Europe > Denmark > Copenhagen (CPH)
The city by city Car or no Car advice for Copenhagen can be broken down into three similar questions - do you need a car in Copenhagen ; is it worth it (based on costs), and ultimately - should you rent one? (a balance of the two).🚆 🚌⛴️ Do we need to rent a car in Copenhagen ?
These scores are based on the quality of public transport and other travel options. If these are good enough to see the main points of interest, then you don’t need to rent a car.
💰💶💳 Is it worth hiring a car in Copenhagen?
These scores reflect the practical factors that affect whether renting a car is convenient, good value, and stress-free.🚲 The joy of cycling: The world’s most intuitive bike city
If you only cycle in one city during your travels, make it Copenhagen. The cycling network is:
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Dense — with protected lanes almost everywhere
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Fast — thanks to “green waves” timed for cyclists travelling at 20 km/h (12 mph)
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Safe — with clear markings and predictable flows
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Beautiful — offering waterfront, park, and residential routes
Bike-sharing (e.g., Bycyklen) makes it easy for visitors to join the locals. The flat terrain also helps, and the city’s “onion ring” structure means you can glide from suburb to suburb without ever needing a car or walking long distances.
🚇 Metro + architecture: Exploring the Ørestad
Copenhagen’s driverless metro, especially the M1 line, is a delight. It carries you south to Ørestad, an area packed with bold modern architecture. You can visit:
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8 House (8Tallet) by Bjarke Ingels
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VM Houses
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The Mountain Dwellings
Because the stations are integrated into pedestrian and cycling paths, exploring the district without a car feels effortless. Trains run every few minutes, day and night, and the system is clean, quiet, and extremely efficient.
🎨 Day trip: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
A must-do cultural excursion is the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, which sits in Humlebæk on the coast north of the city.
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Take the regional train from Copenhagen to Humlebæk Station
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Walk around 500 metres to the museum
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Enjoy sweeping sea views and one of Europe’s great modern art collections
Buses also run through the area, although the short, pleasant walk makes them unnecessary. Once you’re this far north, it’s easy to continue to Helsingør to see Kronborg Castle or to take the ferry to Helsingborg in Sweden.
🌉 Crossing Øresund: Train or car?
Every visitor should cross the Øresund Strait at least once. The train journey is smooth and atmospheric, but driving across the massive Øresund Bridge is genuinely spectacular. Because you sit high above the water with an unrestricted view, the experience feels more dramatic than sitting inside a train carriage.
If you plan to create a loop that includes Malmö, Lund, or the Skåne countryside, a rental car becomes more appealing, especially for travellers who enjoy taking their time at scenic stops.
🧩 Beyond Copenhagen: Where a rental car makes sense
Even though Copenhagen excels without cars, Denmark as a whole is much easier to explore by road.
🧱 Legoland Billund
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No direct rail service
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Take a train to Vejle, then a slower connecting bus
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A car provides a far smoother and faster trip
🌊 Denmark’s North Sea coast
The rugged west coast offers dunes, beaches, lighthouses, and broad open skies. Public transport exists but tends to be slow. A rental car unlocks flexibility and allows you to stop at viewpoints that no bus ever reaches.
🚘 Excellent driving conditions
Denmark has:
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High driving standards
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Well-maintained motorways
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Reasonable congestion thanks to cycling and public transport
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Multiple ring roads that simplify cross-city driving
As a result, road travel here feels calm and predictable.
🇸🇪🇳🇴 Renting in Copenhagen for travel into Sweden or Norway
One of the smartest tricks for a Scandinavian road trip is to rent your car in Copenhagen and drive it into Sweden or even Norway. Prices in Denmark are often significantly cheaper than in neighbouring Sweden. For example, a sample one-week rental in March 2026 shows a compact car costing just over £200 when collected at Malmö Airport, yet the same class of car in Copenhagen Airport is around £130, and city-centre Copenhagen rentals can drop to under £80 for the week. This is a rare instance where city-centre pickup is dramatically cheaper than airport pickup.
Even when you factor in cross-border surcharges, the savings remain substantial. The only major extra cost is the Øresund Bridge toll, which sits at just over £100 for a return trip, yet most travellers consider it worthwhile simply because the crossing is such a dramatic experience. The high deck of the bridge gives you wide, cinematic views of the strait, and the moment you descend into the tunnel on the Danish side feels like something from a Nordic engineering documentary.
Once in Sweden, you can continue north toward Gothenburg, follow the coast to Helsingborg, or head inland toward Småland. If you push further, Norway is also within reach; although the drive takes several hours, the route is smooth, scenic, and supported by excellent Scandinavian roads. Because fuel prices, driving standards, and road
🧭 Conclusion — Should you rent a car in Copenhagen?
Should you rent a car in Copenhagen? Not for sightseeing within the city, because cycling, walking, the metro, and regional trains cover nearly all needs. However, if you want to explore Jutland, visit Legoland, tour Denmark’s coastline, or experience the Øresund Bridge from behind the wheel, then a rental car becomes an extremely rewarding choice.
🚗 ✅ ❌ Summary Table
This summary score brings how much you really need a car, whether it’s worth it, driver options, local driving rules, and an overall recommendation.