Park on the central kerb at eight in the morning and by half past two you have paid more than a garage charges for the whole day. The red-zone kerb is 45 kr an hour 08:00–18:00; the APCOA garage under the Tivoli Hotel caps at 295 kr for 24 hours. Copenhagen is the rare city where the street is the expensive option, and since 1 April 2025 it is expensive seven days a week.
The other thing to know is what does not happen. Nobody tows you: a wrong parking is a 510 kr fine, repeated daily for up to three days, and the council may remove the car only after three of those and four weeks' notice. A diesel on foreign plates from before 2011 registers at miljoezoner.dk before it drives in; everyone else has nothing to do.
First lookA harbour you can swim in, and wind you can lean on
The city's own reference numbers are 9.6 °C and 661 mm of rain a year, which sounds grey until you notice the harbour has been clean enough to swim in since 2002, and that people do, in October. The wind off the Øresund stops for nobody.
What I notice on the first morning is the sound: bicycles by the thousand, almost no engines. A city that quiet has decided something about cars, and the tariff is where it wrote it down.
Tourist trapsThe sunny side of Nyhavn, and the boat that costs eight times the other boat
I do not eat on the sunny side of Nyhavn. The houses are the point, and the houses are free; spend the money at Torvehallerne, open 10:00–19:00 on weekdays.
The bigger trap floats. A one-hour canal tour with the big operator starts at 199 kr; the yellow harbour buses — lines 991, 992 and 993, Nordhavn to Sydhavn past the Opera and the Little Mermaid — run on an ordinary ticket, 24 kr for two zones. The smaller operator at Holmens Kirke does an hour with commentary for 80 kr.
Local pickOysters at half past eleven in a meat market
Kødbyens Fiskebar sits in the white-tiled meatpacking district behind the station, opens at 11:30 every day, and serves oysters all afternoon while the kitchen rests between 14:30 and 17:30. My order is whatever the board says came in that morning. Ten minutes on foot from the Tivoli Hotel garage, which is how I arrive.
Survival ruleThe cycle lane is not a pavement, and cash is a legal right
Stand in the cycle lane for a photograph and you will be told about it, quickly and in Danish. Driving, the rule that matters is the right turn: you must not inconvenience a cyclist going straight on, and there is always one. Mirror, lane, go. Cards work everywhere, but cash is a right: staffed shops must accept it 06:00–22:00; a sign saying otherwise is a wish, not the law.
01 · ParkingThe kerb is the expensive option
Four paid zones: red and green 45 kr an hour, blue 26, yellow 17, 08:00 to 18:00. Evenings to 23:00 are 18 kr everywhere, nights 6 kr — charged every day. The concession is the first hour of the first registered parking free from Saturday 17:00 to Monday 08:00, and on public holidays. Machines take cards, not coins; EasyPark, ParkMan, OK and APCOA FLOW are among the approved apps.
Inside the medieval core a car may stand only in a marked bay, and many are reserved in daytime. A garage is the honest answer: the Tivoli Hotel's at 295 kr a day, Sankt Annæ Plads at 465 kr between Nyhavn and Amalienborg, Axel Towers at 600 opposite Tivoli's gate. Q-Park sells only online tickets here — Vesterport from 320 kr, Nørreport from 370 — and Magasin's garage has a 1.90 m ceiling.
The low-emission zone covers all of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg and bites only diesel: a car first registered before 1 January 2011 on foreign plates must be registered at miljoezoner.dk by the day it enters, with proof of a particulate filter or Euro 5. Cameras read every plate; the fine is 1,500 kr.
