Copenhagen, the city of design and music: the back story

About Copenhagen, the city of design and music: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Copenhagen Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Copenhagen’s museums run from the Golden Age to the present: SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark, is the country’s largest art gallery; the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, the brewer Carl Jacobsen’s museum, has its Winter Garden; the Hirschsprung Collection keeps Eckersberg, Købke, Krøyer, Anna Ancher and Hammershøi; and Thorvaldsens Museum shows the sculptor’s life’s work beside Christiansborg. Danish design has its museum on Bredgade; the Royal Danish Theatre has three houses, the Old Stage on Kongens Nytorv, the Opera on Holmen and the Playhouse on the harbour.

The galleries

SMK holds an outstanding collection of Danish and international art; the Glyptotek’s Winter Garden, with its palms under the glass dome, is the museum’s green heart; the Hirschsprung Collection covers more than 100 years of Danish art from the 19th and early 20th century; the David Collection is on Kronprinsessegade.

Design

Designmuseum Danmark, on Bredgade, is the national museum of design; the Danish Architecture Center in BLOX, on the harbour, is Denmark’s national gallery for architecture. On Amagertorv, Royal Copenhagen (founded in 1775 as the Royal Porcelain Factory), Georg Jensen (1904) and Illums Bolighus (1925) show Danish design for sale.

Thorvaldsens Museum is open to all on Wednesdays without charge; the Hirschsprung stays open late on the last Thursday of the month.

Music and theatre

The Opera House on Holmen, designed by Henning Larsen, seats 1,400 on its main stage, under a ceiling of 105,000 sheets of 24-carat gold leaf; the Playhouse on the harbour has three stages, and DR Koncerthuset, by Jean Nouvel, is where the DR Symphony Orchestra plays.

Festivals

The Copenhagen Jazz Festival fills the city each July and Vinterjazz each February (jazz.dk); CPH:DOX is the city’s documentary festival.

Our advice: book the Royal Danish Theatre early; the 2026/27 season is on sale at kglteater.dk.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Copenhagen, the city of design and music: the back story before you go.