Tivoli Gardens Copenhagen: A Guide for Summer and Christmas

Tivoli Gardens is right in the middle of Copenhagen, across the street from the Central Station, and it’s been delighting visitors since 1843. Is it worth visiting? Yes, and it’s a different place depending on when you go. I’ve been twice: once on a cool May evening, and once in December, when the whole park was lit for Christmas and I spent the night drinking gløgg with my best friend on a pirate ship.

This guide covers what Tivoli Gardens is like in both seasons, what tickets cost in 2026, the dates and hours for Christmas in Tivoli, what to eat, and where to stay nearby. For the rest of the city’s markets, see my guide to the Copenhagen Christmas markets.

Tivoli Gardens at a glance

Where	Vesterbrogade 3, across from Copenhagen Central Station
Opened	1843
Seasons	Summer (spring to late September), Halloween (October) and Christmas (mid-November to early January)
Christmas 2026	November 13, 2026 – January 3, 2027 (closed December 24)
Entry	230 DKK for adults on opening day (prices vary by date); rides cost extra
Time needed	3–4 hours, or an evening for the lights

What makes Tivoli Gardens special

Tivoli is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, and it doesn’t feel like a modern theme park. It’s a garden first: flower beds, a lake, a Chinese-style pagoda, a pantomime theater and hundreds of thousands of lights strung through the trees. Walt Disney visited in the 1950s and is said to have taken inspiration from it for Disneyland. Its wooden roller coaster, Rutschebanen, dates to 1914 and still has a brakeman riding along on every train.

You don’t have to love rides to love Tivoli. I’m not a big roller coaster fan, and neither visit was about the rides. The appeal is wandering: sweet shops, a wall of elephant heads, funhouse mirrors, and peacocks strolling the paths (I counted four on my first visit, and one seemed to wave goodbye from a balcony as we left).

Tivoli Gardens tickets and prices

Tivoli sells entry tickets and ride passes separately, and the ride pass doesn’t include entry. Your options:

• Entry ticket: 230 DKK for adults (ages 8+) and 115 DKK for children ages 3–7 on the Christmas season’s opening day. Children under 3 are free. Prices vary by date, and quieter days cost less, so check the calendar on tivoli.dk.
• Entry plus unlimited Ride Pass: 439 DKK for adults and 204 DKK for children on opening day. A ride pass alone is 229 DKK for adults and 99 DKK for children, so bundling saves a little. Worth it only if you’ll ride more than a few times.
• Single ride tickets: sold inside the park.
• Copenhagen Card: includes Tivoli entry, but not rides. See is the Copenhagen Card worth it?

Tickets are for a specific date and non-refundable, so buy them on tivoli.dk before you go, especially for December weekends. You can change the date once, up to 14 days after your original date, at a ticket booth on the day you visit. On my first visit, we bought Tivoli tickets bundled with a canal tour, which was an easy way to do both.

When to visit Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli isn’t open year-round. It opens for three seasons:

• Summer: flowers, open-air concerts, and the lake at its prettiest. Long Scandinavian evenings mean it’s light until late.
• Halloween: pumpkins and seasonal decorations in October.
• Christmas: lights, a Christmas market, gløgg and æbleskiver from mid-November to early January.

I loved my May visit, but December was something else. If you can only go once, go at Christmas.

My May visit: we went on our first evening in Copenhagen, a weeknight in shoulder season, and arrived just before 8pm hoping to catch a show on the pantomime stage. It wasn’t on that night, so check the program before you go. We wandered for about an hour and planned to stay until full dark, but May evenings in Copenhagen are cold, and we gave up before the lights came on. Bring a jacket, even in late spring.

Christmas in Tivoli 2026

Dates: November 13, 2026 – January 3, 2027. Closed December 24.

Hours: from 11am. On opening day, Tivoli is open until 11pm; closing times vary by day, so check the calendar on tivoli.dk before you go.

2026 highlights

• Tree lighting: November 13 at 4:30pm, with Father Christmas in front of the Tivoli Christmas tree.
• Father Christmas: in his house by the Open Air Stage, November 13 – December 23.
• Youth Guard Christmas parade: November 21 – December 19.
• Lucia parade: December 13 at 5:30pm.
• The Nutcracker: November 26 – December 20 (separate ticket).
• Fireworks: December 25 and 26 (separate ticket), and New Year’s Eve at 11pm (included with entry).
• Light installations: fireflies, luminous planets and the Christmas animation, all season long.

At Christmas, Tivoli turns into Copenhagen’s biggest Christmas market: wooden stalls selling ornaments and gifts, lights in every tree, Father Christmas in his house by the Open Air Stage, and all the rides running, plus two Christmas rides for little ones: the Elf Train and the Forest Carousel. You need a Tivoli entry ticket to visit the Christmas market; it isn’t free like the markets on Nytorv or in Nyhavn.

