How long does a ghost walk take?
Ninety minutes, and what is in them
The guided ghost walk runs an hour and a half from Nytorv to Kongens Nytorv. That is a short distance for a long time — roughly a kilometre — and the arithmetic tells you what the walk is: a series of stops where you stand in front of a building while somebody explains what happened there, with short moves between them. Nobody is route-marching you. It also means you are standing still in the cold for longer than you would on a walk of the same length under your own steam, which is the practical reason what to wear matters here.
Ninety minutes is also, in this climate, about the right ceiling. In late October, when sunset is between 4:48 pm and 4:35 pm, an evening walk is fully dark and comfortably over before the evening is. In January, at an average of 1.4 °C, ninety minutes outdoors is as much as most visitors want.
The Danish walks are shorter and longer
The nightman’s walk is 75 minutes, the shortest thing on this site, and it needs no more: three centuries of the natmænd, who did the sanitation work, removed dead animals and assisted the executioner, and were counted dishonourable for it. The folk legends walk is 90 minutes, the same as the ghost walk, covering the Devil loose in Laksegade, a widow buried alive, a bride whose anger darkened the sun, and the origins of several Danish phrases. Both are in Danish only: the English-language picture.
Four hours for the giants
The walk after Thomas Dambo’s six wooden trolls is a different sort of commitment: four hours, out of the city, with private transport, a coffee break and a meal included, in daylight. It is not an evening, it is most of a day, and it needs to be planned as one. Melissa from the United States called it “our favorite activity in Copenhagen” and noted the point of it — “nice to get outside the city and explore”. The giants page.
The hunts have no clock at all
Both self-guided murder mysteries take exactly as long as you take. You start when you like, you stop for coffee, you argue about the evidence, you finish. Mats from Sweden reported that the Amalienborg case was “actually a bit difficult to solve”, which is a length as well as a difficulty. The Amalienborg hunt stays valid for 93 days from purchase, so you can buy it before you travel and pick your afternoon once you are here.
If you want a rough planning figure, treat a hunt as an afternoon or an evening rather than an hour, and add whatever time your party spends arguing. Both want at least two people and suit two to four: guided against self-guided.
| Copenhagen: Nightman’s Tour in Danish | Our pickCopenhagen: Guided Ghost Walk through Haunted City | Copenhagen: The Six Forgotten Giants Hunt and Nature Walk | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 1 hr 15 | 1 hr 30 | 4 hrs |
| Language | Danish only | English | English |
| Time of day | Evening | Evening | Daytime |
| Distance | On foot, central | About a kilometre | Out of the city |
| Food included | None | None | Coffee break and a meal |
| Starts | Højbro Plads | Nytorv | Valdemarsgade, Vesterbro |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
Allow half an hour on either side of a guided walk and you will enjoy it more. Arrive early enough to find the guide on Nytorv without hurrying, and leave the hour after free: the walk finishes at the top of Nyhavn, which is a good place to be at the end of an evening and a poor place to be in a rush.
Fitting one into a day
An evening walk in October takes the dark hours and leaves the whole day free, because the dark hours start at half past four. In June it takes an evening that is not dark, and the whole question changes: the sunset table. A hunt fits anywhere. The giants walk takes the day and gives nothing back, which is why it belongs at the start of a trip rather than squeezed into the last afternoon.
How many days you need in Copenhagen overall is on the trip-length page, and what a ninety-minute walk actually contains is on what to expect.
Lantern and black cloakCopenhagen: Guided Ghost Walk through Haunted City
The city’s outcastsCopenhagen: Nightman’s Tour in Danish
Six trolls in the woodsCopenhagen: The Six Forgotten Giants Hunt and Nature Walk
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Copenhagen ghost walk?
An hour and a half, from Nytorv to Kongens Nytorv, covering about a kilometre. Most of that time is spent standing and listening: what to expect.
How long is the nightman’s tour?
Seventy-five minutes, in Danish only, meeting at the Absalon statue on Højbro Plads: the nightman’s tour.
How long does a self-guided murder mystery take?
As long as you take. You set the pace and start when you like, and the Amalienborg case stays valid for 93 days: the Amalienborg hunt.
How long is the six giants walk?
Four hours, in daylight and out of the city, with private transport, a coffee break and a meal included: the giants page.
Is ninety minutes a long time to be standing?
It is longer than people expect, because the walk covers only a kilometre. Dress for standing rather than walking: what to wear.