Copenhagen in winter: January and February, candidly

Winter 2026–27 at a glance

Date	What	Good to know
December 2026	Christmas season, Lucia and New Year's Eve	Covered in Copenhagen in December.
Sun 3 Jan 2027	Last day of Christmas in Tivoli	Tivoli then closes until Easter.
Sun 10 Jan	Last day of Louisiana's Tracey Emin show	Louisiana is closed on Mondays; under-18s get in free.
All winter	Ice skating at Broens and Frederiksberg Runddel	Broens opened on 30 October 2026 and is open daily in season; Frederiksberg Runddel normally closes on the last Sunday of February, weather permitting.
Every Sunday	Drop-in saunas	Soup & Sauna at La Banchina until the end of March; the Floating Sauna docks by BLOX in winter.
Wed 27 Jan & Wed 24 Feb	Free entry to the Glyptotek	Free on the last Wednesday of each month, so expect crowds.
29 Jan – 21 Feb	Copenhagen Light Festival	Light art across the city; installations usually lit 17:00–22:00.
29 Jan – 28 Feb	Vinterjazz	Around 600 concerts across Denmark, many in Copenhagen clubs and concert halls.
Sun 7 Feb	Fastelavn	Danish Shrovetide: children in costume and cream-filled fastelavnsboller in the bakeries.
7 – 22 Feb	Kronborg open every day	Winter-break hours, 10:00–16:00, including Mondays.
15 – 19 Feb	Copenhagen school winter holiday (week 7, guideline dates)	Family attractions and rinks are busier.
Fri 19 Mar	Tivoli reopens for Easter	Easter in Tivoli runs to 29 March; the summer season starts on 30 March.

Sources: Louisiana, Broens Skøjtebane, VisitCopenhagen (Frederiksberg Runddel), La Banchina, the Floating Sauna, the Glyptotek, Vinterjazz, Kronborg and the City of Copenhagen's school holiday plan, checked 17 October 2026. Fastelavn falls seven weeks before Easter Sunday (28 March 2027).

Winter weather and daylight

Copenhagen's winter is mild by Nordic standards but raw: damp air, wind off the water and grey skies make 1–2°C feel colder than the number suggests. Snow does fall some winters, but it's never something to plan a trip around. These are DMI's official 1981–2010 climate normals for Copenhagen:

Month	Mean temperature	Precipitation	Sunshine (month)
December	2.5°C	57 mm	41 hours
January	1.4°C	53 mm	52 hours
February	1.4°C	37 mm	68 hours

So February is as cold as January but drier and brighter, and it gains daylight fast: by the end of the month you have about three and a half hours more light than on New Year's Day.

Date	Sunrise	Sunset	Daylight
1 January 2027	08:38	15:47	7 h 9 min
15 January	08:29	16:09	7 h 40 min
1 February	08:03	16:43	8 h 40 min
15 February	07:34	17:13	9 h 39 min
28 February	07:03	17:41	10 h 38 min

Times for Copenhagen from timeanddate; allow a minute either way.

In practice: do outdoor sightseeing and day trips between about 10:00 and 15:00 in January (a little later in February), and save museums, saunas, rinks and the Light Festival for the dark hours.

What to pack for a Copenhagen winter

• A warm, windproof coat with a hood. The wind by the harbour turns umbrellas inside out.
• Wool or thermal layers. You'll go from standing on an ice rink or at a light installation to sitting in a very warm café.
• Hat, gloves and a scarf, ideally gloves that work with a phone, because almost everything is paid by card.
• Waterproof shoes with grip for wet, sometimes icy cobbles and harbour boardwalks.
• Swimwear, flip-flops and a woolly hat for a harbour sauna. CopenHot asks for swimwear (nudity isn't allowed) and includes a towel; at La Banchina you bring your own towel or rent one.
• Something reflective or a small light if you'll cycle or walk the darker harbour paths in the evening.

What's open and closed in January and February

The big one: Tivoli Gardens is closed after its Christmas season ends on 3 January 2027, and reopens for Easter on 19 March 2027. Tivoli doesn't run a winter season in between, so if Tivoli is a must, come in December or from late March. The Kongens Nytorv ice rink also closes after 30 December. Most museums are open all winter, but many close on Mondays, so plan that day carefully.

