Are you standing at Copenhagen airport, with a few hours left until your flight home, and wondering how to kill time? Forget overpriced airport cafes and aimless wandering around the duty free zone. I have a much better plan for you.
How about legally jumping ship to another country, fulfilling your next travel goal and exploring the Swedish Malmo?
It's easier than you think. Here's how we blew it up in one Sunday morning during our weekend in Copenhagen.
By train across the sea in less than half an hour
The whole trick is that Copenhagen Airport Kastrup It is located in a brilliant location – right next to the famous Öresund Bridge, which connects Denmark with Sweden. The procedure for this quick trip to Malmö is completely primitive:
Buy a ticket at the hall: You can buy a train ticket to Malmö from a machine right in the airport arrivals hall. You can easily recognize the machine, it has the Swedish flag on it.
You're not planning anything complicated: Trains run every 20 minutes, so you just walk up to the platform and get on. When you buy your ticket, the machine will show you when the next train is leaving.
Enjoy the view: You get on, cross a monumental bridge with a great view of the sea, and shortly after you get off at Malmö Central Station. Sweden welcomes you!
Crash course in Swedish architecture
From Malmö Central Station it is literally a few steps to the city center. Our first stop was the main square Stortorget. Here you won't miss the majestic historic town hall (City Hall).
Just behind her rises St. Petri Church – a giant Gothic church from the 14th century, which is the oldest building in the city. We looked at both places from the outside, took photos and continued on.
We moved to another lively square Gustav Adolfs Square, which is dominated by a wonderful fountain. The whole city has an incredibly calm Nordic atmosphere, there is no rush here and there is a lot of clean greenery all around.
Through the green heart of the city to the windmill and fortress
From the square we took it through the old city cemetery The Old Cemetery, which locals use more as a quiet park for walks. From here you can easily reach the giant park Castle Park. If you love peace and nature, this place will absolutely delight you. We walked around the picturesque lakes, canals and water bodies that crisscross the park.
The road led us to Slottsmölle – a beautiful historic Dutch-style windmill that looks like it's straight out of a fairy tale.
Right next to it is the main destination of our lightning route: Malmöhus Castle. It is the oldest preserved Renaissance fortress in the Nordic countries, which is completely surrounded by a moat. We did not have time to explore the interiors and museums inside, but the walk around the walls is worth it.
Souvenirs and a quick return to the plane
From the park, our steps slowly headed back to the first square, Stortorget. We quickly bought typical Swedish souvenirs, bought a ticket back to Denmark in the machine at the station, and boarded the first train that passed by.
In less than 30 minutes we were safely back at Copenhagen airport, passed through security and flew home to Prague with smiles on our faces.
My final recommendation
If you have a stopover at Copenhagen airport at least 3 to 4 hours, don't hesitate and go to Sweden. The journey itself will take you about an hour and Malmö is so incredibly compact that you can walk the main part of the city center completely comfortably and without stress. Two countries in one weekend just sounds great, so why not give it a try?
🗺️ Save my Malmö route to your mobile
I don't want you to have to search for these places on the map yourself. I've saved all the points from my quick trip (from the train station to the town hall, the windmill to the fortress) in one clear list on Google Maps.
For more travel tips and itineraries follow me on Instagram @flori_prg and YouTube channel @flori_prg, where I share videos, stories and practical behind-the-scenes tips from my travels in real time. You can find more of my experiences, adventures and tips on how to travel without a travel guide, for example to Mauritius or Barbados, in my blog.