Expect to Spend: Copenhagen

Prices and Discounts

Discounts in Copenhagen? You must be kidding. One could fairly assume that the world's eighth-most expensive city would be a bad place to find bargains. But looking for cheap deals is our job and, dear Cheapos, we shirk from no deal-finding challenge.

Hotel Prices

Moderate hotel rates in Copenhagen run between DKK600 (€80.50) and DKK1,400 (€188). It's hard to find a cheap sleep in Copenhagen under DKK500 (€67). Your loyal researchers here at EuroCheapo set our nightly upper limit rate at just over DKK1,000 (€135). To offer a sense of perspective, the going rate for a deluxe room in Copenhagen can be as high as DKK3,500 (€470).

Restaurant Prices

Restaurant meals range in price from DKK250 (€34) to DKK400 (€54). Unlike some other European cities, set menus are not a particularly good deal in Copenhagen, ranging in price from DKK730 (€98) to DKK990 (€133). Copenhagen's popular buffet-style restaurants offer up the ideal Cheapo deal, with prices ranging from DKK59 (€8) to DKK69 (€10) per person.

Tipping is not customary as wait staff are paid very well. Many restaurants include a 15% service charge in the bill anyway, rendering a tip unnecessary.

Two good bargain meal options include smørrebrød and pølser. Smørrebrød are a 300-year-old tradition in Denmark. Open-faced smørrebrød sandwiches usually cost around DKK10 (€1.50) per sandwich. They are very tasty, tiny treats. Locals usually order three smørrebrød a time.

Another local food tradition is hot dogs, or pølser, which are sold at sausage wagons, or pølsevogn. The local hot dogs are the perfect bargain fast food, cheap and delicious. There's even a special word for gossiping, "pølsesnak," which translates as "sausage talk."