Has a friend ever impressed upon you the magnitude of something and you were absolutely sure of the ramifications. Perhaps you were forewarned by the sheer size of college debt, or the commitments in raising an undoubtedly cute but high maintenance puppy? Of course those are big commitments!
Then the monthly bill comes. Or you’re freaking out because you’ve had the umpteenth pillow torn and your dog still isn’t potty-trained. That’s when you truly realize the gravity of what you committed to. A freight train of realization that hits you and doesn’t feel any more pleasant than getting hit by the real thing.
I always knew how expensive the Nordic countries could be, everyone told me so. My unpleasant realization occurred when I had a layover through Gardermon Airport in Oslo, Norway. After scouring the entire airport terminal for a cheap bite to eat and discovering lowliest option is a tuna sandwich for $20 that sure impressed upon me how costly this area is.
Well challenge accepted! Try to stop me from visiting the country as cheaply as possible! I’m going to find a way to sample those very buttery cookies, see that minimalistic Danish design and drink Carlsberg straight from the source!
But really, there’s only a few ways to save money here. The best way to fight against the prices in Copenhagen is to limit the time you spend here. I found that three days is plenty of time to see the majority of the city and that’s what we’ll plan for to get the most out of the trip and our budget.
| Category | Expected Cost per Day |
| Alcohol | $8.00 |
| Entertainment | $6.50 |
| Food | $25.00 |
| Living | $3.00 |
| Lodging | $30.00 |
| Travel | $12.00 |
| Grand Total | $84.50 |
Table 1. Expected cost per day for a three day trip
Alcohol
While everything in this country is pretty expensive, I commend the Danes for ensuring that some form of alcohol will be affordable to us plebeians. At a grocery store, a cheap can of beer can run as little as 4 DKK ($0.66)! Of course the problem is when you start going out to the many bars and clubs where the prices skyrocket to 50 DKK – 60 DSKK ($8.25 – $9.90). So as usual, drink at home and just budget enough to go out and enjoy the atmosphere.
I’m so proud of item 11. It’s a beer from a little microbrewery in Colorado that made it all the way across the Atlantic
Entertainment
For this short visit I recommend visiting the hits. Fortunately, for the price of 115 DKK ($18.94), you can visit six museums (including one castle). If you decide you want to go to more museums, the smaller ones don’t grant you multiple entries like the aformentioned Parmuseerne pass and will cost a similar amount. Not exactly great on the budget.
On the slightly higher note, a lot of Copenhagen can be seen for free. You can walk around Kastellet Fort, the downtown area, the hippy commune Christiana and see all those giant bronze monuments for free!
That person did in fact paint with all the colors of the wind
Food
I’m a little torn with my food budget here. On one hand, Copenhagen is a culinary capital that brings in a medley of ethnic foods with a modern twist from all parts of the world. These delicious foods are sold at hip and fun food courts like at Torehallerne, WestMarket or the accurately named StreetFood.
On the other hand, you’re certainly paying for the quality. I bought some pretty fantastic duck confit for 110 DKK ($17.38) at StreetFood. I have no regrets but this is not sustainable for more than a couple meals. I recommend trying a dish or two before switching over to home catering. Thanks to the Chinatown easily located right next to the train station and the rise of discount groceries like Lidl, you can get some cheap groceries so you’re not buying Danish hotdogs on the street for a ridiculous 29 DKK ($4.58)
Yum?
Living
Hand wash your clothing and bring everything you need. The basic living supplies can be a little pricer than normal but with the short time you’ll be here, there should be few living costs if any.
Lodging
Well there’s no getting around the extremely high accommodation fees here. If you have a friend in town, I’d recommend removing all compunction, pride and humility and promptly invite yourself to crash on his/her couch. If they don’t have a couch, the floor is the second best options. Barring that, I would happily take the bathroom floor. Otherwise the cheapest (and still clean) hostel I could find during shoulder season was 185 DKK ($30) a night.
While the hostel was very nice, it was the cheapest because it was an XL hostels. And by XL hostel, I think this one can be classified as XXXXXXXXXL hostel. Their website states that they have five floors and hold 1000 beds. While there’s nothing wrong with these large hostels, their sheer size means that they often lack a tight-knit community present in their smaller counterparts and instead start to resemble a hotel. In this case, the low price is simply too good to pass up.
Travel
The whole city is walkable, so don’t worry about a thing! I’d lace up those walking shoes though because some areas can be a decent walk away. You opnly have to worry about that that train ticket to and from the airport which will still run you 35 DKK ($5.78) each way…
The coolest part is that the city is very bike friendly! I haven’t been to Amsterdam so this is without a doubt the bike friendliest city I’ve been to. Find yourself a rental and cruise around town without a care in the world.
Is Copenhagen just one giant college campus?
My Costs
You’ll notice that my costs are a lot different than what I suggested. I spent a lot of money on alcohol due to my insistence in visiting a lot of the cozy little local bars. I found one great bar with some great imported beers from all over the world but I can’t recommend spending that much money if you’re tight on the budget.
As far as my entertainment costs go, I spend a lot of my time exploring the city on foot or a bike since I wasn’t in a museum mood. That might be while my entertainment costs is zero.
| Category | Cost per Day |
| Alcohol | $20.99 |
| Entertainment | $0.00 |
| Food | $19.56 |
| Living | $7.37 |
| Lodging | $29.23 |
| Travel | $1.90 |
| Grand Total | $79.04 |
Table 2. Actual cost per day over three days
It was a unique experience to see Copenhagen in person, but it’s not a suitable place to stay for long as a budget backpacker. Plus it’s nearing winter and I would like to get to Southeast Asia so I can acclimate to the weather before the hot season hits. Not to mention that I’ve used up all my time on my Schengen Visa.
| Category | Total Running Cost per Day |
| Alcohol | $4.34 |
| Entertainment | $4.58 |
| Food | $12.89 |
| Living | $1.53 |
| Lodging | $21.14 |
| Travel | $7.58 |
| Grand Total | $52.07 |
Table 3. Running total after 109 days of traveling.
I suppose I can visit again in another three months…
Until next time.