Indre By
The painted townhouse canal that most people picture when they picture Copenhagen.
Nyhavn is a short seventeenth-century canal lined with narrow, brightly painted townhouses, wooden boats and a row of restaurant terraces. It was built as a working harbour and looked like one for centuries; today it is the single most photographed stretch in the city.
It is at its best very early, before the terraces open and the tour boats start loading, when the light hits the gable ends and the canal is still. In the evening it turns into one long outdoor bar, which is fun but a different experience entirely.
Nyhavn sits in Indre By, the old city centre, so a morning here fits naturally with a coffee somewhere in the surrounding streets before the canal fills up. Eat breakfast first, then arrive.
Within walking distance
City-center breakfast classic
Atelier September is a well-known breakfast and café address in central Copenhagen. Its Gothersgade location suits a morning in Indre By before exploring the nearby shopping streets and sights.
Gothersgade 30 · 1123 · Copenhagen
Central Copenhagen café
Kalaset is a café on Vendersgade in central Copenhagen. It is a practical stop when your day takes you through Indre By, whether you are looking for breakfast, brunch or coffee.
Vendersgade 16 · 1363 · København K
Café near the historic centre
Sonny is a café on Rådhusstræde in Indre By. Its central address makes it a convenient breakfast, brunch or coffee stop between the old city and the harbour.
Rådhusstræde 5 · 1466 · København K
Getting there
Nearest Metro: Kongens Nytorv. Harbour buses also stop nearby.
Nyhavn, Copenhagen
Good to know
Keep reading
City center
The old town has courtyards, canals and cafés a few steps off the shopping streets.
ReadØsterbro
A small bronze statue on a rock, world-famous and best seen at an hour when you can actually see it.
ReadVesterbro
A nineteenth-century pleasure garden in the middle of the city: rides, gardens, concerts and thousands of lights.
Read