Car parks worth knowing
| Car park | Price | EV |
|---|---|---|
| Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center (APCOA)Kristian Erslevs Gade — behind the central station, on the harbour side, ten minutes' walk from Tivoli's main gate | From 60 kr per started hour, **capped at 295 kr for 24 hours** — the lowest day price of any barrier car park I found within walking distance of the centre. 500 spaces. | 17 charging bays. |
| Sankt Annæ Plads / Kvæsthusmolen (Jeudan)Sankt Annæ Plads 32 — under the square between Nyhavn and Amalienborg | 56 kr an hour 08:00–23:00, 36 kr overnight, **465 kr for 24 hours**. 514 spaces, **height 2.10 m**. The best-placed garage in the city, and it says so in the price. | **118 Clever charging points** — the largest single garage installation in the centre. Clever's price varies through the day and is shown per point in its app, not on a web page. |
| Axel Towers (APCOA)Axel Torv 2 — across the road from Tivoli's main entrance | 60 kr per started hour, **600 kr for 24 hours**, 278 spaces, **height 2.10 m**. You are paying for the fifty metres to Tivoli's gate. | 4 charging bays. |
| Nyropsgade P-hus (APCOA)Nyropsgade 6 — between Vesterport station and the lakes | 52 kr per started hour, **550 kr a day**, 349 spaces, **height 2.10 m**. | None listed by the operator. |
| Saga P-hus (APCOA)Vesterbrogade 23 — Vesterbro, five minutes from the station | 54 kr per started hour, **550 kr a day**, 217 spaces, **height 2.00 m** — the lowest clearance on this list apart from Magasin. | 3 charging bays. |
| BLOX ParkeringVester Voldgade 129 — under the Danish Architecture Centre, on the harbour | **20 kr per started half hour**, any day, any time — 40 kr an hour — with a **650 kr** ceiling per 24 hours, the highest cap in the city. 350 spaces, **height 2.00 m**. Good for two hours, expensive for a day. | Not stated by the operator. |
| Q-Park VesterportNyropsgade 43 — next to Vesterport station | Q-Park publishes no drive-in tariff for Copenhagen — the page literally says no price information is available. What it does sell is a **24-hour ticket booked online from 320 kr**, and a weekend from 700. 774 spaces, **height 2.15 m**, the tallest on this list. | 25 charging bays. |
| Q-Park Nørreport (Israels Plads)Linnésgade 1 — under Israels Plads, beside Torvehallerne and Nørreport station | **1,187 spaces**, the biggest garage in the centre, 24 hours. Booked online: **24 hours from 370 kr**, a weekend from 740. No drive-in tariff published. **Height 2.10 m.** | 24 charging bays. |
| Q-Park Magasin du NordBremerholm 2 — under the department store on Kongens Nytorv | Booked online: **24 hours from 390 kr**. 232 spaces and **height 1.90 m** — the lowest published clearance in central Copenhagen. A roof box does not go in. | Not stated. |
| P-hus Kay Fisker, Ørestad (PARKinCPH)Arne Jacobsens Allé 21 — Ørestad, on the metro, 466 spaces, 24 hours | First 30 minutes free with the disc set, then **24 kr an hour 07:00–17:00, 14 kr 17:00–07:00, capped at 170 kr a day**. Paid by the minute through a PARKinCPH profile. The metro runs from here into the centre, and the street outside is the city's blue zone at 26 kr. | Not stated. |
| Refshaleøen (APCOA)Refshalevej 147 — the old shipyard island, for Reffen street food and the harbour bus back | 27 kr for the first hour, then 30 kr per started hour, **200 kr a day**, 1,000 spaces on the surface. Not free — people assume the island is, and it is not. | Not stated. |
The cheapest way to park, by how long you stay
| If you stay | Cheapest | Cost | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours in the centre | Høje Taastrup station car park (free) | Free | Free and unlimited, run by the local council — then the S-train to the central station. Glostrup, closer in, is free only with a DSB ticket from that station and the plate registered in the DSB app, renewed daily. |
| …and the cheapest central garage | BLOX Parkering | 80 kr. ≈ €10.7 | height 2.00 m · billed per started half hour, 20 kr |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, red zone (the centre) | 90 kr. ≈ €12.0 | Charged every day since 1 April 2025; only the first hour is free from Saturday 17:00 to Monday 08:00. Evening drops to 18 kr, night to 6 kr. Not paying is 510 kr a day, up to three days. |
