Copenhagen - Budget Wanderlust

Being part of the Scandinavian countries, you'll expect living expenses in Copenhagen to be relatively higher compared to the other areas of Europe. This would defintely burn a hole in your pockets, especially in the case of exchange students with a tight budget. No matter how expensive, i'm sure you're just like me, hope to visit this beautiful city one day. Therefore, i have decided to create a list of free museums/attractions for you so that you can enjoy traveling in Copenhagen on a budget, without compromising on the quality of your travel plans.

Rule #1 for Budget Wanderlust

NEVER say NO to free museums/ attractions.

You'll never know what you might get out of it. Furthermore, it's free, the very very worst case would be you waste abit of your previous time, but i'm pretty sure it's worth the risk.

1. National Museum of Denmark

The National Museum is the largest museum in Denmark which has a extensive ethnographical collection, a collection of classical and near eastern antiquities, a coin- and medal collection, and a toy museum. After years of reconstruction, the exhibition on Danish Antiquity has re-opened, including prominent national treasures such as the more than 3,000 years old Sun Chariot, the Bronze Age Egtved Girl, and an amazing collection of archaeological finds from the Viking Age, many of which have never been shown at the exhibition before.Another intriguing must-see is the Huldremose Woman, whose well-preserved remain​s are estimated to date back to the first decade of the first century AD.

Tip: Free neoprint booth on the third floor, be there before 4.30pm.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/the-national-museum-of-denmark/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Close on Monday, Tuesday - Sunday: 10am - 5pm.

Address: Prinsens Palæ Ny Vestergade 10 DK-1471 København K

Phone: +45 3313 4411

2. The National Gallery of Denmark

The SMK is the National Gallery of Denmark and the largest art museum in the country. No other museum in Denmark shows such a rich and varied selection of art – from the European classics of the Renaissance to the overwhelming diversity of modern and contemporary art. The SMK is especially famous for its beautiful collection of Danish Golden Age art, the country’s most comprehensive collection of Danish contemporary art – and one of the world’s best Matisse collections.

Website: http://www.smk.dk/en/

Admission Fee: Permanent exhibitions: Free. Special exhibitions: Adult: 100 Kroners, Youth (below 27): 90 Kroners. Children (below 18): Free

Opening hours: Close on Monday. Thurday - Tuesday: 10am - 5pm. Wednesday: 10am - 8pm.

Address: Sølvgade 48-501307 København K

Phone:+45 3374 8494

3. Glyptoteket

The Department of Antiquities houses excellent collections of Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman art, providing a delightful stroll through 3500 years of art and history. In addition, the Modern Department focuses on Danish painting and sculpture of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as French art of the same period. Enjoy paintings from Denmark's Golden Age, and experience French Impressionism as well as more than 40 works by Gauguin. It is also possible to see the complete series of Degas' bronzes and 35 sculptures by Rodin.

Website: http://www.glyptoteket.com

Admission Fee: Free on Tuesday. Adult: 95 Kroners. Youth: 50 Kroners. Children (below 18): Free.

Opening hours: Close on Monday. Friday - Wednesday: 11am - 6pm. Thursday: 11am - 10pm. Close on Monday. Tuesday - Sunday: 10am - 4pm

Address: Dantes Plads 71556 København V

Phone:+45 3341 8141

4. Open Air Museum

The Open Air Museum is a museum of rural architecture focusing on landscapes, buildings and people. Arriving at the museum, you enter a different world: the countryside of historic Denmark. It is not difficult to imagine yourself transported centuries back intime, strolling along the gravel roads and visiting the fully-furnished homes of the people of the past, such as the peasant, the wealthy miller, the village weaver or the inmates of the poorhouse.

Tip: Do check the weather forecast before heading there, would defintely be better to visit Open Air Museum on a sunny day.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/the-open-air-museum/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Depends on season. Close on Monday. Tuesday - Sunday: 10am - 4pm

Address: Kongevejen 100 2800 Kgs. Lyngby

Phone: +45 3347 3481

5. Brede Works

The museum of Brede Works is located in Denmark’s largest protected industrial complex. Sound, light, film, and a multitude of other things, give you an insight into the story of the lives of ordinary people in the transition to modern society, as well as into the significance of industrialisation to daily life.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/brede-works/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: May to September only. Close on Monday. Tuesday - Sunday: 10am - 4pm

Address: I.C. Modewegsvej DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby

Phone: +45 4120 6458

6. The Museum of Danish Resistance

The Museum is unfortunately closed due to a fire in the spring of 2013. The damage was so extensive that the building had to be demolished. Thankfully, only the building was damanged, all museum objects and archieves were saved.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/the-museum-of-danish-resistance-1940-1945/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Temporary closed.

Address: Churchillparken 7DK-1263 København K.

Phone: +45 4120 6291

7. The Danish Music Museum

Located in the former Broadcasting House, which also houses the Royal Danish Academy of Music. In future, this unique "house of music" will offer an exceptional interplay between the practising musicians and the culture-historical musical instruments.

