Copenhagen Christmas Market 2026 + Greenland & Faroe Islands

What makes the Copenhagen Christmas Market worth the trip is how many individual markets fit inside one walkable centre, from the painted harbour houses at Nyhavn to the centuries-old Tivoli. Højbro Plads has stalls from across the Danish realm: food and crafts from Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Copenhagen Christmas Market 2026

Dates

Status: Confirmed
Dates: 14th November to 20th December 2026
Christmas in Tivoli: 13th November 2026 to 3rd January 2027
Last checked: October 2026

Update: Dates were announced in June. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of changes.

Source: Verified by Ultimate Christmas Markets via Julemarked and Tivoli.

Plan Your Visit

Location and Times

Location: Højbro Plads
Additional locations: Nytorv and Gammeltorv, Rådhuspladsen, Tivoli Gardens, and Nyhavn.
General opening times:
Monday to Wednesday: 11am to 7pm
Thursday: 11am to 8pm
Friday and Saturday: 11am to 9pm
Sunday: 12pm to 7pm
Tivoli opening times: 11am to 10pm and until midnight on the weekends.
Christmas Eve: Tivoli is closed on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day: Closed

Travel and Accommodation

Recommended tour: Hygge and Happiness Culture Tour.
Winter events: Ice skating, the Santa Lucia kayak parade and the city light installations.
Travel tip: Cross the bridge to Malmö to add a Swedish market to your itinerary.
Copenhagen weather in winter: Temperatures average 5°C / 1°C (high / low) in December.
Where to stay: CitizenM is centrally located around the block from the Tivoli Gardens.

Amenities and Attractions

Admission:
The main Christmas markets are free.
Tivoli requires purchasing a ticket.
Santa: Monday to Friday: 3pm to 6 pm at Højbro Plads. Photos are free.
Ice skating: Tivoli Gardens, Frederiksberg Gardens and Kongens Nytorv, plus a free rink with free skate hire at Nytorv and Gammeltorv.
Reason to visit: Several distinct markets within walking distance of each other, the Danish realm stalls at Højbro Plads, and Tivoli after dark.

Dietary Options

Vegetarian: Plenty of options.
Vegan: Copenhagen is known for its plant-based options.
Gluten-free: Yes, but limited.
Food specialties: Gløgg, the Danish spiced mulled wine, and æbleskiver, the round pancakes served with jam and icing sugar.

Accessibility

Accessible: Yes.
Pet-friendly: Yes, dogs are allowed on a lead.

Convenient Hotels

Copenhagen has plenty of design hotels in the city centre and inner suburbs. CitizenM is the hotel I recommend. It’s central, nicely designed and affordable, which matters more than usual in a city this expensive.

Read my guide to hotels in Copenhagen for a complete list of places to stay.

Recommended Tours

I recommend taking the Hygge and Happiness Culture Tour to see the city’s highlights and experience a touch of Danish culture.

Alternatively, consider a food tour of Copenhagen, where you can learn about the local culture through its cuisine.

Visitor Feedback

What Visitors Loved

• The concentration is the real appeal. Visitors repeatedly point out that you can cover five or six markets in an afternoon on foot without ever touching public transport.
• Nyhavn wins on setting rather than shopping. The consistent tip is to cross to the quieter side of the canal after dark, where the lights reflect off the water.
• Tivoli is worth its entrance fee, even for those who resent paying, largely because of the lighting and the fact that the rides run all season.
• Danish gløgg surprises people who only know the German version. The raisins and almond slivers soaked in schnapps at the bottom of the cup come up again and again.

Common Complaints

• Cost is the number one complaint. A cup of gløgg commonly runs 50 to 70 DKK, which lands badly with anyone who has done the German or Austrian circuit.
• The markets are small. Visitors arriving with a German-scale market in mind consistently describe them as charming but slight.
• There is no souvenir mug culture here. Regular market-goers who collect the annual cups are often disappointed to find almost nowhere selling them.
• Nyhavn’s waterfront restaurants attract repeated warnings about tourist pricing. Eat at the stalls or walk a few streets inland.

The Bottom Line

Copenhagen is the wrong choice if you want scale and cheap glühwein, and the right one if you want a compact, good-looking city where the markets are one part of a wider winter trip. Do the free markets on a weekday afternoon and save Tivoli for after dark, when the ticket price is worth it.