| A full day (10 h) | Høje Taastrup station car park (free) | Free | Free and unlimited, run by the local council — then the S-train to the central station. Glostrup, closer in, is free only with a DSB ticket from that station and the plate registered in the DSB app, renewed daily. |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center (APCOA) | 295 kr. ≈ €39 | |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, red zone (the centre) | 450 kr. ≈ €60 | Charged every day since 1 April 2025; only the first hour is free from Saturday 17:00 to Monday 08:00. Evening drops to 18 kr, night to 6 kr. Not paying is 510 kr a day, up to three days. |
| 24 hours | Høje Taastrup station car park (free) | Free | Free and unlimited, run by the local council — then the S-train to the central station. Glostrup, closer in, is free only with a DSB ticket from that station and the plate registered in the DSB app, renewed daily. |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center (APCOA) | 295 kr. ≈ €39 |
02 · TowedNobody tows. They send three tickets and a letter
The pound does not exist as far as the city will say. I read its seventeen parking pages, the parking guide and the police site: no address, no hours, no tariff. What exists is the fine — 510 kr, or 1,020 kr across a driveway or in a disabled bay — once per 24 hours for up to three days. After three, the council may write, wait at least four weeks, and only then remove the car.
The police are different: a car in the way of traffic can go at once, and their rule is that you are told where it is and by when to collect it — about eight days, fourteen at the outside, before it can be auctioned. You pay the actual cost of transport and storage; no figure is published. If the car is gone, ring 114.
If your car has disappeared
- Who took it
- Almost nobody, and that is the system. Copenhagen enforces the kerb with fines, not tow trucks: 510 kr a day, up to three days for the same offence. The council may only remove a car after three fines and a written hearing of at least four weeks. The police can remove a car at once if it is in the way of traffic — and then they must tell you where it is
- Phone
- Police service line, all of Denmark — the number for a car that is not where you left it: 114
Område for Parkering, City of Copenhagen — fines and permits, weekdays 09:00–16:00: 70 80 80 90 - Collect it at
- Not published. I went through the city's seventeen parking pages, its parking guide, its contact page and the police site: no pound address, no opening hours, no price list. The one municipal address is the parking office at Islands Brygge 37, which handles fines, not cars. If the police removed the car, their own rule is that you are told where it is and by when to collect it.
- Hours
- Not published. The parking office answers weekdays 09:00–16:00; 114 answers around the clock.
- What it costs
- No tariff exists. The Road Traffic Act says the driver pays the actual cost of transport and storage, and the police circular gives you normally eight days to collect before the deadline is set at fourteen — after which the car can be sold at auction. The fines are the number to remember: 510 kr, doubled to 1,020 kr across a driveway or in a disabled bay.
- Bring
- The notification you were sent, the registration document, photo ID, and a card. For a hire car the registration document is the rental company's — ring them first.
03 · EVElectric pays full price, and three hours is the limit
Free parking for electric cars ended on 1 January 2024. A municipal charging bay carries a three-hour limit on weekdays 08:00–19:00, disc set and cable in; standing there without charging is the same 510 kr as anyone.
The largest installation in the centre is the 118 Clever points under Sankt Annæ Plads, priced per point in Clever's app and varying through the day. The number you can plan with is OK's: 3.19 kr/kWh up to 22 kW, 3.39 up to 99, 3.59 above. IONITY takes a bank card at the charger, no app, at 3.86 kr/kWh. My rule: charge at OK on the way in and park without the cable in the city.
