.
• The guard as part of the walk: the walk with a canal ride, from DKK 289.
• Food and a story: the hygge walk, DKK 450, with its three tastings.
• More ground in less time: a bike tour or the hop-on hop-off bus.
• From the water: canal tours start at DKK 80.
• With a Copenhagen Card: none of these is covered; see Copenhagen Card: is it worth it?.

What to book before you go to Copenhagen has the closed days for every sight, because a walk goes past what is shut on a Monday and does not go inside. Nyhavn and the Little Mermaid are on most routes, and free things to do in Copenhagen lists what to add on your own. To walk it yourself, the old town walk goes from the City Hall to Kongens Nytorv and the Nyhavn to Little Mermaid walk from there to Østerport.