How to spend a day in Nyhavn

With one day you can fit it all in without walking more than fifteen minutes at a time: a Danish breakfast, the canal, the changing of the guard, smørrebrød with a snaps and dinner by the water. Here is the day hour by hour, with a link to every stop.

One day in Nyhavn hour by hour: breakfast, a canal tour, the changing of the guard at noon, smørrebrød with snaps, art or shopping and dinner by the water.

The times are suggestions, not a timetable — swap things around if the weather turns. Everything below is within a fifteen-minute walk of the quay.

08:30
Breakfast on the quay
The quay is at its quietest early in the day, and the first places along it open between 08:30 and 09:30. Order like a Dane: a bread roll with butter and cheese or a Danish pastry, and a cup of coffee. Cafés in Nyhavn · brunch
10:00
A canal tour
Take one of the first boats of the day. They leave from Nyhavn 1–3 by Kongens Nytorv and from Heibergsgade, and a tour takes about an hour. If you would rather have the best light, take one of the last boats of the afternoon. Compare the boats
11:15
Along the water to the changing of the guard
Walk out to the end of Nyhavn and across the Royal Danish Playhouse's wooden deck by the water. From there it is a ten-minute walk to Amalienborg, where the Royal Life Guards change guard every day at 12:00. Attractions around Nyhavn
12:30
Smørrebrød and a snaps
Back on the quay it is lunchtime, and lunch is when Danes eat smørrebrød. The order is fixed: herring first, then fish, then meat, and cheese last — and the herring comes with a snaps. Smørrebrød in Nyhavn · lunch
14:30
Art or shopping
Kunsthal Charlottenborg at Nyhavn 2 shows contemporary art. If you would rather shop, the Magasin department store is on Kongens Nytorv, a couple of minutes from the canal. More near Nyhavn
16:30
An after-work beer
Danes have a word for the beer at the end of the working day: fyraftensøl. Find a terrace on the sunny side, or do as many Copenhageners do in summer and sit on the edge of the quay. Bars in Nyhavn
18:30
Dinner by the water
Book a table ahead on Fridays and Saturdays. On the dinner list you can filter by price level and by what is open right now. Dinner in Nyhavn
21:00
An evening on the quay
When it gets dark, the lights come on along the quay. Catch some live music, or walk across the Inner Harbour Bridge to Christianshavn — it takes a few minutes. Live music · walks from Nyhavn

Is something special happening on the day you visit? Check the calendar — from the Christmas market to Culture Night.

Can you see Nyhavn in one day?

Yes. The quay itself is about 400 metres long, and everything in this plan is within a fifteen-minute walk. One day gives you time for the canal, a proper meal and a couple of the sights nearby.

When is Nyhavn at its quietest?

Early in the morning and in the evening. The quay is busiest in the middle of the day in the summer months.