Visit Nyhavn the economical way.

Nyhavn is probably the most famous tourist spot in Copenhagen. It’s the former commercial harbour, which has now been turned into a pleasure area, filled with restaurants, bars and cafes. All in a beautiful setting, with old houses and sailing boats along the quayside.

Nyhavn is pretty, but really expensive.

If you just walk into Nyhavn as a regular tourist, then you can soon end up spending a lot of money.

The bars and restaurants are really expensive. The food is mostly very average at the restaurants along the quayside.

The beer is super expensive and they have a habit in Nyhavn of not filling your glass properly. You can easily end up paying 9-10€ for what is advertised as a 0,5L beer, But you only get 0,4 poured into your glass.

The people sitting on the quayside are getting the best deal.

Do like the locals and buy your beer in the supermarket.

Very few locals from Copenhagen will ever sit and drink beer at a bar in Nyhavn.

They are fully aware that this is super expensive. And they also know that there is an alternative.

And that alternative is to bring your own beer to the quayside.

You have a little grocery store, just around the corner from Nyhavn, called “Den gamle Købmand”. It’s not the cheapest grocery store. But the beers are still 5-6 times cheaper than in the Nyhavn bars.

The selection of beer is very impressive in this little store. They have some very good Danish beers that are much better than your average Carlsberg and Tuborg beer.

If you really want to save money, then there is a Netto supermarket on the street called Store Kongensgade, just 5 minutes walk from Nyhavn.

These young tourists are visiting Nyhavn like a Dane would do.

Public drinking is fully accepted in Denmark.

Many foreign visitors are often worried about buying beer in the supermarket and drinking it in public, as that is forbidden in many countries. But in Denmark, this is perfectly legal. And totally accepted.

You will see lots of people sitting on the quayside with their own beer. Right next to the cafes that serve the same beer for 10 times the price.

It’s only if you start getting loud and breaking your beer bottles that the police might come by and ask you to leave. So behave nicely and drink in the streets of Nyhavn.

This is where you buy your beers in Nyhavn.

Going to the quiet side of Nyhavn gives you the best view.

What I personally like to do is to go to the other side of the canal, where you have no cafes and restaurants. The Danes call it “The quiet side of Nyhavn”. From there you have a much better view of all the old sailing boats and old buildings.

It’s not nearly as crowded.

And you have no pickpockets roaming the quiet side og Nyhavn.

Beware that pickpockets can be a problem in Nyhavn during summer months, where you have thousands of visitors every day.

Save even more money and don’t drink any beer!

No you can’t. Then you are not a Dane 🙂 .

Take a canal tour as well.

The canal tours are a good deal, if you ask me.

In my personal opinion, the Canal Tours of Copenhagen are some of the best value that you can get in Copenhagen, if you are visiting for a day or two.

They all have Nyhavn as their starting point.

The canal boats take you through the most important parts of the old city center, as Copenhagen has lot’s of canals. They also stop by the little mermaid, which is otherwise a bit of a trek to get to.

The little mermaid sucks by the way. It’s very small. And it is not a very nice looking sculpture. But it’s so iconic that most people want to visit that ugly little statue when they are in town. The canal offers you to see her from the seaside, which is, in my opinion, the nicest way to see her. 

You can actually visit Nyhavn, even if you just have a few hours layover at Copenhagen Airport. I have a blogpost, where I describe how easy it is to get from Copenhagen Airport to the center of the city on this link.