What to eat and drink

• Gløgg: Danish mulled wine, sweeter than German Glühwein, often with almonds and raisins in the cup. Ask for a shot of rum in it.
• Æbleskiver: round, fluffy Danish pancake balls usually served with powdered sugar and jam. Mine came in a paper boat drizzled with chocolate sauce, and I have no regrets. Tivoli is known for some of the best in the city.
• Brændte mandler: warm caramelized almonds in paper cones.

Gløgg on the pirate ship: I visited in December with my best friend and college roommate, and the highlight of the whole trip was drinking gløgg with shots of rum on the pirate ship on Tivoli’s lake, with the lights reflecting off the water.

What Christmas in Tivoli looks like

Photos don’t quite capture how much light there is. A few things to look for:

• Santa’s village: walk under a snow-dusted gate hung with ornament garlands and a red, star-cut spire into a little village of red-and-white cottages, with signs pointing to Santa’s parlor (Julemandens Stue).
• The main promenade: arches of glowing chandelier-style lamps run down the path, with garlands of copper and rose-gold ornaments strung overhead and the blue-lit Golden Tower (Det Gyldne Tårn) drop ride rising behind them.
• Nimb at night: the Moorish palace is outlined in thousands of bulbs, with its onion dome glowing pale blue and giant glittering heart sculptures out front. It’s the most photographed spot in the park, and the best photos come from across the gardens.
• The lake: a weeping willow wrapped in gold lights hangs over the water, and the pirate ship sits lit up on the far side, with Christmas trees reflected in the lake.
• Red heart lanterns hang in the trees, and spiral “trees” made of oversized red, gold and green baubles stand along the paths.
• The steam train: a vintage locomotive parked by a giant cone-shaped tree of white lights, near the turreted station buildings.
• Snow, real or not: when I visited, every roof, branch and fence was dusted white, which made it feel like a storybook even on a damp night.

Tips for Christmas in Tivoli

• Arrive around 3:30pm. You’ll see the park in the last of the daylight, then watch the lights come on. In December, it’s dark by about 4pm.
• Go on a weeknight. Friday and Saturday evenings are crowded.
• Skip the Ride Pass if you’re there for the atmosphere. Entry alone is plenty.
• Dress warmly. December in Copenhagen is usually around 0–4°C (32–39°F), damp and windy.
• See The Nutcracker: the ballet runs November 26 to December 20, 2026 at the Tivoli Concert Hall, and a ballet ticket includes entry to Tivoli that day.
• New Year’s Eve: the fireworks at 11pm on December 31 are included with entry. There are also Christmas fireworks on December 25 and 26, which need a separate ticket.

For Copenhagen’s other Christmas markets, including the free ones on Nytorv and at City Hall Square, see my Copenhagen Christmas markets guide. And for everything else to do in the city in December, see Copenhagen in winter.

Things to do at Tivoli Gardens

• Ride Rutschebanen, the 1914 wooden roller coaster, even if you’re not a coaster person. It’s more charming than scary.
• Look for the peacocks. They roam the gardens and perch on balconies.
• Watch the Pantomime Theatre, a tradition at Tivoli since the 1800s. Check the program for show times.
• Walk around the lake after dark, when the lights reflect off the water.
• Find the funhouse mirrors and the wall of elephant heads.
• See a concert at the Tivoli Concert Hall or on the open-air stage in summer.

Where to eat at Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli has more than 30 restaurants and food stands, from hot dogs to fine dining. For a sit-down meal, Nimb’s restaurants are inside the park. For a snack, æbleskiver and gløgg at Christmas, or ice cream in summer, are the classics. Food and drinks inside Tivoli cost more than in the rest of the city, so budget accordingly.

Where to stay near Tivoli Gardens

Stay close and you can walk back after the lights go off at night. Both of my picks are Fora partner hotels, so booking through me adds perks at the same rate as booking direct.

Hotel Nimb

Nimb is inside Tivoli itself, in the Moorish-style palace on the edge of the gardens. Some rooms open onto terraces over the park, and you can step out of the hotel and into the Christmas market. It’s the most memorable place to stay in Copenhagen for a December trip.

Book with me for these perks: daily breakfast for two, a room upgrade and early check-in or late checkout when available, a US$100 hotel credit, Wi-Fi, and seasonal welcome amenities.

Villa Copenhagen

Villa Copenhagen is in the former Central Post Office, a few minutes’ walk from Tivoli’s main entrance, with a glass-roofed courtyard lounge and a heated rooftop pool. It’s a good choice if you want more space and a quieter base, with Tivoli and City Hall Square nearby.

Book with me for these perks: daily full breakfast for two, a room upgrade and early check-in or late checkout when available, and a US$100 food and beverage credit.

Tips for visiting Tivoli Gardens

• Check the program on tivoli.dk before you go. Shows and concerts change by season and day.
• Go in the evening for the lights, in any season.
• Bring layers. Even in May, Copenhagen evenings can be cold.
• Buy tickets online and arrive with them on your phone.
• Combine it with a canal tour. Bundled tickets are easy to find, and the canal tour docks a short walk away.

Tivoli Gardens FAQ