A Family Weekend in Copenhagen: Our Honest Review of Visiting Tivoli Gardens in December

Around this time last year, we decided we wanted a pre-Christmas city break in Europe as a family. Somewhere not too far or too expensive, but with Christmas markets, twinkly lights, festive decorations and that magical winter atmosphere of a European city in December. We wanted a special weekend away with my daughter to soak up the Christmas spirit and start the holiday season together.

After doing some online searching for family-friendly places to visit in December, Copenhagen kept coming up again and again. I’d also seen an episode of Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby (the one with Rob Rinder) that focused on Tivoli Gardens at Christmas and it looked absolutely magical, so I was sold.

A bit more research confirmed it was exactly what we were looking for: Christmas markets, twinkling gardens, cosy cafés everywhere, and surprisingly reasonable prices for flights and hotels considering it was December. So we booked a last-minute Christmas weekend away to Copenhagen.

Because the whole trip worked out so well and gave us that festive Christmas glow, I wanted to share all the details in case you’re also looking for a last-minute family Christmas break in Europe or wondering what Copenhagen is like in December with kids.

Traveling – London to Copenhagen for a family Weekend with Kids

The flight was nice and short, just under two hours from London to Copenhagen and once we landed, there was a train station directly downstairs from the terminal, making it easy to get into the city centre.

Over our weekend in Copenhagen we explored the magical Tivoli Gardens Christmas wonderland, wandered through several charming city Christmas markets, spent a thought-provoking morning at the Danish War Museum, had silly fun at an illusion museum, admired the Little Mermaid statue, and finished with a festive meal and light show outside Nimb Brasserie. Read on to find out what worked, what to book ahead, and why for us it worked so well as a December family European break…

Family Friendly Hotel in Copenhagen

For accommodation, my criteria were simple: somewhere central so we could walk to most places, close to Tivoli Gardens, and not too expensive.

We stayed at The Square, and it was perfect for what we needed. Super central, only a short walk to Tivoli Gardens, the Christmas markets and the main shopping streets. It didn’t look all that from the outside, a big imposing grey building on the corner, but it had a nice cosy lobby as soon as you stepped in (with pretty Christmas trees around a central seating area) and warm and friendly staff. The rooms were fine, not fancy, but nicely decorated with enough room and the hotel had a decent sized bar which was ideal for warming up with a drink after being out in the cold. Although we didn’t quite get the white snowy city we imaged, as it wasn’t actually that cold, so instead of frost and snow we had rain and damp most of the time we were there.

Visiting Tivoli Gardens with Older Kids

I feel like I should talk about Tivoli Gardens first because it was the main reason we chose Copenhagen for our Christmas city break. Tivoli Gardens at Christmas is like stepping straight into a festive wonderland. Think thousands of twinkling lights, beautiful decorations and every kind of festive food or trinket you’d like to buy. There’s also fairground games and rides. My only down point is that it was absolutely packed when we went, so lots of slow walking through crowds. We also couldn’t eat in any of the restaurants in Tivoli gardens as they were all full – this was my own fault that I hadn’t thought to book ahead, so that’s worth doing when you go. But if not, its still ok, as you can get great food from the stalls. I had one of the best cheese raclettes of my life and we loved the mulled glogg and cider.

What’s Inside Tivoli Gardens at Christmas

As well as the food and stalls, there’s lots of different games and rides and although it was busy, it never took long to get our go and there was a lot to choose from. I think there’s also sometimes entertainment and pop up shows, although we didn’t see any when we were there.

Finding Different Copenhagen Christmas Markets Around the City

As well as Tivoli Gardens, there are a lot more Christmas Markets around the city, so on day two we spent time wandering around the city just using our phone map to guide us from market to market which was fun. There was a lot of different trinkets and Christmas themed items to buy and again more Glogg and hot chocolate to sample!

Visiting The Danish War Museum in Copenhagen

One of the unexpected highlights of our weekend in Copenhagen was our visit to the Danish War Museum. We originally went because my daughter loves history and has been learning about European history at school, but we all ended up really enjoying it.

The museum has a brilliant mix of traditional exhibitions and interactive elements. One of the most memorable areas was a huge section set up like an army camp, complete with different buildings and belongings to explore. You cleverly start by walking through a soldier’s bedroom at home and it felt surprisingly immersive and sparked some great conversation about the life of soldiers going to war and leaving their families at home.

There were also hands-on spaces for the kids to get creative and draw, with lots of their pictures displayed on the walls and large screen videos to watch and interactive displays to get involved with.

We also appreciated that they had lockers. Being able to store our coats and bags made it so much easier to wander around freely, especially as we’d been so wrapped up for the December weather outside.

Another activity we fitted in that day, was not planned but so much fun. As we were wandering around the city and starting to get cold and fed up of the rain, we saw the Copenhagen Illusion Museum. My daughter really wanted to go in and it didn’t disappoint. Again like the war museum you could leave coats etc. in the lobby (although not as secure, as it was a coat rail rather than lockers, but our stuff was fine there) You then buy a ticket from the shop (Which also had a lot of cool stuff in to have a look at) and then you go upstairs to the illusions.

Essentially you walk around lots of different displays and rooms where you experience different visual illusions that also often feel physical too, it was hilarious! I would recommend it for all ages, and for the reasonable ticket entry price, it was a great way to warm up and have fun indoors for a couple of hours too, when visiting Copenhagen in the winter. One of our favourites was the optical illusion photo set ups at the end, where we spent ages, laughing, moving around trying out all different poses.

Visiting the Little Mermaid Statue

Before going we’d been told about the story and famous statue of the little Mermaid so this was also on our list to visit. We had planned to walk, but I have to confess after getting soaked through in the rain and tired at the end of the day, we ended up getting a taxi to stop off there, so we could have a quick look on the way back to our hotel. So we only got a quick peak, but I’m sure it would be worth spending more time here on a nicer weather day.

Dinner and Light Show at Nimb Brasserie

Saving the best till last – my husband had booked a restaurant for our final evening before we came away, and none of us realised until we arrived that it was actually the very same hotel restaurant featured in the TV show that inspired our trip! It had simply popped up as an option when searching for central Copenhagen places to eat, so it felt like a magical coincidence to finish our trip on.

The restaurant itself was lovely, but the real magic happened when we stepped outside and saw the light show projected across the walls, with Tivoli Gardens glowing beautifully at night right beside us. The food was very good, not cheap, but the service was excellent. Although it was a more formal dining experience, it never felt stuffy, and we felt completely comfortable being there with our daughter.

One of the highlights was being able to step outside between courses to watch the light display, so the meal never felt like there were long waits. The whole experience was wonderfully festive, with Christmas decorations throughout the building that made the evening feel even more special. The restaurant is called the Nimb Brasserie and not sure whether its always so easy to book or we were lucky, but we just did it online before we came a couple of weeks before.

Copenhagen in December truly delivered the festive winter magic we were looking for. Twinkly lights, festive markets, festive charm (even if it was more drizzle than glistening frost), and plenty to keep both grown-ups and kids happy All in all, Copenhagen gave us everything we were looking for: short flights, easy transport from the airport, a central hotel base, and a delightful mix of festive charm, history, indoor fun and relaxed downtime.