Where to charge
- The municipal charging bays — three hours, and the disc must be set — On-street bays across the four paid zones. Free EV parking ended on 1 January 2024; an electric car pays the zone tariff like everyone else. The charging bays carry a 3-hour limit on weekdays 08:00–19:00, with the disc set and the car actually plugged in — parked there without charging is a 510 kr ticket
- Sankt Annæ Plads — 118 Clever points under one square — Sankt Annæ Plads 32, the Jeudan garage between Nyhavn and Amalienborg. The largest charging installation in the centre. Clever does not publish a fixed ad-hoc price: its own FAQ says the kWh price varies over the day and is shown per charge point in the Clever app. So you learn the rate standing at the plug, on top of 56 kr an hour for the space
- OK — the cheapest published electricity — The Danish fuel co-operative's chargers, around the city and on the approaches. Price list valid from 28 September 2026: 3.19 kr/kWh up to 22 kW, 3.39 kr up to 99 kW, 3.59 kr at 100 kW and above. Bank cards are accepted at selected sites; elsewhere it is the OK app, which is also one of the city's approved parking apps
- IONITY — the bank card at the charger — Motorway and ring-road sites around Copenhagen. 3.86 kr/kWh on the Direct tariff, no app and no account: scan the QR code on the charger and pay contactless. Denmark is one of the few countries where IONITY prints its number, which makes it the one fast charger you can budget for before you arrive
- Hotel Kong Arthur — the guest rate — Nørre Søgade 11, car park entrance on Nansensgade. Private guest car park at 395 kr a day, and charging at 3.50 kr/kWh — the hotel puts both numbers on its own website, which in this city is rarer than the chargers
04 · Free spotsFrederiksberg, the beach, and a station twenty minutes out
Frederiksberg is a separate municipality inside Copenhagen, and its kerb costs 10, 15, 21, 26, 27, 27 kr for the first six hours — 126 kr — then 130 kr for the day, free from Saturday 17:00 to Monday 07:00. Six hours on the red-zone kerb is 270. Register in an app from the first minute. That is where I leave the car, near Frederiksberg Have, and take the metro in.
Copenhagen's time-limited zones are free with the disc: three hours on weekdays, unlimited at weekends. Amager Strand, on the metro, gives three hours 08:00–22:00 by the beach. For a whole day, Høje Taastrup is the one station car park DSB calls free and unlimited — about 400 spaces, then the S-train in.
Free or nearly-free spots
Frederiksberg: the cheap kerb inside the expensive one
Frederiksberg is a separate municipality entirely surrounded by Copenhagen, with its own tariff: 10, 15, 21, 26, 27, 27 kr for the first six hours — 126 kr in total — and 130 kr for anything over six hours ten. A week is 650 kr. Charged weekdays 07:00–24:00 and Saturday 07:00–17:00; free from Saturday 17:00 to Monday 07:00 and on public holidays. You must be registered digitally from the first minute — the apps are APCOA FLOW, EasyPark, OK, ParkMan, PARKPARK and ParkOne. Six hours here against six on the red zone kerb is 126 kr against 270. Frederiksberg Have is the landmark; the metro from Frederiksberg station reaches the centre in minutes.
Three hours free by the beach, on the metro
Copenhagen's time-limited zones are free with the disc set: up to three hours on weekdays, no limit at weekends and on public holidays, and no way to buy more time. The one worth a visitor's attention is Amager Strand, in force since December 2023, three hours 08:00–22:00 Monday to Friday, with the metro at Amager Strand station a few stops from the centre. Arrive after 19:00 on a weekday and the three hours run past the zone's end. Other zones on the list: Lergravsparken, Sundbyøster, Havnestad, Nordvest, Vanløse station, Hellerup station.
The first hour free — from Saturday teatime to Monday morning
Since 1 April 2025 the four paid zones charge every day of the week. The concession is narrow and exact: the first hour of the first registered parking is free from Saturday 17:00 to Monday 08:00, and on public holidays from the holiday until 08:00 the following day. Register the parking anyway — the free hour is counted from a registration, not from goodwill. Evening is 18 kr an hour in every zone, night 23:00–08:00 is 6 kr, so a Sunday morning in the centre costs a fraction of a Wednesday.
Leave it at Høje Taastrup and take the S-train in
The one station car park DSB describes as free and unlimited is Høje Taastrup — about 400 spaces run by the local council, plus twelve EV bays, four of them with chargers — and the S-train from there runs straight to the central station. Closer in, Glostrup has about 40 free spaces, but only for a DSB customer with a valid ticket from that station and the plate registered in the DSB app, and the free parking has to be renewed every day before midnight. Get that wrong and it is the local tariff in the Gardian app.
