Copenhagen's CopenPay goes year round: earn perks for green travel
CopenPay rewards visitors who move through Copenhagen with a lighter touch. Arrive by train, ride a bike, take the metro, stay a little longer, or join a clean up, and the city hands back free coffees, museum entry, bike time, tours, and experiences you will not find in a standard guidebook. After two summer pilots, the programme is now a permanent part of the city's tourism year.
- ActiveAll year, since 9 June 2026
- Who runs itWonderful Copenhagen
- Cost to joinFree, rewards on your phone
- WhereCopenhagen and partner areas
A simple trade: better choices in, real experiences out
Tourism puts pressure on every popular city, and Copenhagen is no exception. CopenPay takes a different route from bans or visitor caps. Instead of telling people what not to do, it makes the greener option the more attractive one, then pays the favour back in experiences that only locals usually know about. The idea came from a gap that market research keeps finding: a large majority of travellers say they want to travel more sustainably, but only a small share actually change what they do. CopenPay closes that gap with a nudge rather than a lecture.
Act
Open the CopenPay app and choose a good deed, such as arriving by train, riding a bike, collecting litter, or joining a community garden.
Enjoy
Start the activity at the participating partner, swipe in the app, then finish it and show your screen to claim the reward.
Repeat
The more good actions you complete, the more rewards you unlock. Nothing here is a one off, and the offers change through the year.
How you earn rewards in Copenhagen
CopenPay groups the ways to take part into three buckets, so there is an entry point whether you are still planning the trip or already walking the streets.
Transport choices
Arrive by train, take the metro or bus, bring an electric car, or add sustainable aviation fuel to your flight. How you get there and how you get around both count.
Stay longer
Book or extend a stay of four days or more at a partner hotel. A longer visit spreads your travel footprint and unlocks perks such as half price neighbourhood tours.
Good actions
Join a harbour or park clean up, help care for nature, log birds in a sanctuary, choose a plant based meal, or refill a reusable bottle. Small habits add up.
Real rewards from the 2026 programme
These are examples from the current season. Partner offers rotate, so the CopenPay app is the live list on the day you travel.
A free StoryHunt audio tour
Step off the train, pick a neighbourhood such as Nørrebro, and take a guided audio walk at your own pace.
Discounted Donkey Republic rides
Choose a shared bike over a car and unlock a lower fare on your next ride around the city.
A free lemonade at Broens Street Food
Arrive in Copenhagen by train and cool down on the harbour front with a drink on the house.
40% off a seasonal vegetarian dish
Order the plant based dish at a partner kitchen and the discount is applied on the spot.
Half price city tours
A longer stay unlocks half price on neighbourhood walks, including Christianshavn and Nørrebro.
Park and charge for less
Plug in at partner car parks such as Q Park Nørreport or Vesterport and a discount comes back to you.
How CopenPay grew from one summer to the whole year
- Length
- Four weeks
- Participants
- About 5,000
- Partners
- About 20 reward partners
- Length
- Nine weeks
- Participants
- About 25,000
- Partners
- About 100 organisations
- Length
- All year, no end date
- Format
- A mobile app experience
- Reach
- City wide, plus partner areas
What the numbers say so far
These figures come from Wonderful Copenhagen and the programme's own pilot reporting, and they explain why so many other cities have asked how it works.
The behaviour gap that started it all: research cited by Earth.Org found that 82% of people said they wanted to travel more sustainably, but only 22% had actually changed their habits. CopenPay was built to close the space between good intentions and real choices.
"What we have learned is that behaviour does not change through information alone. It changes when people are given the opportunity to experience something meaningful."
Rikke Holm Petersen, Director of Behaviour, Wonderful CopenhagenMuseums and galleries join the reward map
Some of the most memorable rewards are the ones that hand you a piece of the city's culture. Cultural institutions are partners in the programme, not just stops along a route, which turns a discount into a reason to look at Copenhagen differently.
Cisternerne and the dark of Seven Deaths
Under the lawns of Søndermarken, a former nineteenth century water reservoir is now a subterranean art venue. Through 30 November 2026 it hosts Seven Deaths, Marina Abramović's immersive work inspired by Maria Callas and voiced with Willem Dafoe. The concrete galleries carry a natural reverb of up to seventeen seconds, and arriving through CopenPay makes the visit part of a wider green pact.