Place	Winter opening	Good to know
Tivoli Gardens	Closed 4 Jan – 18 Mar 2027	Easter season 19–29 March, summer season from 30 March.
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek	Tue–Sun 10–17, Thu to 21	Closed Mondays and on 1 January. Free on the last Wednesday of the month.
The David Collection	Tue–Sun 10–17, Wed to 21	Closed Mondays. Always free.
Louisiana, Humlebæk	Tue–Fri 11–22, Sat–Sun 11–18	Closed Mondays. Free for under-18s.
Kronborg, Helsingør	Tue–Sun 10–16 (from 2 January)	Closed Mondays, except 7–22 February, when it's open every day.
Rosenborg Castle	Check before you go	January–February 2027 hours weren't published when we checked; in November and December it opens Tuesday–Sunday 10–16.
CopenHot	Wed–Sun, shorter winter hours	Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Booking needed.
Broens Skøjtebane	Daily in season	Christianshavn, across the bridge from Nyhavn.

Checked 17 October 2026 on Tivoli, the Glyptotek, the David Collection, Louisiana, Kronborg, Rosenborg, CopenHot and Broens. Hours can change, so check on the day.

Monday plan: skate at Broens, book a private session at La Banchina's sauna (it takes bookings Monday to Thursday too), or take a long walk along the harbour and through Christianshavn while it's light.

The best things to do in Copenhagen in winter

1. Harbour saunas and winter bathing

Winter bathing (vinterbadning) is a proper Copenhagen habit: a few minutes in the sauna, a dip in the cold harbour, back into the heat. As a visitor, the easy way in is a sauna that takes drop-ins or bookings:

• La Banchina (Refshalevej 141, Refshaleøen): a small wood-fired sauna by the water. Every Sunday from 18 October to the end of March there's drop-in Soup & Sauna, an hour in the shared sauna for DKK 120 (≈ US$18), with tickets sold at the bar on the day (first come, first served). On other days you book the sauna privately for 1 h 45 min: DKK 800 (≈ US$120) Monday–Thursday, DKK 950 (≈ US$143) Friday–Sunday, for up to eight people.
• The Floating Sauna (Platform CPH): every Sunday in winter it docks in the centre by BLOX, between the cycle bridge and the car bridge, for drop-in sessions. One hour costs DKK 150 (≈ US$23) per person; book ahead online.
• CopenHot (Refshalevej 195): saunas, cold tubs and hot tubs heated to 40°C, plus sailing hot tubs. Open Wednesday to Sunday, with shorter hours in winter. Private bookings are a fixed price for the group, or you can join a shared HotDay session per person. Over-6s only on land, over-18s for the sailing tubs.

If you're brave enough for the open harbour, go with others, get in slowly and keep it short. In winter you may also spot local winter bathers at the Islands Brygge harbour bath.

US$ at the ECB reference rate of 21 October 2026 (US$1 ≈ DKK 6.65). Checked 17 October 2026 on La Banchina, the Floating Sauna, CopenHot and VisitCopenhagen's winter bathing guide.

2. Copenhagen Light Festival (29 January – 21 February 2027)

Every February the festival fills streets, squares, bridges and the harbour with temporary light art by Danish and international artists, and 2027 is its tenth edition. The installations are typically switched on from 17:00 to 22:00 each evening, which, in a city where it's dark by early evening, makes it the best free evening walk of the winter. You can follow the route on your own or join one of the festival's guided tours on foot, by canal boat, kayak or Segway. The programme and map are published on copenhagenlightfestival.org closer to the date.

3. Vinterjazz (29 January – 28 February 2027)

The winter sibling of the summer Copenhagen Jazz Festival is a month-long, nationwide club festival with around 600 concerts. In Copenhagen, the 2027 programme already lists concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, Hotel Cecil, DR Koncerthuset, the Black Diamond (Den Sorte Diamant) and Kulturhuset Islands Brygge. Tickets are sold per concert, and the small clubs can sell out, so book once your dates are fixed. See the full programme on jazz.dk.

4. Ice skating

Broens Skøjtebane on Strandgade in Christianshavn opened its 2026–27 season on 30 October and is open every day of the season, with skate rental and "skate buddy" seals for wobbly beginners. The rink at Frederiksberg Runddel, at the entrance to Frederiksberg Gardens, is free if you bring your own skates, with rental on site, and normally stays open until the last Sunday of February if it's cold enough. The Kongens Nytorv rink is a Christmas-season rink and closes on 30 December.

Long winter nights also mean a small chance of the aurora. Denmark only sees it during geomagnetic storms, and Copenhagen needs a strong one, but if an alert comes in on a clear night, our northern lights in Denmark guide tells you where to go.

5. Museums for dark afternoons

Winter is museum season. Our favourites when it's grey outside: the Glyptotek and its palm-filled Winter Garden (open to 21:00 on Thursdays, free on 27 January and 24 February), the always-free David Collection (open to 21:00 on Wednesdays), and the big two, SMK and the National Museum. Our rainy-day guide compares them. If you'll visit three or more paid sights, check whether a Copenhagen Card pays for itself with our Copenhagen Card calculator. Remember that winter hours are shorter, so you'll fit fewer sights into each day. Our best museums in Copenhagen guide lists prices, late openings and the museums that are open on Mondays.

