One Day in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen: Our Favorite Rides, Food, and Experiences

One of the gems of Copenhagen, Denmark is the beautiful Tivoli Gardens. It’s not actually a garden (although, there are some BEAUTIFUL gardens inside), but a family-friendly theme park that I think is a must-visit in Copenhagen.

It’s a ton of fun AND a great historic site! It first opened in 1843 and is the third-oldest amusement park in the world that’s still operating.

On our trip to Copenhagen, I knew that we needed to have a day dedicated to something our kiddo would love. But I’m not going to lie…even if we hadn’t been traveling with our kiddo, I would have still wanted to spend a day in Tivoli Gardens myself!

So here’s what we did during our day in Tivoli Gardens and our recommendations for the best rides and food!

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Tickets to Tivoli Gardens

First off, you’ll want to make sure you have your tickets to Tivoli Gardens. You can get tickets online ahead of time for easy entrance.

And you want to make sure you get the RIGHT ticket! Because Tivoli is such a beautiful place, they actually sell tickets for people to come in and just stroll around and maybe get some food.

But if you want to ride the rides, you’ll want to make sure you get a ticket that includes rides. (I think the Entrance with Unlimited Ride Pass is the way to go!)

If you buy the Copenhagen Card (which I highly recommend if you are doing a lot in Copenhagen and it also comes with transportation access!), entrance into Tivoli Gardens is included and you can buy a Ride Pass separately.

Large ornate archway built of brick and stone that says Tivoli

Getting to Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli Gardens is located near Copenhagen City Hall in Rådhuspladsen. If you’re staying in Copenhagen, the best way to get there is to take the metro to Rådhuspladsen.

The entrance to Tivoli Gardens is located on Vesterbrogade, so make sure you go there (as opposed to walking around searching for the entrance which is the mistake we made!).

Tivoli Gardens Hours

Tivoli Gardens is open for Summer, Halloween, and Christmas seasons. There are a few days between each season when they are closed, and Tivoli is closed for most of January, February, and March. (Which, I mean, makes sense because I definitely wouldn’t want to be outdoors at an amusement park during a Copenhagen winter.)

Generally, Tivoli is open from 11:00 am to around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m.

Narrow brick street alleyway. There are buildings on either side for different shops and restaurants, and in the middle of the alleyway in the distance there is a tall tree.

Tivoli Gardens Rides

So here’s how our day in Tivoli Gardens went and the rides we were able to do!

When we entered the park, we turned left and started making our way clockwise around the park.

While I think it might be more beneficial to head to the back of the park to do some of the more popular roller coasters first, we were on our kiddo’s timeline, and she wanted to do The Lighthouse first in the Rasmus Klump area of the park (which is super kid friendly and has a playground and everything!). The Lighthouse is kind of like Dumbo at Disney World, except you have to pedal to make your vehicle go up.

From there, we made our way to the back of the park. We rode The Camel Trail (a small kiddie coaster), The Classic Carousel, and the Dragon Boats, which is probably the most photographed ride at Tivoli (you can see it in the top picture of this post).

Then after some lunch (we ate at Viften and loved it!), it was time for some of the bigger rides.

The Demon is definitely the most popular coaster in the park and had the longest line to wait in (although honestly it wasn’t that bad). Gerrit and I actually both waited individually because our kiddo didn’t want to ride it and the wait took about 20-30 minutes for each of us.

We also road The Milky Way Express (another fun coaster and our kiddo’s favorite), The Mine (a dark boat ride), The Flying Trunk (a dark ride), the Vintage Cars (a slow car ride), and The Roller Coaster.

Entrance to the Demon roller coaster. Sign above the line entrance says "Daemonen" and behind it you can see park of the red coaster track and a Japanese pagoda building — Entrance to The Demon

Overall, the lines to get in (we were there in early June) weren’t bad at all, and we were even able to ride some of these rides multiple times!