Hotels with free parking
- Hotel Kong Arthur — Nørre Søgade 11, car park entrance at Nansensgade 49 — on the lakes, ten minutes from Nørreport Map. Private guest car park, 395 kr a day valid until 23:59 the next day, EV charging 3.50 kr/kWh — both on the hotel's own site
- Copenhagen Admiral Hotel — Toldbodgade 24–28 — an eighteenth-century warehouse on the harbour, next to Nyhavn Map. Spaces on its own forecourt at 425 kr per 24 hours (50 kr an hour for the first two, 40 after), first come first served and not reservable; the hotel points overflow to the Jeudan garage at Kvæsthusmolen at 450 kr a day
- Tivoli Hotel — Arni Magnussons Gade 2 — the tower behind the central station Map. The APCOA garage under the hotel is open to anyone at 295 kr a day — the cheapest 24 hours near the centre whether you sleep upstairs or not
- Hotel Copenhagen — Egilsgade 33 — Islands Brygge, across the harbour bridge from the centre Map. Lists free parking among its amenities on its own site, with no conditions stated — the only central hotel I found that does. Confirm the number of spaces when you book; the site does not say
⚠ The small print on 'free' parking
- Paid parking runs every day of the week, Sunday included, since 1 April 2025. Day rate 08:00–18:00 is 45 kr an hour in the red and green zones, 26 kr in blue and 17 kr in yellow; evening 18:00–23:00 is 18 kr everywhere, night 23:00–08:00 is 6 kr. The only concession is the first hour of the first registered parking free from Saturday 17:00 to Monday 08:00, and on public holidays. There is no day ticket in Copenhagen; the period card needs a minimum of five weekdays.
- A diesel car first registered before 1 January 2011 on foreign plates must be registered at miljoezoner.dk no later than the day it enters the low-emission zone, with a copy of the registration document and either Euro-norm proof or a particulate-filter declaration less than 18 months old. The zone is the whole of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg to the Tårnby border; the Øresund motorway and the airport are outside it. The fine is 1,500 kr, reducible to 1,000 kr if compliance documents are sent within 80 days. Petrol, hybrid and electric cars need nothing.
- A parking fine is 510 kr, and 1,020 kr for blocking a driveway or using a disabled bay without a permit. The same offence can be fined once per 24 hours for up to three consecutive days, so a weekend on the wrong kerb is 1,530 kr before anyone thinks of a tow truck. The city does issue fines to foreign plates — its own figures for 2021 to 2025 are just under 100,000 of them.
- Inside the medieval city — Indre By — a car may only park in a marked bay, and a lot of those bays are reserved in daytime for businesses, embassies and disabled permits. The kerb that looks free is the kerb that is not for you. Trucks over 18 tonnes may neither stop nor park there at all.
- Turning right, you must not inconvenience a cyclist going straight on — that is Road Traffic Act section 26, and the cycle lane on your right is usually full. Dipped headlights are compulsory in daylight, all year. The drink-drive limit is 0.5 per mille. Speed limits are 50 in town, 80 on open roads, 130 on motorways. A hand-held phone at the wheel is 1,500 kr plus a 1,000 kr levy to the victims' fund and a point on the licence.
- Since 1 July 2025 it is illegal to drive on summer tyres in winter conditions — ice, slush or snow — and the fine is 1,000 kr per tyre; M+S is the minimum. No warning triangle has to be carried, but one must be placed if the car breaks down or is in a collision. The Øresund bridge from Sweden is 470 kr at the booth for a car, 420 kr bought online; the Great Belt bridge from Funen is 235 kr, 205 kr with a bizz tag or plate registration.
Take these places with you
Every place on this page as a file you can keep — car parks with their prices, the free and park-and-ride spots, the chargers and the pound.