Getting There · Copenhagen
Copenhagen has one airport that matters for a cruise, and it’s close. Kastrup is about 9.9 road miles (15.9 km) from Oceankaj by our routing, roughly 26 minutes with no traffic — and closer still to Langelinie. The metro leaves from a station joined to Terminal 3, and a taxi’s meter is capped by law.
Put in your landing and the ship’s departure. We’ll hold them against Princess’s cut-off and our own margin.
Fly into Copenhagen Airport. Our routing puts it about 9.9 miles (15.9 km) and 26 minutes from Oceankaj with no traffic, and the metro leaves from a station in direct extension of Terminal 3.
A taxi to Ocean Quay runs about DKK 425 (about US$65) on a weekday by day and DKK 520 (about US$80) in the evening or at weekends, per Wonderful Copenhagen. The port operator says DKK 450 to 550 (about US$70–85). The metro and a bus cost DKK 30 (about US$5) and take about 40 minutes.
Langelinie and Nordre Toldbod, for smaller ships, are nearer the centre — about 7.0 and 6.1 road miles from the airport. Your cruise documents name the quay.
Booking.com lists airport taxis you can book ahead. Check the pickup point, the price and the cancellation terms before you book.
Booking.com links are affiliate links: Seabound Journeys may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It doesn’t change what we recommend. Affiliate disclosure.
Copenhagen markets itself as Copenhagen — no other city’s name in brackets. The table is each line’s own wording, read October 3, 2026 — ship lists change, so check yours.
| Line | How it sells the port | Ships and dates we found | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess | One of five 2027 Northern Europe homeports | Caribbean Princess on 12-day sailings in 2027 through eight countries; a 10-night Norwegian & Icelandic Fjords run to Reykjavik | princess.com |
| Norwegian | “Ship will DEPART from this port” | Norwegian Jewel in 2027 on seven- and nine-day Baltic voyages between Copenhagen and Helsinki; 2026 ships didn’t show | ncl.com |
| MSC Cruises | “Cruises from / to Copenhagen” | Baltic and North Sea routes; ships and dates didn’t show on MSC’s pages | msccruises.co.uk |
| Regent Seven Seas | Copenhagen | Seven Seas Mariner, Copenhagen to Amsterdam (IJmuiden), June 10–30, 2027 | rssc.com |
| Viking | Scandinavia & Baltic Capitals | 15 days between Oslo and Copenhagen, both directions, 2027–2029 | vikingcruises.com |
| Azamara | Baltic Intensive | Azamara Journey, Copenhagen to Stockholm, July 9–20, 2026 — already sailed; we didn’t find a later Copenhagen start | azamara.com |
| Holland America | “Cruises from Copenhagen” | A departure page with an airport transfer to buy; ships and dates didn’t show | hollandamerica.com |
The big ships use Oceankaj in Nordhavn. Norwegian names Terminal 1, quay C331, as its main spot, with 2 or 3 as alternatives; Princess says Ocean Quay. MSC’s UK page says Terminal 3 and then sends its shuttle to Terminal 1, so check your documents. Smaller ships tie up at Langelinie, for ships up to 320 m, or Nordre Toldbod, up to 200 m.
Oceania sells Copenhagen hotel packages with airport, hotel and ship transfers included; check its page for departures from Copenhagen before you count on it. Regent’s Concierge Suites and above on its June 2027 sailing get a pre-cruise night with transfers. Everyone else, plan your own ride.
Copenhagen Airport sits at Kastrup on the island of Amager, south-east of the centre. The cruise quays are north of the old town: Nordre Toldbod by Amalienborg, Langelinie by the Little Mermaid, and Oceankaj furthest out in Nordhavn.
Fares and dates are on Booking.com. Land the day before, not the morning you sail.
Booking.com links are affiliate links: Seabound Journeys may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It doesn’t change what we recommend. Affiliate disclosure.
The two taxi rows are per car, as Wonderful Copenhagen prints them between the airport and Ocean Quay; the metro-and-bus row is per adult, and up to two children under 12 ride free with each paying adult.
| Taxi, airport to Ocean Quay, weekday daytime (Wonderful Copenhagen) | — |
| Taxi, evenings and weekends (Wonderful Copenhagen) | — |
| Metro and bus, three zones, per adult | — |
One way, in kroner, as printed on October 3, 2026. CMP, the port operator, says DKK 450 to 550 for the same taxi. MSC’s 2025 transfer table listed airport to port at €26 (about US$30) a person; AirportTransferPortal, a reseller, listed a private sedan at €150 (about US$170) a car — confirm with the operator it books.
