The essential ingredients for Christmas in Denmark

Kim Wyon

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

In Denmark, the Christmas season really begins in the middle of November, when the Tivoli Gardens open their gates and invite everyone in for the Christmas season and their traditional market. A lot of us Danes have a visit to Tivoli Gardens on top of our to-do list for the festive season, and the reasons for that are plentiful, starting with the decorations.

Christoffer Anias Sandager / Tivoli

Christmas decorations in Tivoli Gardens.

Christoffer Anias Sandager / Tivoli

One million twinkling lights

Even the most ambitious at-home Christmas decorator will be blown away by the next-level style of the classic gardens. More than a million twinkling lights light up the dark gardens and bring a dash of magic to everything every day.

Oh Christmas Tree🎄

The Christmas tree is an important part of any Danish Christmas celebration. Tivoli takes this love of a decorated fir tree to another level with 1,000 trees (count them!) spread across the garden together with an additional 7.5 tons of fir branches. It all smells as good as it looks.

This Christmas, we'll give you our hearts...

This year’s Tivoli decorations include a special celebration of hearts across the gardens and in all the decorations. There is even a 115 ft. glowing heart right in front of the Nimb Hotel - that's really something special.

Christoffer Anias Sandager / Tivoli

The taste of Christmas in Denmark

Eating and drinking to your heart’s content is one of the most important parts of Christmas for us. In Tivoli, you are never far from a Danish Christmas treat. We just hope you like sweet things!

Danish Christmas in one bite

Æbleskiver are the small delicious round lovechild of the doughnut and the pancake and you can find them everywhere in Denmark at this time of year. You eat them by dipping them in jam and then dipping them in icing sugar (which sticks to the jam) and seriously, they are the best! Don't just take our word for it - across the Christmas season, Tivoli sells 1,456,364 kilos of them! That's alongside the 11,800 litres of mulled wine, gløgg, that they also get through.

Æbleskiver and mulled wined at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.

Anders Bøggild / Tivoli

What's better than Christmas cake?

If you want to find out, head to the beautiful patisserie Cakenhagen in the middle of Tivoli Gardens, where they always have at least 12 different cakes to choose from. For a bit of Cakenhagen at home, try out their sweet treats in the Nimb chocolate calendar. At the iconic Nimb Hotel, the Cakenhagen delights also take centre stage in their afternoon tea – perfect for a relaxing break by the fireplace.

A five star Christmas at Nimb Hotel

Next door to Tivoli, Nimb Hotel takes its festivities very seriously. Every year the luxury hotel is decorated with lights and illuminations that make it look like a winter palace, while indoors, guests can have their own Christmas trees in their suites and children are able to decorate their own trees and the reception area.

Nimb also give their visitors presents every Advent Sunday, in keeping with the Danish tradition. And you don't have to stay over to enjoy the it - Nimb also hosts Christmas dinners with the traditional Danish menu of roasted duck and the indulgent rice and almond pudding, Risalamande, to follow.

Lasse Salling - Tivoli Gardens

Drink in the fairy tale

Nimb launched a new cocktail menu in the shape of a fairy tale book this spring. Each of the beautiful creations inside has been crafted with inspiration from one of Hans Christian Andersen’s well-known fairy tales. Choose between The Little Match Girl, The Snow Queen or one of the other creative drinks.

More ho, ho, holiday fun...

Get a taste of a festive fairy tale

Be charmed by Copenhagen

7 delightful things to know about Christmas in Denmark

Danish flag decoration on a Christmas tree

Spend New Year’s Eve in Denmark

The essential ingredients for a magical Christmas

Share your wonders:

Our sites

Media

Help