The Tivoli Gardens is one of the top attractions in Copenhagen.
According to Wikipedia, “Tivoli is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world.”
We made this our first stop in Copenhagen. The cost of admission is 130 DKK (~$20 USD) for a weekday. We purchased our tickets on arrival. It was quick and easy. There was no line.
In Pictures
The Tivoli Gardens is a huge place, but it’s hard to miss this grand structure (Nimb Hotel). Or that wandering peacock.
Since it’s a real park, you will find people sitting and chilling around.
Or, like this peacock. Just chilling.
The Trivoli is also an amusement park. If you are a thrill-seeker, there are roller coaster rides.
If you are looking for something a bit more tame, there’s always the classic Merry-Go-Around…
Food Hall
Of course, I had to check out the Food Hall. Since the food hall is accessible from the public street, you are technically exiting out of the garden. Just make sure you get your hand stamped by one of the attendants; it gives you re-entry access if you are not done with your visit.
There are a number of food shops. There are seating areas inside the food hall, as well as seating areas outside. We sat outside while we waited for our buzzers to go off. (Mine malfunctioned; it never buzzed!)
The food was just a-OK. There are a couple of restaurants within the garden as well.
There are performances at the Pantomime Theatre during scheduled times as well. I saw a brief stretch of a performance. I can’t say that I enjoyed it, though.
Carnival Games
I ended up throwing some time and money at a carnival game, the roll-a-ball-horse-racing game. Since I tend to do reasonably well with this game, I refrained from playing when only kids were playing. It’s a game of luck, but somehow, I’d still feel like I have an unfair advantage if only kids were playing. I don’t want to dash their hopes! When other adults were in on the game, all bets were off…
In Summary
While you can find carnival games at any amusement parks, it was actually the highlight of my visit at Tivoli Gardens That is, aside from the peacock sighting. Tivoli isn’t what I would considered a repeat destination, but it was nice way to spend a morning or early afternoon.
Have you visited the Tivoli Gardens? Is it worth a visit when visiting Copenhagen?
Tivoli is more magical at night. We were in Copenhagen in August 2018 for 3 days prior to a cruise. We had a corner room high up at the Radisson across the street facing Tivoli and loved seeing it from our room. We spent one evening at Tivoli, eating in one of the restaurants, Groften (decent food, good service), and walking through the entire park from early evening until after dark. We didn’t do any rides or play any games, but we loved the flowers and watching the transformation as the park lit up after dark. And people watching. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Thanks for sharing that perspective. I thought I had mentioned it in my post (but hadn’t ), so I just realized I didn’t do the Tivoli Garden enough justice.
I should have added that it was still lovely to stroll through the park, even “during” the daytime. We actually spent a half-day there (and aside from the one carnival game we played; we didn’t go on any rides either). We wandered around the park and then had a meal there. Admittedly, I remembered being slightly disappointed because for a “garden”, I was actually hoping to see more flowers (but hadn’t).
That said, I can only imagine how magical (and romantic) it would be to stroll around with a loved one at the park at night when the lights lit up.
Thanks for your comment.