Copenhagen Card on GetYourGuide →

6. A heated canal tour at dusk

Canal tours keep running in winter. Stromma sails covered, heated boats in the colder months, and some afternoon departures run as the light fades and the bridges and quays light up, which is a lovely way to see the city from the water when it's too cold to sit outside. Compare operators in our canal tours guide. For more ways to fill the long evenings, from late museum openings to jazz and ice skating, see our guide to things to do in Copenhagen at night.

Canal tours and city tours on GetYourGuide →

7. Hygge: cafés, bakeries and candlelight

Winter is when hygge makes the most sense: candles on every café table by 15:00, blankets on the chairs outside, and long lunches. Some simple ways in: a cinnamon bun (kanelsnegl) and coffee in a bakery, a smørrebrød lunch at the covered Torvehallerne market by Nørreport, or an evening in a jazz club during Vinterjazz. In the weeks before Fastelavn on 7 February 2027, bakeries fill their windows with fastelavnsboller, cream-filled Shrovetide buns that Danes queue for. For a whole trip built around cosy stays, see our hygge hotels guide.

8. Day trips: Louisiana and Kronborg

Both sit on the coastal line north of the city, so you can combine them. Kronborg, Hamlet's castle in Helsingør, is about 40 minutes by train from Copenhagen, with four trains an hour; in winter it opens Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–16:00 (every day 7–22 February). Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk is on the way back and stays open until 22:00 Tuesday to Friday, so the sea view and sculpture park in the last light, then the galleries after dark, works well in winter. The Tracey Emin exhibition runs until 10 January 2027. Our Kronborg day trip and Louisiana day trip guides have the details.

Kronborg tickets and tours on GetYourGuide →

Train frequency and journey time from VisitCopenhagen; canal boats from Stromma. Checked 17 October 2026.

Coming in December or for New Year's Eve?

December is a different trip: Tivoli's Christmas season, free Christmas markets, the Kongens Nytorv rink and Lucia on 13 December, followed by a very quiet 24–25 December. For dates, closures and the New Year's Eve countdown on Rådhuspladsen and Tivoli's fireworks, read Copenhagen in December 2026 and our New Year's Eve in Copenhagen guide; for every market and its dates, see Copenhagen Christmas markets 2026.

One January tip from the December research: on 1 January the city is slow and many places are shut (the Glyptotek is closed that day), so plan a lazy walk and a long brunch rather than sightseeing.

Winter prices and hotel value

January and February sit between Copenhagen's two busy seasons, Christmas and summer, so it's usually the easiest time of year to find a well-located room. Hotel prices still move with demand, so compare a few dates: weekends, the February school holiday (15–19 February 2027 in Copenhagen) and big concert nights fill first. A few ways to make winter cheaper:

• Lean on the free things: the Light Festival, the David Collection, the Glyptotek on the last Wednesday of the month, and Frederiksberg Runddel if you bring your own skates.
• Pick Sunday for saunas: La Banchina's Soup & Sauna (DKK 120 (≈ US$18)) and the Floating Sauna drop-in (DKK 150 (≈ US$23)) cost far less than a private booking.
• Eat a big lunch, not a big dinner: lunch menus and smørrebrød are much cheaper than evening menus.
• Run the Copenhagen Card numbers against your real winter days in our calculator, since shorter opening hours mean fewer sights per day.

More savings in Copenhagen on a budget and free things to do in Copenhagen.

Where to stay in winter

Stay central. With sunset between about 15:50 and 16:40 in January, you will want to drop back to your room between daytime sightseeing and the evening, and walking home from a jazz club or the Light Festival beats waiting for a bus in the cold. Our where-to-stay guide covers every area, and our guide to the best hotels in Copenhagen names specific hotels with the catch for each; for winter, these work best:

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A 3-day winter itinerary

Built for a Friday-to-Sunday trip in January or February. If your dates fall between 29 January and 21 February, you get the Light Festival on top. Avoid making Monday a museum day.

Day 1 (Friday): harbour, canals and art after dark

Morning: walk Nyhavn while it's quiet, then cross the bridge to Christianshavn. Late morning: a one-hour heated canal tour. Afternoon: the free David Collection, then coffee and a cinnamon bun. From 16:00: skate at Broens as the lights come on. Evening: walk the Light Festival installations (from 17:00) or, in January, dinner in Indre By and a Vinterjazz concert from 29 January.

