On my first trip to Europe as a backpacker I was given a sound piece of advice that I’m honestly still not always great at following: Don’t fret over the cost of attractions. Recognize that you may never visit again and the cost of seeing something that is a little over your budget is much cheaper than going home and living with regret for years that you didn’t do it only because it was a few dollars more expensive than you had planned.
I still struggle with this occasionally. I sometimes get so caught up in the moment of saving money that I forget that I am on a holiday and this may be the only time I ever visit. Given this propensity of mine, I find that city savings cards aimed to save travelers money are often good bets for me. This allows me the ability to see more than I would pay for as individual admissions and allows me to let go of the saving money stress for just a bit!
Recently we spent 48 hours in Copenhagen en route to rural Sweden. Researching what we wanted to do in advance of our trip I found that the Copenhagen Card was going to come in handy as it included everything on our to do list. I was not certain if it would actually save us money or not, but thought I would give it a try. We ended up loving it and would highly recommend it for other family travelers heading to Copenhagen.
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Reasons to Buy the Copenhagen Card
1. Save Money
Ok, truth be told, on our short 48 hr visit to Copenhagen we probably only saved about $20, but we also didn’t do a ton of things. But, money is money, right? Depending on how many museums or attractions you visit, you may end up saving a ton. But worst case scenario, you end up like us saving only a bit of money. Either way, it’s a win-win situation. To compute how much you will save, click here to check out this handy Copenhagen Card money savings calculator.
2. Save Time
This was the biggest selling point for me. I hate wasting time in a new city trying to figure out how to buy train tickets, bus tickets, or trying to find local currency in coins, etc. This is even more of a big deal when you are in a place for a short amount of time, like we were on our recent trip to Copenhagen. Once I purchased the card at the airport, we were able to hop on/off buses and trains without a worry. The five minutes standing in line to purchase this card was well worth it for this alone.
3. More for Your Money
This isn’t about saving money or time, but rather about getting to go to places on the Copenhagen Card more than once. If you purchase a card with 48 hrs or more duration you can visit places more than 1 time. This was fabulous for us on our visit because we were up late one night and wanted to see Tivoli Gardens with all the lights on. We knew we wouldn’t survive a 12 hour day there the following day to see the night views. Lucky for us, our Copenhagen Card allowed us two entries which meant we could see it at night and still go the following day for our planned visit. Multiple entries are valid at almost all of the attractions on the card.
4. See Something Different
When researching where to go in Copenhagen you may have your predetermined list ready, but once you see all that is included on the Copenhagen Card (73 museums and attractions!), you may decide to add something new and unique to your to do list. We added a visit to the Circus Museum to ours. How fun is that?
Copenhagen Card Details
The Copenhagen Card can be purchased in increments of 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours and 120 hours. Once the card is activated, you cannot pause or stop the time allotment.
For families traveling with young children, a great bonus with this card is that it allows each card holder to bring two children under the age of 9 to all activities for free. In addition to being super family friendly, having the Copenhagen Card also allows visitors multiple entries to each attraction (with the 48 hour card and longer).
There are several ways to purchase the card – you can purchase the card in advance and have it mailed to your home, you can purchase the card at the information booth at the airport or at several places within the city itself. We opted for airport, which was super convenient. We were able to purchase it, activate it and then immediately use it on the train straight from the airport to the center of town. Note: if you have the card sent to your home, you will have to activate it before first use either at the airport, central train station or other information offices.
Conclusion
The difficulty in having the Copenhagen Card is that there are so many attractions included that you will be hard pressed to fit in everything you want to do during your visit! Overall, I would give this card a thumbs up. It may not save you as much money as you might hope, however, the ease and convenience of it outweighed any savings that we were looking for. I would definitely purchase it again in the future!
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I buy cards just for the ease of bypassing a long line at the entrance. I also find most cards come with a hop on/hop off bus or trolley option which makes siteseeing more accessible and faster.
I spent so much money on taxis in Amsterdam and by day two, I discovered the I am Amsterdam card which was as much as the taxi drives and included admission to most of the sites I paid full-price for.
I can’t wait to visit Denmark!
Very interesting article. I agree, Copenhagen Card is very helpful. Thanks for sharing anyway.