Mid-range · 6-hour walk · Copenhagen
Christianshavn and the gardens in six hours
Rosenborg and the botanical glasshouse, the food hall, then across the water to the spiral spire.
Copenhagen's centre is small enough that the three-hour route covers it, so this one goes outward in both directions: north into the royal gardens the city treats as a lawn, then south-east over the harbour into Christianshavn, which the Dutch laid out in the 1600s and which still feels like a different town. The spiral staircase at the end is on the outside of the spire, which you should know before you buy the ticket.
The route, stop by stop
-
Rosenborg Castle
Christian IV's summer house, now holding the crown jewels in the basement. The Long Hall with the silver lions upstairs is the room worth the entry on its own.
60 min here Walk here → -
Botanical Garden
Free, and the 1874 Palm House is the reason to come — cast iron and glass, with a spiral walkway near the roof where it is twenty degrees warmer.
30 min here Walk here → -
Torvehallerne
Two glass halls and about sixty stalls. This is where to eat on this route; the smørrebrød counters are better value than anywhere on Nyhavn.
35 min here Walk here → -
Christiansborg Palace
Parliament, supreme court and royal reception rooms in one building, on the site of the original 1167 castle whose ruins are in the cellar. The tower is free and the highest in the city.
60 min here Walk here → -
Christianshavn Canal
Dutch-planned, houseboat-lined and almost entirely residential. The bridge cafés here are where Copenhageners actually sit, rather than Nyhavn.
30 min here Walk here → -
Church of Our Saviour
Four hundred steps, the last 150 of them on an external spiral around the spire with the city underneath you. Closed in high wind, and reasonably so.
40 min here Walk here →
More in Copenhagen
Every walking route in Copenhagen, or the full Copenhagen guide for where to stay and what a day costs.