While a trip to Disney World requires a lot of planning these days, I told Gerrit that visiting Tivoli Gardens felt like what it used to be like to visit Disney when I was a kid. You could mostly show up and do what you felt like doing. Even without a lot of strategy in place, we were able to ride everything we wanted to and it all felt pretty chill.

Our Favorite Rides

While a lot of rides at Tivoli Gardens are kind of “standard” amusement park rides you’ll find at any amusement park (carousels, kiddie coasters, etc.), there are some unique rides we really loved.

The Demon — This was my favorite coaster and honestly I think it is THE perfect roller coaster for kiddos who are ready for their first inversions. It’s pretty compact and has some great loop-de-loops, but there aren’t any super tall hills and the overall ride is relatively smooth.
The Dragon Boats — Probably the most photographed ride in Tivoli Gardens (with The Demon loops in the background). This is just a pleasant self-driving boat ride around a lake, and it’s just so beautiful.
The Flying Trunk — Tivoli’s slow dark-ride. It tells the stories of Han Christian Anderson fairy tales and it’s charming in how old-school it is. It feels like a predecessor to the dark rides at Disney. (Fun fact: Walt Disney got a lot of inspiration for Disneyland from Tivoli Gardens!)
The Milky Way Express — This was our kiddo’s FAVORITE ride and I credit it with helping her fall in love with roller coasters. It’s a step up from a kiddie coaster, but there still aren’t any inversions or huge hills. We loved it and rode it a total of seven times while we were there.
The Mine — Another slow dark ride, but this time in a boat going through a gem mine. You enter the “land of the Grotes” and there’s a dragon protecting a treasure. It’s a pretty mild ride, and while there is a laser game you can play during your ride, I actually enjoyed it more just riding and looking at everything.
The Roller Coaster — You HAVE to experience this in Tivoli Gardens. It’s a a historic wooden roller coaster built in 1914 and they actually still have hand-operated brakemen that ride it with you!

Large Swing Carousel with ornate artwork on the top. It's surrounded by a small fence and grassy lawn area. — Swing Carousel

Food in Tivoli Gardens

The food possibilities in Tivoli Gardens are abundant! And SO good! There are over SIXTY places to eat in Tivoli Gardens, which is just incredible (and maybe overwhelming?) for the size of this theme park.

In fact, it’s so good that many people come to Tivoli Gardens JUST to eat and it’s recognized as a culinary destination. Especially because the famous chefs that visit The Japanese Pagoda.

Here are a few dining options to have on your radar:

A Hereford Beefstouw — Known as “one of Copenhagen’s oldest steakhouses.”
Bryggeriet Apollo — Denmark’s first microbrewery.
Fru Nimb — Fine dining with traditional Danish food.
Gasoline Grill — The best burgers in Copenhagen! They have multiple locations (we went to their original) and they also have one in Tivoli!
Grøften — A beloved traditional Danish restaurant.
Viften — Traditional Danish food in a casual restaurant. We ate here and loved it!
wagamana — Japanese ramen bar.

Another spot to eat if your family can’t agree? Tivoli Food Hall! This spot is attached to Tivoli Gardens and has a variety of food stalls. You can find everything from French food to burgers to pizza to traditional Danish open-face sandwiches (smørrebrød). You can even go to eat here without visiting the inside of Tivoli Gardens (it’s open to the public).

Garden area with lots of plants and a sidewalk winding around a curve. In the skyline in the distance you can see a tall swing carousel ride.

More Fun in Tivoli Gardens

Aside from rides and food, there are other way to enjoy Tivoli Gardens as well. It is named “gardens” after all, and many people just enjoy a stroll around the park.

At night, Tivoli turns into a completely different kind of place too, with beautiful lighting that gives the park a magical feel.

Tivoli Gardens is also known for it’s entertainment! There are several stages throughout the park that offer concerts, dance and theater performances, and more.

Another way to enjoy Tivoli Gardens? Stay there! The Nimb Hotel (a Small Luxury Hotel that is now under the Hilton umbrella) is INSIDE Tivoli Gardens! This would definitely make for a memorable experience!