Capital Region of Denmark
Hotels in Capital Region of Denmark- Code:84
- Type:region
- Population:1.8M (2019)
- Area:2,559 km²
- Elevation:47 m
- Capital:Hillerød
Introduction
The Capital Region of Denmark (Region Hovedstaden) is the smallest of the country's five administrative regions by area but the largest by population, wrapped around Copenhagen at the eastern edge of the island of Zealand and reaching north across the castle country of North Zealand and out into the Baltic to the sun-soaked island of Bornholm. Home to nearly two million people, it is the political, royal and economic heart of Denmark — the seat of the monarchy and parliament, the base of global companies from Maersk to Novo Nordisk, and one of the most liveable, design-conscious and bicycle-friendly corners of Europe. The Øresund strait separates it from Swedish Malmö, now a half-hour away across the great road-and-rail bridge, making Copenhagen the hub of a cross-border metropolitan region. Beyond the capital the region offers Renaissance water-palaces, a world-class modern-art museum on the coast, fishing villages along the “Danish Riviera,” and the round churches and smokehouses of Bornholm.
Overview
Copenhagen is one of Europe's most effortlessly enjoyable capitals — compact, walkable, laced with cycle lanes and canals, and famous out of all proportion to its size for design and for food. You can swim in the clean harbour in the morning, eat New Nordic cooking that reshaped world cuisine at lunch, and watch the changing of the guard at a working royal palace in the afternoon. But the Capital Region rewards trips out of town too: the castle of Hamlet's Elsinore and a Renaissance palace on a lake lie within an hour by train, one of the world's great modern-art museums sits on the coast between them, and a short flight or ferry reaches the beaches and cliffs of Bornholm. Long summer days are the classic time to come, but winter has its own candle-lit hygge.
Discover Capital Region of Denmark
Copenhagen's historic core is made for wandering. The postcard is Nyhavn, the gabled, brightly painted quay where canal boats set off; from there the old city unfolds through the pedestrian Strøget shopping street, the seventeenth-century Round Tower with its spiralling ramp, and Rosenborg Castle, whose basement holds the crown jewels and Danish regalia. The monarchy is very much alive here: the royal family lives at Amalienborg, a quartet of rococo palaces where a daily changing of the guard still marches up from the barracks, and the state governs from Christiansborg on the little island of Slotsholmen, where you can climb the tower for free. The bronze Little Mermaid perched on her harbour rock completes the classic circuit, best joined up on foot or from the water.
Ways to Experience This Destination
Nyhavn, the Strøget, the Round Tower and Rosenborg's crown jewels, plus the living monarchy at Amalienborg and Christiansborg — a compact, walkable historic capital best explored on foot or by canal boat.
The Noma-led New Nordic revolution, everyday smørrebrød and the Torvehallerne and Reffen food halls, and the Danish Modern design heritage of Jacobsen and Henningsen at Designmuseum Danmark — eating and living well, Copenhagen-style.
The world's most cycle-friendly capital: rent a bike to reach the free harbour baths, the CopenHill rooftop slope, Tivoli Gardens and the alternative quarter of Christiania at a local's pace.
Kronborg, the UNESCO-listed fortress of Hamlet's Elsinore, and the Renaissance lake-palace of Frederiksborg at Hillerød, with royal Fredensborg nearby — a castle-hopping day trip within an hour of Copenhagen by train.
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art at Humlebæk, its sculpture park above the Øresund, and the beaches and fishing villages of the “Danish Riviera” from Hornbæk to Gilleleje — art and sea north of the city.
Denmark's sunniest island: granite cliffs and the white dunes of Dueodde, fortress-like round churches, the Hammershus ruin, smokehouse herring and a thriving craft-and-food scene, all on quiet coastal cycle paths.
Frequently asked questions
Cities in Capital Region of Denmark
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