Recently I spent a few days in Copenhagen, Denmark! This was my first time visiting Denmark, and while I did run into some accessibility challenges, I had a great time and want to go back in the future.
Copenhagen is very flat and the public transit was amazing. My main issue was stairs to enter restaurants and other businesses. Thankfully, I was traveling with two of my cousins who were able to help me up the stairs. I wouldn’t have been able to do this with just one companion, because I get up stairs by having one person lift the front of the chair and another person lift the back. Cobblestones are also common in this city, more so than some of the other European cities I’ve visited. When planning a trip, I frequently use street view on google maps to see if a building entrance is accessible for me. I think this is especially helpful for a city like Copenhagen where many places do have stairs and for you to evaluate if an area has cobblestones that you want to/can handle or not.
If it fits in your budget, I highly recommend purchasing a Batec or similar device. Having a device that lifts my castors off the ground is a massive help when navigating cobblestones. This device has made traveling much easier for me! I have a Batec Mini and love it.
Hopefully my notes from my trip are informative and can help you when deciding if Copenhagen is a good destination for you. If you have any questions please reach out to me on Instagram!
What I Did
Nyhavn
- A trip to Copenhagen is not complete without seeing the beautiful and colorful houses and buildings along the canal. There were cobblestones along the path, but I was able to handle it well with my Batec, but I would’ve been able to navigate it without it and it would have been worth my visit even if I didn’t have my Batec with me. There are two strips of smooth pavement along the sidewalks, so depending on the width of your chair, they may line up with your wheels!
Changing of the Guard at Amalienborg Palace
- This happens every day at noon. It is free! There is only brick pavement in this area. I do think it would be possible to navigate it just in a manual wheelchair, because the gaps in between the bricks were fairly shallow.
- We did not tour the Palace, however it is accessible. Here’s more information from the Amalienborg Palace website:
- There is an elevator at Amalienborg Museum providing access to the entire museum. The elevator door width is 80 cm (31.5 in), and the length inside the elevator is 145 cm (57 in).
- Please be aware that certain electric wheelchairs might be too large for the elevator and disability lift. The maximum weight capacity is 225 kg (496 lbs).
Design Museum Denmark
- The design museum was a great escape from the cold of early March in Copenhagen. I spent a few hours here and there were interesting things to see. It was accessible, it had an accessible bathroom, and companions get free entry!
- https://designmuseum.dk
Shopping
- Copenhagen has lots of interesting shops! We went into Notre Dame, a beautiful shop with home decor and other items. Unfortunately, like many shops in Copenhagen, there were steps to get inside, so I needed two people to help me get in.
- Flying Tiger and Studio Arhoj are accessible. There are multiple Flying Tiger locations, I have linked the one I visited- I do not know if all locations are step-free.
Day trip to Sweden!
- I will be making a separate blog post about this, but we took a day trip to Lund and Malmö, Sweden! We took the train and it was very easy to get there from Copenhagen. I was able to purchase a ticket when I got to the train station and hop on the next train, I did not have to book anything in advance.
Other Attractions
Tivoli Gardens
- Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park with beautiful gardens and restaurants! I’ve heard that it was the inspiration for Walt Disney to build Disneyland, and it is Copenhagen’s top tourist attraction!
- Unfortunately, I was not able to visit Tivoli Gardens while in Copenhagen because it was not open for the year yet. I would love to make another trip to Copenhagen to visit Tivoli Gardens while I am living in Europe this year!
- Tivoli Gardens accessibility page: https://www.tivoli.dk/en/praktisk/gaester-med-saerlige-behov
The Little Mermaid Statue
- I’ve heard mixed reviews about the little mermaid statue- some people say it’s underwhelming, as it is small, but others have said that it is worth it. We personally did not go visit the little mermaid statue.
Attractions that are not wheelchair accessible
Rosenborg Castle
- The castle consists of multiple levels accessible only via stairs and there isn’t an elevator. Wheelchair users can only visit the ground floor and the treasury if your companion can help you up and down the stairs (I am not sure what the stairs are like, as I did not visit. This information is from the Rosenborg Castle website.)
