The Best Food Markets in Copenhagen: A 2026 Eating Guide

Copenhagen has a reputation as an expensive city to eat in, and the food markets are how you get around it. Some are open-air harbour spots you make an afternoon of, others are covered halls you duck into year-round. This guide covers the best food markets in Copenhagen and what to order at each. My favorite is listed last, the one I go back to every trip for the most interesting variety.

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The Best Food Market on a Copenhagen Layover: Torvehallerne

Torvehallerne is open all year and you’ll find it a block from Nørreport, just 15 minutes from the airport at the most central transit point in the city. Two glass-roofed halls hold more than 60 vendors, a mix of produce stalls, fishmongers, cheese counters, and prepared-food stands. When the weather turns, which in Copenhagen it does, this place keeps going.

• The Danish anchor here is Hallernes Smørrebrød, with 15 to 20 varieties of open-faced sandwich on dark rye.
• Slagter Lund, a butcher counter, gets a huge queue for roast pork sandwiches and frikadeller.
• On the international side, Hija de Sanchez brought former Noma pastry chef Rosio Sanchez’s tacos to the market.
• Coffee Collective will satisfy the coffee snob in your group.

What to Order: A few pieces of smørrebrød from Hallernes, split between two people. I’d add three tacos from Hija de Sanchez if you want to cross into the international stalls in one sitting.

Best If: You’re visiting off-season, staying central, or you want one stop that shows the full range from Danish to global. This spot works great on a long layover because it’s a quick, direct train ride and you get a great taste of Copenhagen.

Skip If: You want harbour views and open air. This is a covered market that’s efficient rather than scenic.

The Best Food Market Near Nyhavn: Broens Gadekøkken

Broens Gadekøkken, also called Bridge Street Kitchen, is the easiest market to reach on the sightseeing circuit, as it’s a five-minute walk over the Inderhavnsbroen bridge from Nyhavn. It’s compact, with well-chosen stalls, and the whole market strings along the water between Nyhavn and Christianshavn. Benches provide views of boats and ferries passing in front of you. It’s the best people-watching of any market in the city.

The dish I keep coming back to is the fries from Strangas, loaded with a spicy sauce and feta. Think poutine crossed with Greek flavours, and the fries somehow stay crisp under all of it. Portions are generous and easy to share. Beyond that, the stalls cover pulled pork, burgers, and a smaller Hija de Sanchez outpost. There’s also a Gasoline Grill stall here but I prefer the original.

What to Order: The Strangas Greek fries with feta, shared. I still don’t know how those fries stay so crispy under the sauce and feta.

Best If: You’re near Nyhavn, want to eat outside by the water, and you’re here in the warmer months.

Skip If: You’re visiting between November and February. Broens is seasonal, and in winter the market closes and the space becomes an ice rink.

The Biggest Street Food Market in Copenhagen: Reffen

Reffen is the largest street food market in the Nordics, built on a former shipyard out on Refshaleøen. Around 40 to 50 vendors sell from repurposed shipping containers, each one painted and built out by its owner, spread across an open harbour-front lot. There’s a brewery, live music some nights, and long communal tables. You make an afternoon of it rather than a quick stop.

The food offerings cover the globe:

• Korean BBQ, ramen, falafel, wood-fired pizza, Mexican, plus Danish stalls doing smørrebrød with a twist and Nordic seafood in buns.
• Mains start around 70 DKK and most are in the 85 to 150 DKK range, which is a real savings compared to a central restaurant.
• The catch is getting there. It’s a 15-minute bike ride or the 991 harbour bus from Nyhavn, and walking from the center takes 30 minutes or more.

What to Order: Pick one Danish stall and one from across the world, a smørrebrød or Nordic seafood bun plus Korean BBQ or ramen.

Best If: You’ve got a free afternoon, decent weather, and you want the full harbour-side experience with a beer in hand.

Skip If: You’re short on time or visiting in winter. Reffen is open April through October only, and the trek out doesn’t justify a quick meal.

Danish and Nordic Classics: What to Order at the Markets

Before you chase the international stalls, the markets are the cheapest place in Copenhagen to eat the Danish classics properly.

• Smørrebrød: This is dense buttered rye topped with pickled herring, shrimp, roast beef, or crisp pork. It’s a lunch dish, usually shared, and Hallernes Smørrebrød at Torvehallerne does it best.
• Frikadeller are pan-fried pork or pork-and-veal meatballs, served in a sandwich or plated with potatoes. Slagter Lund at Torvehallerne is the stall I love.
• Their seafood cousin, fiskefrikadeller, shows up fried and golden at seafood counters.
• And the market versions of the pølse, the Danish hot dog, are worth ordering, either the classic ristet dog with remoulade, mustard, and crispy onions, or the fransk hotdog, a sausage tucked into a hollowed baguette with herb dressing.

What to Order: Smørrebrød at Hallernes, frikadeller from Slagter Lund, and a fransk hotdog if you want the classics in one visit.

Best If: You want to taste traditional Danish food without booking a sit-down restaurant or paying restaurant prices.

