Copenhagen Card 2026 - Prices, Inclusions & Comparison

The Copenhagen Card is the city pass for Copenhagen, combining free entry to most paid attractions with unlimited public transport. Whether it pays off for you depends less on the pass itself than on your itinerary, visit lots of museums and palaces and you'll save money; mostly wander the streets and you probably won't. This guide lists the 2026 prices and inclusions and works out exactly when the card is worth buying and which duration suits you best. You'll find a direct comparison with single tickets in the table further down.

The versions and what they cost

The standard card is called DISCOVER and comes in five durations - 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours. Adult prices for 2026:

• 24 hours - 589 DKK (about €79)
• 48 hours - 859 DKK (about €115)
• 72 hours - 1,039 DKK (about €140)
• 96 hours - 1,219 DKK (about €164)
• 120 hours - 1,419 DKK (about €190)

Children aged 3 to 11 get the much cheaper KIDS card (24h 100 DKK, 48h 140 DKK, 72h 180 DKK, 96h 220 DKK, 120h 260 DKK). Up to two children's cards can be added per adult card; children up to 2 don't need a card of their own. Teenagers aged 12 to 15 pay a junior rate that sits between the adult and child prices, and from 16 you pay the adult price. There's no student discount.

There's also a HOP version, which adds the hop-on-hop-off bus but covers only around 40 attractions instead of 80+ and comes without regular public transport or the airport transfer. It's sold only for 24, 48 and 72 hours at 600, 875 and 1,050 DKK for adults. DISCOVER is usually the smarter choice - HOP is worth it mainly if the sightseeing bus itself is a highlight for you.

What's included in admission

DISCOVER covers more than 80 attractions in Copenhagen and the capital region, with the exact number varying slightly by season. The same rules apply to all of them:

• One visit per attraction: each venue can be visited once for free with the card.
• Reservations at some venues: a few attractions, such as Home of Carlsberg, require a time slot booked in advance through the app or with the venue itself.
• Admission only: at Tivoli the card covers the gardens and concerts, the rides cost extra. Special exhibitions and guided tours may also carry a surcharge.
• No stacking with discounts: other reductions can't be combined with the card.

Worth knowing for your planning, the Round Tower has not been included in the card since 1 April 2024 and costs 60 DKK separately. Free sights such as the colourful harbour of Nyhavn or the fortress of Kastellet don't need a ticket anyway, so they're not a factor for or against the pass.

Included attractions

The best-known sights covered by DISCOVER:

Because transport across the whole region is included, the card covers day trips too. By train you can reach the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Kronborg Castle in Helsingør and Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, each with free entry. A trip like this fills half a day to a full day and is a good argument for a longer duration.

The included boat trip is the Stromma Classic Tour, whose route dates back to 1904. It takes around an hour and departs regularly from Ved Stranden 26 (other departure points cost extra). The tour runs year-round, open boats in summer, covered and heated ones in winter. For many visitors it's the most pleasant introduction to the city, showing Nyhavn, the opera house and the canals of Christianshavn from the water.

Public transport and the airport transfer

The second big item alongside admissions is public transport, and here DISCOVER is generous - all zones 1 to 99 of the capital region are covered, meaning metro, buses, S-trains, regional trains, local rail and harbour buses. The network reaches well beyond the city as far as Roskilde, Hillerød and Helsingør, so day trips into the surrounding area are covered too. Only first class is excluded. There's nothing to validate, if your ticket is checked you simply show the card in the app.

Particularly handy, the airport transfer between the city and CPH Kastrup is included with DISCOVER, whether you take metro line M2 (about 15 minutes to Kongens Nytorv) or the train. It's best to buy the card before your trip and load it into the app. After landing, activate it before your first ride and you skip the cost of that first single ticket. This doesn't apply to the HOP version.

Don't confuse the card with the Copenhagen City Pass. That's a public transport ticket only, without any admissions, sold as City Pass Small for zones 1 to 4 including the airport or as City Pass Large for the whole region. For getting around beyond what the card covers, see Public transport in Copenhagen; the route from the airport into the centre is covered in Airport to city centre.

How the card works in practice

The Copenhagen Card is entirely digital, running through the free "Copenhagen Card City Guide" app (iOS and Android), which also works offline. After buying, you receive a code by email that you redeem in the app; there's no plastic card. At entrances and on public transport you show the QR code in the app. The card is personal and can't be passed on, so every traveller needs their own. You can buy the card from its issuer Wonderful Copenhagen or through booking platforms.

The key thing to plan around is activation, the countdown starts at first use, not at purchase. A 24-hour card activated on Tuesday at 10:00 runs until Wednesday 09:59; it can't be paused or reset. Set your phone's time zone to Central European Time beforehand so the hours are counted correctly.

A second thing to watch is opening hours. Tivoli is seasonal, in 2026 it's open 27 March to 20 September (Easter and summer seasons), 2 October to 1 November (Halloween season) and 13 November to 3 January 2027 (Christmas season), closed in between. Several card attractions close on Mondays. Check both in the app's filters before you activate the card, otherwise you'll waste valuable hours.

Who the card pays off for

The card pays off if you're visiting several paid attractions per day and using public transport as well. Individual admissions in Copenhagen add up fast on their own, a look at regular 2026 single-ticket prices shows how quickly it happens:

• Copenhagen Zoo - 249 DKK (adults), children 3-11 149 DKK
• National Museum of Denmark - 150 DKK (135 DKK online); the permanent exhibition is no longer free
• Rosenborg - 140 DKK including the treasury, free under 18
• Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek - 125 DKK, free under 18
• Thorvaldsens Museum - 110 DKK, free under 18 (free for everyone on Wednesdays)
• Tivoli, garden entry from around 150 DKK, roughly 145 to 155 DKK depending on the day

If you combine, say, the zoo, the Glyptotek and a canal tour in one day and get around by metro and bus, you'll comfortably clear the 24-hour price of 589 DKK. On the other hand, single tickets work out cheaper if you mostly explore Copenhagen on foot, stick to free sights like Nyhavn, Kastellet or Strøget, and only occasionally visit a museum. Several of these venues also have fixed free days - Thorvaldsens Museum on Wednesdays, the Glyptotek on the last Wednesday of the month. Families benefit most, because many museums are free for children anyway, but the zoo and Tivoli aren't.

Copenhagen Card versus single tickets

The key differences at a glance (rough figures):

The longer the duration, the cheaper each day becomes. With the 48-hour card you pay around a quarter less per day than with the 24-hour card, with 72 hours around 40 per cent less and with 120 hours about half. For a weekend with a packed schedule, 48 hours fits; add a trip to Roskilde or Helsingør and 72 hours is the better choice. The 96- and 120-hour cards only pay off if you plan two or more admissions every day.

Our advice, before buying, roughly total up the admissions and journeys you actually want and compare that with the card price for the matching duration. For itinerary ideas, see Trip planning.