- https://www.kongernessamling.dk/en/rosenborg/
- https://www.kongernessamling.dk/en/rosenborg/visit-rosenborg/#special-needs
The Round Tower
- While the round tower is known for its spiral ramp, unfortunately it is not accessible. At the very top of the tower, after climbing the spiral ramp, there are two sets of stairs: a wide wooden staircase and a smaller winding of stone leading up to the viewing platform.
Getting Around
Metro
- I had a wonderful experience each time I used the Copenhagen metro. Every station has an elevator to get down to the platform! There is also level entry onto the metro cars, and doors that remain closed until the metro is open. It was clean, felt very safe, and was on time! I have no notes- it was perfect. I dream one day that all cities will have a metro like this!
Walking around
- Copenhagen is a very walkable city, the vast majority of the sidewalks I encountered had curb cuts. However, many of the streets had cobblestones. Here are pictures of typical sidewalks I encountered in Copenhagen. Not all of them had the paved strips.
Where I Stayed
I stayed at CityHub, a capsule hotel great for travelers on a budget. While their capsules aren’t wheelchair accessible, they do have rooms available to stay in that are. We had a “Quad room” to ourselves- it’s not a hostel with shared rooms. The one I stayed in had 2 sets of bunk beds, so I slept on one of the bottom beds. The bathroom was accessible with a roll in shower. The hotel had no shower chair available to borrow (I knew this when booking and brought my own. Click here to see my reel discussing my portable shower chair and click here to purchase it*). The shower had no hand held shower head, but I was able to make it work. This is a good option if you’re on a budget and can bring a shower chair with you. The hotel staff was very easy to communicate with and helpful when asking about the hotel prior to booking, which is not always something I’ve experienced.
If you’re not in a wheelchair, the capsules do look really cool and seem to be a great alternative to a hostel with shared rooms. I have friends that have stayed in the capsules and they enjoyed it!
*This is a commissionable link- I’ll earn a small commission at no cost to you!
This photo is from CityHub’s website- it is not the exact room I stayed in, but it is very similar. Despite it appearing differently in the image, there is frosted glass in the shower for privacy! You are not able to see into the shower from the room.
What I Ate
Juno the Bakery
- Juno was at the top of my list of all Copenhagen attractions for me after hearing Ashlyn Salisbury rave about it. She highly recommends the cardamom buns from Juno and I second that statement with all of my being. It was heavenly.
- Unfortunately, there are stairs to get into Juno. I waited outside while my cousins went in to order our pastries. There is outdoor seating that is accessible! We were there on the coldest day of our trip and ate our pastries outside. My hands were freezing while eating my cardamom bun but my heart was so warm that it was absolutely worth it.
- This is my top recommendation for Copenhagen pastries! We also had a berry and cream pastry which was delicious.
- https://www.instagram.com/juno_the_bakery/?hl=en
Buka
- We also went to Buka, a bakery and restaurant. They had many beautiful pastries- I tried the pistachio cream croissant and the cardamom brioche. They were both good!
- The Buka we went to was on Strøget, and it was accessible! They have multiple locations around Copenhagen. I can’t tell if the locations on Store Kongensgade or Gammel Kongevej are accessible. The location on Østerbro has a small step to get in, which I could do with a little boost from someone.
- https://www.buka-bakery.com
Gasoline Grill
- Gasoline Grill serves delicious burgers and fries out of what appear to be cute old gas stations! It was featured on the Netflix show Somebody Feed Phil!
- There are 7 locations around Copenhagen, as well as a location at Tivoli and at CPH airport.
- I tried the cheeseburger, fries, and their homemade elderflower lemonade. It was delicious!
- https://www.gasolinegrill.com
DØP (Den Økologiske Pølsemand)
- DØP has hotdog stands at the Round Tower and the Church of the Holy Ghost, both located in central Copenhagen. The hotdog stands are open Monday to Saturday from 11AM to 18.30PM, according to their website.
- I had the classic roasted hotdog with the cheese sausage, which came with ketchup, mustard, danish remoulade sauce, pickles, raw, and fried onions. It was good!
- http://www.døp.dk/en/Default.aspx