Location Map

List of Markets and Events

• Højbro Plads: The central market has new organisers this season and a new concept built around the Danish realm, with stalls representing Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Entry is free, and the family programme includes talking trees that narrate the tale of Julius Klejne.
• Nytorv and Gammeltorv: Possibly Denmark’s largest market; it used to run at Kongens Nytorv. Entry is free, and so are the ice rink and the skate hire.
• Rådhuspladsen: New for this season, run by the team that held Højbro Plads for years. Expect the German-leaning format they are known for, heavy on glühwein, sausages and craft stalls.
• Tivoli Gardens: For a proper Nordic setting, there is nowhere better. Wooden stalls decorated with lights and pine branches sit among the working amusement park rides. You have to pay the Tivoli entrance fee to reach the market, but it’s a good experience once you’re inside.
• Nyhavn: Stalls line the quayside in front of the painted 17th-century townhouses and the moored wooden ships. Small, busy, and the best photograph in the city once it gets dark, which in December is from about half past three.
• Kongens Nytorv: No longer a market. The square now hosts a large ice rink with Christmas stalls run by Magasin du Nord and the surrounding restaurants and bars.
• Carols and kayaking: The Danish Santa Lucia parade takes place on the canals. Watch and listen as the kayakers sing carols while paddling past.
• H.C. Andersen market: Stalls named after the author’s fairy tales, in the Nytorv and Gammeltorv area. Children can meet Santa, make ornaments and ride a traditional carousel. More information.
• The Greenlandic House: Det Grønlandske Hus runs a weekend market of Greenlandic food and crafts, usually in early December. Worth pairing with Højbro Plads if the Arctic stalls are what drew you.
• Flid: A hub for Scandinavian and Danish art and design at Nørrebrohallen, where a sustainable market turns festive for a few days in early December. There is a small entrance fee.
• Grønnessegaard: Held on the Grønnessegaard Estate near Hundested over two days at the end of November. An entry fee applies.
• Ice skating: Copenhagen is one of the few cities with multiple winter rinks, so you can skate your way around it. Tivoli Gardens, Frederiksberg Gardens, Kongens Nytorv, Toftegårds Square in Valby, and the free rink at Nytorv and Gammeltorv.
• Kronprinsensgade: Look up. A canopy of lights covers this boutique street just off Strøget, and it’s the best of the city’s light installations for a photograph without a crowd in it.

What to Expect

About the Market

Expect small markets rather than sprawling ones. Rows of wooden huts sell handcrafted ornaments, knitwear, glass, paper cuttings and Danish design, alongside stalls doing pastries and hot drinks. The squares are close enough together that the walk between them, past the lit shopfronts on Strøget, is half the experience.

Travel tip: The markets and stores in Copenhagen are generally closed from the 24th to the 26th of December.

But if you happen to be visiting on these dates when places are closed, you’ll still be able to enjoy the lights and decorations throughout the city centre.

Food Specialties

The first four below are what you’ll actually eat standing up at a stall. The rest belong to the Danish Christmas table at home, and you’ll find them in bakeries, delis and restaurants rather than in a wooden hut.

• Gløgg: Warm spiced red wine, poured over raisins and almond slivers soaked in schnapps. The soaked fruit at the bottom is the point, and it’s why a cup costs what it costs.
• Æbleskiver: Small round pancakes served with jam and icing sugar, usually three or six to a paper tray.
• Flæskesteg sandwich: Roast pork with crackling in a bread roll with red cabbage, the most substantial option at most stalls.
• Julebryg: The seasonal Christmas beer, released each November with genuine national ceremony.
• Risalamande: Almond rice pudding with cherry sauce, served after the main meal on Christmas Eve with a whole almond hidden in it.
• Leverpostej: Danish liver pate, eaten on rye with pickled beetroot.
• Rugbrød: The dense Danish rye bread that carries almost everything else on this list.
• Brunede kartofler: Caramelised potatoes, the side dish that makes a Danish Christmas dinner Danish.
• Grønlangkål: Creamed kale served with boiled potatoes. Easily made vegetarian with vegetable stock and plant-based cream.

Personal Insights

Copenhagen is one of Europe’s most liveable cities, built around design, organic food and small boutiques. It’s a haven for bakery lovers (like me) and anyone who can’t resist an open sandwich (also me). The walkability and cycling culture make a market trip here so easy.

Travel tip: Be prepared for the cost; Copenhagen is a very expensive city.

In winter, you can get out of the cold in the Danish design stores, where the furniture, homewares and jewellery are worth looking at even if you buy nothing. Designmuseum Denmark and the National Museum of Denmark are both good in bad weather, and the cafes do specialty coffee properly. A walking food tour is the fastest way into the city’s food scene.

Travel Information

The markets run from November into January, but the other reason to come in winter is hygge. It’s the Danish practice of being present with friends and family in a warm, low-lit setting, and December is when the whole country commits. Sitting with a gløgg while it’s dark outside at four in the afternoon is about as close as a visitor gets to the real thing.

Exploring Copenhagen

If you have time beyond the centre, Vesterbro, Nørrebro and Christianshavn each have their own character. Nørrebro has independent design and secondhand shops, Vesterbro has the Meatpacking District, and Christianshavn offers canal houses and Freetown Christiania. The harbour buses are the most enjoyable way to move between them, and they cost the same as any bus ticket.

Sustainability

• Take the harbour bus between markets: Lines 991 and 992 are battery-electric and run as ordinary public transport, so a standard bus ticket, City Pass or Copenhagen Card covers them. They stop at Nyhavn and the Black Diamond, making them a practical alternative to a sightseeing cruise.
• Tivoli holds Green Attraction certification: It was the first amusement park in Denmark to earn it, against a 240-point audit covering procurement, waste and climate accounting. Tivoli has also moved its vehicles and machinery to electric power, including the Trolley Bus tram that runs through the gardens.
• Stay inside the gardens at Nimb: Nimb Hotel holds Green Key certification, the first five-star superior hotel in Denmark to do so, if you want a certified stay rather than a claimed one.
• Ask who made it at Højbro Plads: The organiser selects stallholders as producers and craftspeople, not resellers, so you get a real answer. The Greenlandic and Faroese stalls are the ones where it matters most.
• Claim your pant: Cans and bottles bought in shops carry a refundable deposit under the Danish return system. Feed them into the reverse vending machine inside any supermarket, and you get the money back, which adds up fast on julebryg.
• Shop the Flid market in Nørrebro: It runs as a sustainable design market year-round and turns festive for a few days in December, which makes it the best place in the city for upcycled and small-batch gifts.