Day 2 (Saturday): Kronborg and Louisiana

Morning: the coastal train to Helsingør for Kronborg when it opens at 10:00; give the castle and casemates two to three hours, then a quick look at Helsingør harbour. Afternoon: the train back to Humlebæk for Louisiana (open to 18:00 at weekends): the sculpture park and sea view first while there's light, then the galleries. Evening: back in the city for dinner, or a Vinterjazz concert in February.

Day 3 (Sunday): sauna Sunday

Morning: the Glyptotek and its Winter Garden (opens 10:00). Lunch: smørrebrød at Torvehallerne. Afternoon: Sunday is drop-in day, so head to La Banchina on Refshaleøen for Soup & Sauna (tickets at the bar, first come, first served) or book the Floating Sauna by BLOX. Evening: an early dinner in Christianshavn before your flight or train.

Want more structure? Our 3 days in Copenhagen route works year-round, and Copenhagen on a rainy day has a full indoor plan for the worst weather.

Getting around in winter

• Metro: runs 24 hours a day, so late nights after a concert are easy. From the airport, the M2 reaches Kongens Nytorv in about 14 minutes; see our airport guide.
• Trains north: the coastal line (Kystbanen) runs from Central Station, Nørreport and Østerport to Helsingør in about 40 minutes, stopping at Humlebæk for Louisiana.
• Copenhagen Card: includes public transport across the capital region, including the airport and the coastal trains to Helsingør.
• Walking: the centre is compact. In the dark, stick to lit streets along the harbour and wear shoes with grip, since cobbles and boardwalks get slippery.
• Cycling: Copenhageners cycle all winter, but if you're not used to wet, icy bike lanes in the dark, the metro is the calmer choice.
• Driving: you don't need a car in the city. If you're road-tripping further afield in winter, read the tyre and toll notes in our driving in Denmark guide first.

Metro hours from Metroselskabet; trains and the Copenhagen Card from VisitCopenhagen. Maintenance can close metro lines on some evenings, so check the status page.

Quick answers

Is winter a good time to visit Copenhagen?

Yes, if you come for the cosy side of the city rather than for sunshine. January and February are quiet after the Christmas rush, and the city fills the dark evenings with harbour saunas, ice rinks, the Copenhagen Light Festival (29 January to 21 February 2027) and a month of Vinterjazz concerts in February. The trade-offs are short days, average temperatures of about 1°C and Tivoli being closed from 4 January until it reopens for Easter on 19 March 2027.

How cold is Copenhagen in January and February?

DMI's 1981–2010 climate normals for Copenhagen give a mean temperature of 1.4°C in both January and February, with about 53 mm of precipitation in January and 37 mm in February. Expect grey, damp and windy days more often than deep frost; snow is possible but never guaranteed. February is noticeably brighter, with about 68 hours of sunshine in the month against about 52 in January.

How many hours of daylight does Copenhagen get in winter?

About 7 hours around the winter solstice and on 1 January 2027, when the sun rises at about 08:38 and sets at about 15:47. The days lengthen quickly after that: about 8 hours 40 minutes on 1 February and about 10 hours 38 minutes by 28 February, when sunset is around 17:41.

Is Tivoli open in January and February?

No. Tivoli's Christmas season ends on 3 January 2027 and the gardens stay closed until Easter in Tivoli opens on 19 March 2027, followed by the summer season from 30 March. In January and February, plan your evenings around saunas, ice rinks, concerts and the Light Festival instead.

When is the Copenhagen Light Festival in 2027?

The 2027 festival, its tenth edition, is announced for 29 January to 21 February 2027, with light installations in streets, squares and along the harbour. The installations are typically switched on from 17:00 to 22:00 each evening. Check the festival's own programme for exact locations closer to the date.

Can visitors go winter bathing in Copenhagen?

Yes, and the easiest way is at a harbour sauna. La Banchina on Refshaleøen runs a Sunday Soup & Sauna drop-in until the end of March (DKK 120 (≈ US$18) for an hour in the shared sauna), the Floating Sauna docks by BLOX for Sunday drop-in sessions in winter (DKK 150 (≈ US$23) for an hour), and CopenHot has saunas, hot tubs and cold tubs, open Wednesday to Sunday by booking. Never go into the water alone, and keep cold dips short.

Where should I stay in Copenhagen in winter?

Stay central, so you can drop back to your room between the short daylight hours and the evening. Indre By puts you within walking distance of most museums, the Light Festival and Nyhavn; Vesterbro is next to Central Station for the trains to Louisiana and Kronborg; and the streets around Nyhavn are a short walk across the bridge from Broens ice rink.

Plan your winter trip

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