Planning your trip to Denmark

Entry Requirements

Americans and Canadians need only a valid passportto enter Denmark, and are entitled to stay forup to three months without a visa. (This includes thetotal amount of time spent in Denmark, Finland,Iceland, Norway, and Sweden in any six-month period.)

Making Travel Plans - Selecting Your Hotel

Really, Copenhagen doesn’t have the best choice ofhotels. Very few have opened in recent years, andmost of those are expensive. Of the city’s older properties,there are just two five-star hotels, an array offour-stars of varying quality, and a number of threestarhotels; many of the latter are clustered in thestreets to the side of the railway station, a neighborhoodthat is not always pleasant. In general, pricesare high – there are few bargains to be found, and, asis standard in Scandinavia, the rooms are often onthe small side. Our price scale is based on a doubleroom, double occupancy, and reflects the highestlisted rate at the time of publication as quoted byHORESTA(see The Star System, below). But this isonly an estimate, and rates can be reduced by asmuch as 50% at various times.

The Star System

Since 1997, all hotels that are members of the Associationof the Hotel, Restaurant and TourismIndustry in Denmark (HORESTA), and have morethan eight rooms, have been classified on a scale ofone to five stars, based on specific criteria. Visit theHORESTA website, www.danishhotels.dk, to lookfor special rates, for information about hotel groups,and to view the criteria used in classification. A HotelGuide is also available from any Danish TouristBoard office, www.visitdenmark.com.

The Copenhagen Card

You can purchase the very useful Copenhagen Card.This discount card offers unlimited travel on busesand trains in metropolitan Copenhagen and to manyneighboring towns and cities; free admission to majormuseums and sights in and around the city; andup to a 50% discount on ferry routes connecting Zealandwith Sweden and on hydrofoils between Copenhagenand Malmö. You can purchase a card that isvalid for one day (DKK 155), for two days (DKK 255),or for three days (DKK 320); cards for children under12 are available at a 50% discount. For more information,www.visitcopenhagen.dk.

Stay & Eat With The Locals

MEET THE DANES
Nyhavn, 65
Tel: 33-46-46-46, fax 33-46-46-47
www.meetthedanes.com, info@meetthedanes.dk

Housed in authentic 17th-century offices at Nyhavn,this organization can help you book hotel and private accommodation, either in advance or after you arrive in Copenhagen. The group also offers, among other things, cultural lectures, dinners in private homes, and walking, cycling and sailing tours. From May 1 to mid-September, open Monday to Sunday, 9 am to 9 pm; the rest of the year, open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm; and on holidays, 10 am to 7 pm.

What To Wear in Copenhagen

Casual clothes are appropriate for nearly every occasionin Copenhagen, including theater and most restaurants.Only in top-class hotels, restaurants andclubs, and then not uniformly, will men be requiredto wear a tie in the evening; in these establishments,women do not look out of place in something dressy.Summer evenings are long and light, but often chilly,so a sweater or cardigan is essential. Bring alightweight overcoat or raincoat, too, in additionto ordinary summer clothes – the weather has anawkward habit of changing unexpectedly. On the beach, you can go as bare as you like.Spring and autumn have many hours of sunshine,but cooler temperatures; and winter can be downrightcold. Pack plenty of warm clothes in those seasons,plus a raincoat. Comfortable walking shoes areessential at any time of year, as it is certain you willspend a good deal of time on foot, especially in Copenhagen.

Electricity in Denmark

Electric current in Denmark is 220 volts, 50Hz AC,and requires standard two-pin, round continentalplugs. Remember to get an adapter set before leavinghome, or at the airport.