Designmuseum Danmark and city museums
From design and architecture to city history, partner institutions offer free or discounted entry. Several of them sit within a short walk or bike ride of each other, so a single green afternoon can string together two or three rewards.
DestinationPay takes the idea beyond Copenhagen
Wonderful Copenhagen did not keep the model to itself. It packaged the approach as DestinationPay so other places can build their own version, and the interest has been broad. More than a hundred cities have asked how to replicate it, and several have already started.
Where the idea has travelled
Berlin and Helsinki have launched similar reward programmes, and destinations across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific are exploring their own take on rewarding responsible visitors.
- Copenhagen
- Berlin
- Helsinki
- 100+ cities in talks
Why green travel suits this city so well
Copenhagen is built for the habits CopenPay rewards. The city is famously home to more bicycles than residents, its terrain is flat, and the harbour front is lined with lanes that make cycling the quickest way between the colourful houses of Nyhavn and the modern architecture of Ørestad. That is why a reward such as extra bike time is not a gimmick here. It slots straight into how the city already moves.
If you are packing for a cycling city, breathable layers matter more than anything. Comfortable kit for the saddle and a few easy shirts for warm days make the trip simpler, and custom printed tees are a light souvenir to carry home. Browse our cycling apparel, everyday t shirts, or activewear if you are stocking up before you fly.
Denmark keeps rewarding visitors who slow down and look closer. The same spirit runs through a new street art mural at Esbjerg harbour and a centuries old Faroese knitted sweater that shows how long lasting craft still shapes what we wear. If you are coming from further afield, there are now direct flights to Nuuk that open up the wider Nordic region, and our Philippines to Denmark guide covers shipping and printing for teams here.
- Bikes vs peopleMore bikes than residents
- Best rewardExtra bike rental time
- Easy winsTrain, metro, walking
Where this information comes from
This feature was reviewed in October 2026 and draws on the programme's own material and international coverage. Rewards and partner offers change through the year, so confirm the live list before you travel.
- CopenPay, the official programme and app
- VisitCopenhagen, CopenPay visitor guide
- TIME, Best Inventions of 2025: Wonderful Copenhagen CopenPay
- EU Tourism Platform, CopenPay's second season results
- CC Magazine, CopenPay and the future of sustainable tourism
- Earth.Org, how CopenPay encourages responsible tourism
CopenPay questions, answered
What is CopenPay?
CopenPay is a rewards programme run by Wonderful Copenhagen, the city's official tourism organisation. Visitors who choose greener ways to travel and act, such as arriving by train, cycling, taking public transport, or joining a clean up, earn perks across the city. It is free to take part.
When is CopenPay active?
Since 9 June 2026 CopenPay runs all year rather than for a summer window. It began as a four week pilot in 2024, returned for a nine week season in 2025, and is now a permanent part of Copenhagen's tourism calendar.
How do I take part?
Use the CopenPay mobile experience. Choose a good deed, start it at the participating partner, then finish the activity in the app and show your screen to claim the reward. You can stack as many actions as you like during your stay.
What counts as a good deed?
Arriving by train, bus, metro, or electric car, adding sustainable aviation fuel to a flight, cycling or walking instead of driving, staying four days or more at a partner hotel, joining clean ups or urban gardening, caring for nature, choosing plant based meals, and refilling a reusable bottle.
What rewards can I get?
Rewards have included organic coffee, free or discounted museum entry, extra time on rental bikes, guided and audio tours, kayak trips, sauna sessions, cycling classes, recycling workshops, and discounted plant based meals. Partner offers rotate, so the app shows what is live on the day.
Is CopenPay meant to bring in more tourists?
No. The programme is designed around how visitors behave while they are in the city, not around growing visitor numbers, and it is promoted mainly to people already in Copenhagen. The aim is to shift tourism from pure consumption toward contribution, so locals and visitors both benefit.
Traveling green, and dressing the part
Heading to Copenhagen for a ride, a clean up, or a team trip? We print custom apparel and activewear for groups from our base in the Philippines. Send us your idea and your numbers, and we will come back with a free quote.