An apartment in Copenhagen for the weekend: why it beats the hotel
31 July 2026
A weekend in Copenhagen gets expensive quickly once there are more than two of you. Two hotel rooms next to each other, breakfast for four and one dinner out, and half the budget is gone before you have seen anything beyond Nyhavn. That is why more and more people choose an apartment instead. Not because hotels are bad, but because a home with a kitchen, a dining table and two bedrooms solves some very concrete problems that a hotel room cannot.
Here is a walk through what you actually get for the money, how the neighbourhoods differ, what you need to sort out practically, and what the rules say about short term rentals in Copenhagen. It applies whether you are a family, a group of friends or two couples sharing a weekend.
What an apartment gives you that a hotel room cannot
The obvious thing is space. A two room apartment of 60 square metres gives you somewhere to sit once the children are in bed, and somewhere to eat when it rains. In a hotel room the bed is the sofa, the dining table and the living room all at once, and you feel it after two days.
The next most obvious thing is the kitchen. Breakfast for four typically costs between 150 and 200 kr. per person at a Copenhagen hotel. With a kitchen you can shop at Torvehallerne or the nearest supermarket and make breakfast for a fraction of that. It is not only about money. It is about being able to eat when you are hungry rather than when the buffet closes at ten.
The least discussed thing is the location. Hotels sit where there is room for hotels, meaning near the Central Station, around Rådhuspladsen and along the bigger approach roads. Holiday homes and apartments sit where people live. That means you can stay on a quiet side street in Nørrebro or Østerbro and walk ten minutes to the places locals actually use.
In return you have to handle the cleaning yourself while you are there, towels are not changed daily, and there is no reception if something goes wrong at two in the morning. A good host is available by phone, but that is not the same as a staffed desk around the clock. That is the trade you are making.
A worked example for two nights for four people
The figures below are an example, not a price list. They are there to show where the differences arise, not what your particular weekend will cost.
| Item | Two hotel rooms | Apartment via a large platform | Apartment with no fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, 2 nights | 5,200 kr. | 4,000 kr. | 4,000 kr. |
| Guest fee to the platform | 0 kr. | approx. 560 kr. (14 %) | 0 kr. |
| Final cleaning | 0 kr. | 400 kr. | 400 kr. |
| Breakfast for four, 2 days | 1,400 kr. | 300 kr. | 300 kr. |
| Total | 6,600 kr. | 5,260 kr. | 4,700 kr. |
Two things are worth noting. The platform fee is not a small rounding. On the large booking sites the guest fee is typically 14 to 16 percent of the price of the stay, and it is added on top of the price the host has already set. On a weekend at 4,000 kr. that is a couple of hundred kroner more than many people expect, and on a week in high season it becomes a substantial amount.
The other thing is the final cleaning. It is a fixed amount, and it hits short stays hardest. A cleaning fee of 400 kr. is ten percent of a weekend at 4,000 kr., but only two percent of a week at 20,000 kr. If you are only going for two nights, it is worth looking for homes with a low cleaning fee or none at all, or where the cleaning is built into the nightly rate.
Where in the city should you stay
Copenhagen is small. From Vesterbro to Østerbro takes twenty minutes by bike. Even so, a weekend feels very different depending on where you base yourself.
Indre By
Closest to everything and the most expensive per square metre. The advantage is that you can walk everywhere. The drawback is that the streets are narrow, the noise of the city carries far into the night, and the apartments are often small and old with stairs rather than a lift. Ask about the floor and the lift if you have a pram or heavy luggage.
Vesterbro
Restaurants, the Meatpacking District and a short walk to the Central Station. The area has a clear split: the streets around Istedgade and Vesterbrogade are lively and loud, while the side streets towards Enghave and Sønder Boulevard are noticeably quieter. It is one of the best choices if you want city life without living in the middle of the tourist flow.
Nørrebro
Wider streets, more coffee bars and Assistens Cemetery as a green space. Prices for holiday homes are often lower than in Indre By, and you typically get more square metres for your money. From Nørrebro most things are within cycling distance and there is a direct metro from Nørrebros Runddel.
Østerbro and Frederiksberg
The two quietest choices and the most obvious ones if you are travelling with children. Østerbro has Fælledparken and Svanemøllen beach. Frederiksberg has Frederiksberg Gardens, the zoo and a different, more settled rhythm. In both places the apartments are usually larger and the streets are quiet at night.
Amager and Islands Brygge
Islands Brygge has the harbour bath and a metro station that puts you in the centre in five minutes. Further out towards Amager Strandpark you get a beach and more space, and prices drop noticeably the further you go from the centre. It is a good choice in summer if you want to swim without leaving the city.
The practical details that decide the weekend
Key handover is the first thing to settle. A key box and flexible arrival time make a difference if you land late or arrive by train from Jutland. If the host requires a personal handover within a narrow window, you have to plan the day around it.
Parking is the second biggest pitfall. Resident permits do not cover guests, and paid parking in the inner districts typically costs between 20 and 40 kr. an hour during the day. Ask the host directly where you can park and what it costs per day. It is often cheaper to leave the car at a station outside the centre and take the metro in.
Noise is worth asking about. An apartment on the second floor above a café with outdoor seating is charming at five in the afternoon and less charming at one in the morning. Ask whether the bedroom faces the street or the courtyard.
Finally there are the beds. Eight sleeping places can mean four beds and two sofa beds. Ask for a breakdown before you book, so you know who ends up where.
The rules on short term rentals in Copenhagen
Danish year round homes may be rented out for a limited number of days per year, and the limit is set politically. It has changed several times and is administered by the City of Copenhagen alongside the national rules under the Danish Business Authority, and the income has to be reported to the Danish Tax Agency. The rules can change, so always check the current position on the authorities’ own pages if it matters to you.
As a guest you are rarely the one liable for a breach, but it is still relevant. A host who has the rules and the building association’s bylaws in order is also a host who will not suddenly cancel your booking a week before departure. Feel free to ask whether the home may be let out, and note the answer. It takes one question.
Book without fees when we open
A weekend in Copenhagen should be about what you do, not about what the platform takes. FlyMHD is built on that idea: guests pay for the property, not for the platform. There is a 0 kr. guest fee, the price you see is the host’s price, and the payment goes directly to the host via Stripe. Hosts pay a flat subscription instead of commission, so there are no percentages that need to be squeezed into the rent.
We are getting ready to open for bookings. Sign up at flymhd.com and you will hear from us when the homes go live, so you can book without fees from day one. If you want to see how it works in practice, it is described on How it works. And if you want to go through a property point by point before you pay, we have collected it in the checklist before you book a holiday home.