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Looking for ideas for amazing weekend and day trips from Copenhagen?
There are plenty of impressive castles and beautiful nature areas you can visit nearby, but it is only fair to want something more. Traveling by car in Denmark is not always optimal due to multiple bridge connections that require a toll fee, which makes any road trip quite an expensive endeavor. Besides, Copenhagen aims to be the greenest city in the world by becoming the first carbon-neutral capital. It is an ambitious initiative that relies heavily on changing the way people move around daily. Denmark boasts to have one of the best public transport coverages. So why not contribute and do your weekend/day trips from Copenhagen by train? I, in particular, love the romance of a long train ride that gives me time to think while gazing out of the train window.
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Awesome Trips from Copenhagen by Train
There is a number of awesome day trips from Copenhagen that you can take by train. I used Omio to look up some great train trips from Copenhagen to other European cities for your inspiration.
1. Denmark
Visit the famous Hamlet Castle in Helsingør
The home to the famous Shakespear’s Hamlet Castle – also known as the Kronborg Castle – is a perfect weekend trip from Copenhagen by train. The ride to Helsingør takes just about 45 minutes. The ticket to Kronborg castle allows you to explore the inner yard as well as the castle halls where you can get a pretty good idea about the old-time inhabitants of the Renaissance times.
Fancy some relaxation? Helsingør boasts one of the best luxury spa hotels in Denmark – Marienlyst Strandhotel. Not only does it have amazing sea view rooms and relaxing spa facilities, it often has good deals inclusive of stay, dinner and spa.
Visit the second biggest Danish city Aarhus
A 3-hour train ride to Denmark’s second biggest city is definitely worth an attempt if you are all in on discovering the diversity of Denmark. This train will take you to the western part of the country, Zealand, the one connected to Europe via land.
Aarhus has a lot to offer in terms of sightseeing, the most iconic thing being a glass rainbow panorama passing of ARoS Aarhus Artmuseum. Do not miss the picturesque walks through the old town. Heels are not recommended due to numerous cabblestones.
For a glimpse of that famous Danish architectural design, visit Arhus Ø were you can marvel at the breathtaking new buildings that gave a new life to the city’s old harbor.
The summer residence of the Danish royal family is also located here, in the Marselisborg Palace, where you can also witness a change of guards every day at noon.
2. Sweden
Visit Sweden’s most Southern city, Malmö
A train trip from Copenhagen to Malmö is probably one of the most popular day trips that people make from the Danish capital. It can be easily done in one day on a return train ticket since the ride only takes about 30 minutes, which allows you to visit both countries at once. As a bonus, you get to experience a ride over one of the most exciting bridges in the region – the Øresund bridge, half of which goes over water and half underwater.
Malmo 
Malmo Turning Torso
Stop by the university town of Lund
What I suggest you do to make the most out of your train trip to Sweden, is to add Lund to your itinerary. It is a small student town with one of the oldest universities in Europe – Lund University. The small college town vibe with cute colorful streets will add a lot of charm to your trip, which Malmö might lack.
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Lund town colorful street with roses
Lund University Main Library
Why not take a weekend train ride to Sweden’s capital Stockholm?
If you really want to dive deeper into exploring Sweden, visiting Malmö might not be enough. To be fair, many swedes would disagree that southern Sweden is a good representation of the entire country. Therefore, you might consider going all the way to the capital.
But nothing to worry about here, as it is also very easy to do via train. A train from Copenhagen to Stockholm is one of the best train trips that I have ever experienced. It is a longer ride of nearly 6 hours in an old-fashioned train with a romantic setting, a restaurant wagon where tables are topped with white linen and decorated by dimmed table lamps just like in the movies. I would definitely recommend taking your trip to Stockholm using a train. Also because the airport is just too far away from the city center!
3. Germany
From one harbor town to another – Hamburg
One of the easiest day trips from Copenhagen to Germany would be taking a direct train to Hamburg. They run up to four times a day and the trip lasts for about 5 hours on a comfortable modern train with table and wi-fi. You can book your tickets on danish DSB website.
Hamburg Philharmic Hall – Elbphilharmonie
The interesting element about a trip to Germany from Copenhagen is that it includes a ferry ride. Believe it or not, but your train will ride directly into a ferry boat that will sail across the Fehmarn belt until it reaches the land again to continue on train tracks. So, you are getting two experiences for the price of one.
Hamburg street art
Hop to Berlin for a change of scene
If you want to continue your train ride into the German capital, it is just another 2 hours away from Hamburg. Berlin is a cultural melting pot with so many events happening that there will definitely be a point where you would want to make a short weekend trip by train from Copenhagen to Berlin. And I, personally, have done a few of those one-day trips to Berlin just to see a favorite band performing or to visit a cultural event.
Sum Up
Taking a train trip is one of the most exciting forms of traveling. The reason why people love train trips is that it gives you the time to slow down, think and reflect – a thing we seem to be lacking in the constant rhythm of everyday life in the 21st century. Europe is very well connected by train tracks and this makes it so easy to explore by public transport. Many companies like Eurorail offer train passes allowing you to travel anywhere you want by buying just one train ticket.
So, next time consider hopping on a train instead of booking your next airplane ticket.
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