Besides, the new premises make room for "Det Klingende Museum" - a new project for children and young people, permitting them to explore all kinds of musical instruments within the three main categories: classical music, rhythmic music, and traditional music.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/the-danish-music-museum/

Admission Fee: free

Opening hours: Closed on Monday. Tuesday - Sunday: 10am -4pm.

Address: Rosenørns allé 22DK-1970 Frederiksberg C

Phone: +45 4120 6313

8. The Royal Danish Arsenal Museum

Enter a magnificent world of cannons, hand weapons, armour, uniforms and lethal swords in King Christian IV’s solid Renaissance arsenal from 1604. Since 1928 the high ceilinged rooms of The Royal Danish Arsenal Museum have housed exhibitions on the technology of war. Take a walk through the different galleries on war and weapons, and see tools of war ranging from samurai swords to a German V-1 flying bomb from World War II. The museum building was originally the arsenal of Christian IV, and a cornerstone of his dream of creating a fortified Danish naval port and fleet. The old mooring rings for warships still hang along the brick walls– the last remnants of the dreams of glory past.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/the-royal-danish-arsenal-museum/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Closed on Monday. Tuesday - Sunday: 12noon - 4pm.

Address: Tøjhusgade 3DK-1220 København K

Phone:

9. The Royal Danish Naval Museum

Experience Denmark’s unique naval history museum with its fleet of ship models and other fascinating exhibits charting the history of Danish naval artillery, dramatic battles at sea with exploding cannons, and Copenhagen as an esteemed naval city.You can admire armed sailing ships with proud figureheads, conjuring up perilous sea battles between daring pirates and heroic admirals. And don’t miss the Spækhuggeren (‘The Killer Whale’) submarine, where you can experience the claustrophobia of the 33 men on board sailing for months without a single glimpse of dry land.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/the-royal-danish-naval-museum/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Closed on Monday. Tuesday - Sunday: 12noon to 4pm.

Address: Overgaden Oven Vandet 58DK-1415 København

Phone: +45 4120 6374

10. Kongernes Jellings

The visitor and experience center at Kongernes Jelling - Home of the Viking Kings lies in the middle of the monument complex around Jelling Church. At the Experience Center we tell of the Viking kings Gorm and Harald, their rune-stones, the huge ship-setting and the gigantic palisade which was built over a thousand years ago.

Websites: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/kongernes-jelling-home-of-the-viking-kings/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Everyday: 10am - 5pm

Address: Gormsgade 23DK-7300 Jelling

Phone: +45 4120 6333

11. Frøslev Camp Museum

The Frøslev Camp was built as a German internment camp in 1944 during the German occupation of Denmark and today is one of Europe’s best preserved German prisoner of war camps. Several thousand Danes were imprisoned at the camp by the German security police.

Even though the Frøslev Camp was built to avoid the deportation of Danes to concentration camps in Germany, around 1600 Frøslev prisoners were sent on, contrary to all agreements, to the horrors of the German concentration camps. In the days of liberation there was an urgent need for internment options for the thousands of Danish citizens, who the Resistance suspected of activities detrimental to the state. The Frøslev Camp’s many barracks could be used for this purpose. The Frøslev Camp was renamed the Faarhus Camp and the camp was reused for the so-called quislings or traitors. The museum contains an exhibition about the Faarhus Camp, which opened in March 2013.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/the-froeslev-camp-museum/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Closed on Monday. Tuesday - Friday: 9am - 4pm. Saturday - Sunday: 10am - 5pm.

Address: Frøslevlejrens MuseumLejrvej 836330 Padborg

Phone: +45 7467 6557

12. Brede Manor

Today Brede Manor is part of the complex, which until 1831 was Brede Copper and Brass Works and subsequently Brede Textile Factory. The main building was built in 1795 as the country residence of the owner of Brede Works, Peter van Hemert (1734 - 1810).

Van Hemert gave the task of the building work to an architect, who was experienced in the neoclassical architecture of the time, probably court architect Andreas Kirkerup. The decoration of the inside of the building was given by him to the court decorator Joseph Chr. Lillie. He was responsible for the ceiling and wall decoration, and presumably also much of the furniture.

The new country house should have been, and also became, a presentable summer residence for a man like Peter van Hemert, who took up a prominent place amongst the Copenhagen trading aristocracy. However, Peter van Hemert and his family enjoyed these pleasant surroundings for just a few years. In 1805 he became bankrupt and in the following years his possessions were auctioned off.

Brede Manor is only open for guided tours. A maximum number of 15 participants are allowed per guided tour. To take part in one of these you need sign up on the day at the Information Desk in the hall at Brede Works.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/brede-manor/

Admission Fee: Free for 18 years old and below. Pensionsers, Students and groups(min 10 people): 40 Kroners. Adult: 50 Kroners

Guided tour hours: Every Sunday from June - August, 12noon, 1pm, 2pm time slots.