Skip If: You’ve come purely for global street food. But that’s here too, and there’s no rule saying you have to order Danish.

Best International Eats: Tacos, Ramen, and Greek Fries

This isn’t a specific market, but something to keep in mind as you explore. The reason the markets stay fun across a week of eating is the international spread. Copenhagen’s stall operators come from everywhere, and the quality is usually great:

• Hija de Sanchez tacos, from a former Noma pastry chef, turn up at Torvehallerne, Broens, and Reffen.
• Ramen, bao, and dumplings show up across the bigger markets.
• Wood-fired pizza and burgers are everywhere.

The one I recommend most is the Strangas Greek fries with spicy sauce and feta. The same vendor operates at both Broens and Tivoli Food Hall, so you can get the signature fries outdoors on the bridge in summer or indoors year-round.

What to Order: Strangas Greek fries with feta, then Hija de Sanchez tacos if you want a second stall. Both travel well between markets.

Best If: You’re eating your way across several markets and want variety rather than the same Danish plate twice.

Skip If: You came to Copenhagen strictly for New Nordic cooking. The markets are casual and global, and they feature both traditional Danish dishes and international cuisine.

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My Favorite Market in Copenhagen: Tivoli Food Hall

Tivoli Food Hall is the market I rate highest, and it earns it by being one you can always get to. It’s indoors, admission-free, and separate from Tivoli Gardens itself, so you don’t need a park ticket to walk in and eat. Around 15 to 20 stalls cover sushi, smørrebrød, burgers, ramen, and more, and you’ll find the hall right by Copenhagen Central Station, which makes it easy to reach on any day and in any weather.

🏆 My Personal Pick

Tivoli Food Hall is my overall pick of the Copenhagen markets, and the reason is simple: I can go no matter the weather. We had dinner at Sushi Market here, a roll, four pieces of nigiri, and a glass of wine each, and the food-hall setting made it casual and fun rather than fussy. The detail that seals it for me is that those Strangas Greek fries I loved at Broens are served here too, from the same vendor, so my favourite outdoor bite is available indoors on a rainy day. You can also find traditional Danish food under the same roof. That’s the whole case for Tivoli. It does everything the other markets do well, under a roof, all year.

What to Order: The Strangas Greek fries with feta, or a roll plus nigiri from Sushi Market if you’re settling in for dinner. There’s also the French dog, a delicious hotdog in a baguette.

Best If: You want a weather-proof market meal in the center, on any day, with a wide variety under one roof.

Skip If: You’re chasing the open-air harbour experience. This one trades the view for a roof.

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Copenhagen Food Markets: What to Know Before You Go

A few practical things apply across all:

• Head to Torvehallerne or Tivoli Food Hall when the weather turns, since both stay open year-round.
• Plan Reffen (April through October) and Broens (roughly spring through autumn) for the warmer months, and know that Broens becomes an ice rink in winter.
• You generally don’t need cash in Copenhagen or anywhere in Scandinavia. The whole region is generally cashless. If somewhere does require cash it’s easy to find an alternative without ever exchanging money.
• Walk to Broens in five minutes from Nyhavn and to Torvehallerne from Nørreport, but you’ll need transport to reach Reffen.

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Where to Stay in Copenhagen: My Top Picks

Budget

• CityHub Copenhagen is a capsule-style hotel in Vesterbro where the hubs have proper double beds, shared saunas, and a self-service bar, and it delivers real value in a city where that’s hard to find.
• Hotel Bethel is right on the Nyhavn waterfront with some of the best views in the city, and while the rooms are basic and it costs more than most budget options, you’re paying for a location almost nothing else can match at this price.

Mid-Range

• citizenM Copenhagen Rådhuspladsen is where I like to stay with my wife. It’s very close to Tivoli and Central Station, and the 7th-floor cloudM lounge is my favorite rooftop bar in the city.
• Hotel Sanders is an elegant boutique property at Nyhavn, and its rooftop conservatory garden makes it a good pick for a special trip without the five-star price.

Luxury

• Nimb Hotel is located inside Tivoli Gardens in a Moorish palace building, which puts you steps from the food hall and the park itself.
• Villa Copenhagen is a five-star spot in a converted 1912 Central Post Building next to Central Station with a heated rooftop pool.

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🍪 Final Bite

Copenhagen’s food markets are how you eat well in an expensive city without ever booking a restaurant. Here’s the short version:

• Start at Torvehallerne for the year-round, all-weather market and the best smørrebrød at Hallernes.
• Walk over the bridge from Nyhavn to Broens Gadekøkken for waterfront people-watching and the Strangas Greek fries.
• Head out to Reffen on a free afternoon for the biggest global spread, April through October only.
• Tivoli Food Hall is my favorite since it’s indoor, admission-free (as it operates separately from Tivoli Gardens), and open year-round. It has a great mix of Danish traditional, international, and Instagramable options.
• Order the Danish classics, smørrebrød and frikadeller, at the markets to taste them cheaply.
• Grab a fransk hotdog or a ristet dog for the true Copenhagen experience.

Been to Copenhagen and found a stall I missed? Tell me in the comments, I’m always adding to the list before the next trip.

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