Copenhagen or Stockholm?

The case for Copenhagen, stated narrowly

It is the safest capital in the ranking that exists: first in the Safe Cities Index in 2021, with Denmark 8th in the Global Peace Index in 2025 on a score of 1.393. It is flat and small enough that the centre works on foot, with Strøget pedestrianised since 1962 running through Gammeltorv and Nytorv. And under the hygge there is a record that almost nobody sells: about 20,000 dead in the plague of 1711, 47% of the medieval core burned in 1728, 300 Congreve rockets and a burned cathedral in 1807, 4,737 cholera deaths in 1853, and a permanent scaffold on Nytorv for 134 years.

Where Sweden comes into Copenhagen

More than the rivalry suggests. Nyhavn was dug between 1670 and 1673 by Swedish prisoners of war taken in the Scanian War. The kirkegrim, the church-guardian belief of Danish folklore, is strongest in Scania, Halland and Blekinge, provinces that were Danish before they were Swedish. The two countries are stitched into each other's history at exactly the points this site covers.

The practical difference to plan around

Light. Copenhagen sits far enough north that on 21 June the sun sets at 9:57 pm and nautical twilight runs to roughly 10:58 pm, while on 21 December the city gets 7 hours 6 minutes of daylight. If you are coming for an evening walk, the month decides everything — see when it gets dark and the best time to visit. What is bookable here is on the walks page.

Frequently asked questions