Address: I.C. Modewegsvej2800 Kongens Lyngby

Phone: +45 4120 6458

13. Liselund

Liselund is a Romantic garden with palace, small buildings and garden monuments. It was laid out at the end of the 18th century as a country home for Antoine and Lisa de la Calmette. Liselund’s neoclassical palace was erected in 1792 by the architect Andreas Kirkerup.

The well-preserved interior is thought to have been decorated and furnished by the leading interior architect of the time, court decorator Joseph Chr. Lillie. Liselund is a rare preserved whole – from its large garden to the smallest piece of furniture.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/liselund/

Admission Fee: Free for 18 years old and below. Pensionsers, Students and groups(min 10 people): 25 Kroners. Adult: 50 Kroners

Guided tour hours: Every Sunday from May to September: 10.30am, 11am, 1.30pm, 2pm time slots

Address: Liselund Slotspark

Phone: +45 5581 2178

14. The Sea Captain's House at Rømø

The Sea Captain’s House on the island of Rømø in south-western Jutland is a preserved whaler’s home and one of the island’s old houses once owned by wealthy families. The name of the residence refers to the captains, who in the 17th and early 18th centuries commanded large whaling boats, which went on trading trips and long whaling expeditions in the North Atlantic.

The house has an outstanding view over the Wadden Sea and is fully furnished. It contains unusually good examples of 18th century detailed painting and joinery. Inside the home you can also see whole walls decorated with the Dutch tiles of the period. In the barn you can view the large sperm whale skeleton, which gives a good impression of the large creatures and forces of nature that the period’s sea captains had to contend with on their voyages to the Arctic Ocean.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/the-sea-captains-house/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Easter: Everyday 10am -3pm. Summer (May - Sept): Closed on Monday, Tuesday - Sunday: 10am to 5pm. Autumn (Oct): Closed on Monday, Tuesday - Sunday: 10am to 3pm.

Address: Juvreveje 60 Toftum DK-6792 Rømø

Phone: +45 7475 5276

15. Trelleborg

One of the places where the Viking Age can be experienced close at hand is the Viking fortress of Trelleborg, near Slagelse in West Zealand. In an area of natural beauty are the impressive remains one of the Vikings’ great ring fortresses. Trelleborg was constructed around AD 980 by King Harald Bluetooth. Come close to the Vikings of 1000 years ago in the surroundings of the Tude valley. The museum at Trelleborg includes models, archaeological finds and reconstructions that give a vivid impression of Trelleborg’s history, its inhabitants and the function of the fortress.

Website: http://en.natmus.dk/museums/trelleborg/

Admission Fee: Free, except on Viking Festival in July.

Opening hours: April, May, September & October: 10am - 4pm. June - August: 10am -5pm.

Address: Trelleborg Allé 4HejningeDK-4200 Slagelse

Phone: +45 5854 9506

16. Post & Telegraph Museum

At the House of Communication, Post & Tele Museum, in Copenhagen city centre, you can explore how people communicated in the olden, pre-computer days and how modern communication technology has evolved. The museum also contains a huge collection of Danish stamps issued between 1851 and 1998.Throughout the exhibition there are plenty of opportunities to listen, see, touch, try, speak, feel and quiz. The whole family will be entertained.Between computer chips and circuit boards you will get at a microscopic momentum in its electronic circuits. The exhibition is designed as a big game where you can play your way to new knowledge on your mobile phone.

Website: http://www.ptt-museum.dk/en/

Admission Fee: Free

Opening hours: Everyday: 10am - 4pm.

Address: Købmagergade 371150 København K

Phone: +45 3341 0900

17. The Tower, Christiansborg Palace

With its 106 metres, the Christiansborg Palace tower is the highest tower in Copenhagen, and it offers a magnificent view of the city's rooftops. It is free to access the tower, and if you want to add some spice to the experience, you can dine in The Tower's restaurant.

Christiansborg Palace was once the home of kings and queens, but after one of several great fires, the royal family moved to Amalienborg Palace in the late 1800's and never returned.

The Tower was constructed as part of the third, and present-day, Christiansborg Palace, which was built during 1907-1928. Like the rest of the palace, it was designed by architect Thorvald Jørgensen.

There may be a queue, as there is limited space at the top.

Tip: Sunset at about 7pm in October, try to be there around that timing to get both the day and night view of the city.

Website: http://taarnet.dk/?lang=en

Admission Fee: Free access to The Tower.

Opening hours: Closed on Monday. Tuesday - Sunday: 11am - 9pm.

Address: Christiansborg1218 København K

Phone: +45 3337 3100

Hope you'll find this useful! Have fun in Copenhagen.

PS. I didn't managed to visit every single one due to unfortunte events that happened during my Copenhagen trip. Thus, most of the description are adapted from their individual websites. Remember to do your research before diving into all these free attractions.

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