Things to do in Europe · Copenhagen
Copenhagen in October: Tivoli's Halloween, the canal in the right boat, three castles, and the free libraries
Tivoli with or without the ride pass, which canal cruise to book, the three-castles day rated 4.9, a Danish pastry tour, plus the city libraries' free October.
- For Europeans
- For visitors from the US
- For visitors from East Asia
October in Copenhagen is Tivoli's Halloween season, the autumn school holiday in the middle of the month, and the last of the canal boats with the roof off. The bookings below are from our partner's Copenhagen catalogue, 128 experiences as read on October 1, ranked by how many people booked and how they rated them. Prices are "from" prices in euros; the city is in kroner. The free programme around them is the city libraries', which in Copenhagen means lectures, workshops and a silent book club, on Glentio's Copenhagen page today.
While you're in Copenhagen
A few things to do in Copenhagen from our partner GetYourGuide. Booking happens on their site.
Glentio earns a small commission when you book through these links, at no extra cost to you. Prices as shown on GetYourGuide on 1 Oct 2026; today's price and availability are on their site. More things to do in Copenhagen
Tivoli, with or without the rides
- Tivoli Gardens entry, from €27, 4.5 from 9,200. The second-most-booked thing in the city. Entry only: the gardens, the lights, the Halloween decoration, which is the best in Europe, and none of the rides.
- Tivoli entry with the ride pass, from €52, 4.7 from 3,900, the better-rated version. If there is a child in the party, the pass pays for itself by the third ride.
The canal, settled
- Canal cruise with a guide, from €19, 4.6 from 12,900. The most-booked experience in Copenhagen; a live guide on a big boat.
- Electric canal tour with a live guide and hygge, from €27, 4.7 from 1,575, the better-rated and quieter version, with blankets. Eight euros for the small boat is the right trade in October.
The castles, and the bridge
- Kronborg, Frederiksborg Castle and Roskilde, from €185, rated 4.9 by 2,200, the best-rated experience in the Copenhagen catalogue. Hamlet's castle, the grandest of the Danish palaces, and the Viking ships, in one long day. The expensive line on this page and the one people do not regret.
- Lund and Malmö two-country tour, from €124, 4.7 from 4,700, over the Øresund bridge into Sweden and back; the cheaper version, from €107, 4.7 from 730, is the same bridge with fewer stops.
On two wheels, and on a plate
- Highlights three-hour bike tour with a local guide, from €53, 4.8 from 3,100. Copenhagen is a bike city and this is the way to see it; October is cold enough for gloves and not yet for the rain gear.
- Guided Segway tour, from €57, 4.9 from 730, the best-rated of the wheeled tours.
- Best of Danish pastry tasting tour, from €64, 4.8 from 540, the cheaper food walk, or the city's oldest food tour, established 2011, from €130, 4.9 from 600, the best-rated and the expensive one.
Booking happens on the partner's site; Glentio earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Free around it: the libraries' October
Copenhagen's free programme on Glentio is Københavns Biblioteker, the city library system, and in October it is unusually good. Tuesday October 6 at 17:00 the main library's LIVE stage hosts Christiane Vejlø on artificial intelligence. Saturday October 10 at 11:00 the Vesterbro library runs a Silent Book Club: bring what you are reading, sit together, read in silence for an hour. From Monday October 12, through the autumn school holiday, the Nørrebro library's children's department keeps an open conker workshop running 10:00 to 16:00, chestnuts and matchsticks, drop in. On Tuesday October 20 at 19:00 the Aarhus University science series on the quantum computer is relayed into four libraries at once, and on Wednesday October 21 at 19:00 Vanløse's culture station hosts Robotterne kommer, a popular-science evening arguing that robotics has been driven by sex, love and laziness. All in Danish, all free, and the libraries are warm.
For Europeans
Copenhagen is a short flight or a train from Hamburg and Stockholm. Book Tivoli with the ride pass for an evening and the electric canal boat for an afternoon; the castles day is for a long weekend. Amsterdam runs the same format at the other end of the bike-city argument.
For visitors from the US
Dates on posters are day first: 12/10 is October 12. Prices above are in euros; Tivoli with the pass costs about a theme-park ticket at home, the castles day about a day's car hire with a driver. Book the castles before you fly; Tivoli takes bookings the day before.
For visitors from East Asia
Mid-October is after Golden Week and before the Christmas markets, which open in Tivoli in mid-November. Denmark applies a minimum purchase per receipt for a VAT refund; ask for the tax-free form at the till. The partner tours run in English; the library evenings are in Danish; Tivoli needs no language.
Sources
- The partner catalogue for Copenhagen, as read on October 1, 2026, for every price, rating and review count.
- Københavns Biblioteker, checked October 5, 2026, for the free programme.