When to Go

Summertime—when the lingering sun of June, July, and August brings out the best in the climate and the Danes—is the best time to visit. In July most Danes flee to their summer homes or go abroad. If you do go in winter, the weeks preceding Christmas are a prime time to explore Tivoli. Although the experience is radically different from the flower-filled summertime park, the winter park has a charm all its own: shops with Christmas gifts and decorations, stalls serving mulled wine, seasonal displays, and thousands of bulbs to light up the darkness.

Mainland Denmark and its surrounding islands have a cool maritime climate with mild to warm summers and cold (but not frigid) winters. Late summer and early fall are the rainiest seasons, but even then, precipitation is rarely heavy. Winter is dark and misty, but it's a great time to visit museums, libraries, and the countless atmospheric meeting places in which the Danes take refuge.