Nyhavn by the numbers

We counted Nyhavn address by address. Below are the numbers we measured ourselves and the numbers we took from others — each with its source, so you can use them onward.

Nyhavn by the numbers: 29 venues on the canal, 23 on the sunny side, 400 metres of quay, dug in 1673. Every figure sourced — free to use with attribution.

The quay, counted

The first two figures are our own. We walked the canal address by address and counted only the places that open directly onto the water — not the ones round the corner that call themselves Nyhavn.

29 confirmed venues directly on the canal — restaurants, bars, hotels, cafés and attractions (VisitNyhavn.com Verified Venue Inventory 2026)
23 of them sit on the sunny side, the odd house numbers (VisitNyhavn.com Spatial Distribution Audit 2026)
6 sit on the shady side, the even numbers — same source
400 metres is the full length of the canal, from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour (City of Copenhagen GIS)

Odd house numbers run along the sunny side, even numbers along the shady side. The 23-to-6 split is therefore no coincidence: the sunny side gets the afternoon light on its terraces, while the shady side carries mostly hotels and homes. That is why the quay looks so lopsided from the air.

The dates

1673 is when the canal was completed and opened under Christian V (Danish National Archives)
1681 is the oldest building standing on the canal, Nyhavn 9 (Danish Registry of Protected Buildings)
3 addresses along the canal were homes to Hans Christian Andersen: numbers 18, 20 and 67 (Hans Christian Andersen Centre)

A building's age and a business's age are not the same thing, and that is where most listings go wrong. We reviewed founding years for 28 venues and could confirm 8 as the business's own. The other 20 belong to the building, or could not be documented — so we put no year on them. Vaffelbageren from 1953 and Nyhavns Færgekro from 1983 are among the confirmed.

Visitors and prices

4 million is the estimated annual visitor count for the Nyhavn quarter (Wonderful Copenhagen, estimate)
80 kroner is the standard ticket for the Netto-Bådene canal tour (Netto-Bådene official tariff 2026)

The visitor figure is an estimate, not a count. There is no counting gate at the canal, so the number rests on tourism surveys for the quarter as a whole. We reproduce it as what it is — an estimate with a name attached.

How we counted

We walked the canal address by address and recorded each venue with its house number, type and side. A venue counts only if its entrance opens onto the canal. Seasonal stalls and boats without a fixed address are not counted.

Where a figure comes from someone else, the source is in brackets above. Where it is ours, it says VisitNyhavn.com. We correct figures when we find them wrong, and we write down what changed.

Use the numbers

These figures are free to use in articles, coursework and presentations with attribution to VisitNyhavn.com. If you need something we have not published — the split by cuisine, say, or opening hours across the year — write to us; we usually have data that has not been published yet.