The rental desks sit at the Car Rental Centre at the airport’s western end, reached by free terminal buses. Discover Cars showed rentals at CPH from US$17 a day on October 3, 2026, a price that moves daily.
Princess is the one line we read that prints a cut-off: arrive no later than 2 hours 30 minutes before the ship leaves. The second row is our own margin, not a rule.
Your boarding pass sets your check-in time, and all-aboard is usually printed on it too. Plan to be at the terminal by that time, not before. We’d land the day before; a morning landing leaves nothing for a delayed bag.
We ranked twenty hotels for a Copenhagen cruise, seventeen of them in Nordhavn, the old town or the centre. Tell us the flight and the ship, and we’ll pick the night that fits your landing.
No line we read publishes a disembarkation time for Copenhagen. Wonderful Copenhagen puts a taxi from Ocean Quay to the airport at about DKK 425 on weekdays by day and DKK 520 in the evening and at weekends, about 40 minutes; Princess says to book the first flight no earlier than 4 hours 25 minutes after the ship arrives. Enter your flight time and when you expect to be ashore; the planner sets out the ride to Kastrup and the wait at the gate.
Partner links (transfers, rental cars, luggage storage) may earn Seabound Journeys a commission at no extra cost to you. They don't change the plan, which is built only from what each company publishes.
Denmark caps what a taxi can charge. From January 1, 2026, Færdselsstyrelsen’s cap is DKK 94.68 (about US$14) to start, DKK 14.20 (about US$2) a km and DKK 473.44 (about US$70) an hour on weekdays by day; evenings from 18:00 and weekends from Friday 18:00 to Monday 06:00 run to DKK 106.52 (about US$16), DKK 20.13 (about US$3) and DKK 532.59 (about US$80). That’s a ceiling, not the fare.
Most companies charge less. TAXA, on prices valid from December 1, 2023, starts at DKK 39 (about US$6) by day, plus DKK 11 (about US$2) a km and DKK 6.75 (about US$1) a minute, with a DKK 20 (about US$3) airport surcharge. Every company has to show the price of a standard 10 km, 12-minute trip on its website and on the car, so you can compare at the rank outside Terminal 3. The airport says the rate includes a tip.
Trains leave Terminal 3 from tracks 1 and 2, for the city and for Malmö, and you can’t buy a ticket on board. For Oceankaj, the metro and a bus beat the train. MSC’s page also mentions a free shuttle from Orientkaj station to Oceankaj every 30 minutes, until 14:00 on its Finnish page; it doesn’t say whether other lines’ guests can ride.
From Central Station, Oceankaj is about 5.6 road miles by our routing — a taxi of about DKK 212 (about US$30) by day, per Wonderful Copenhagen. There’s no tourist tax on Copenhagen hotels as of October 4, 2026; the hotels page has the proposal in the news. For the quays and the lines, see our Copenhagen cruise guide.
One night in Copenhagen takes the clock off sail morning. After a transatlantic flight you’ll want the ship a short taxi away, with breakfast first.
None of our twenty runs a shuttle to the ship. Clarion Hotel Copenhagen Airport is steps from Terminal 3, per the airport, and about 9.9 road miles from Oceankaj by our routing. Comwell Portside, in Nordhavn, is the one hotel with a published cruise distance — 2.2 km to Ocean Quay, on VisitCopenhagen’s page for it.
Our top six, with the drive from Copenhagen Airport to each, by our routing. All twenty are on the hotels page.
What each of our twenty says about getting from Copenhagen Airport to its door. For a grander night, our eight splurge picks run from Kongens Nytorv to a spa on the coast.
What each of the twenty says about Kastrup sits in the ride table on the hotels page.
Copenhagen Airport (CPH), at Kastrup. Our routing puts it about 9.9 miles (15.9 km) and 26 minutes from Oceankaj with no traffic, about 7.0 miles from Langelinie and 6.1 from Nordre Toldbod. Royal Caribbean's directions say about 10 miles and 25 minutes to the Ocean berths.
Wonderful Copenhagen, the city's tourism body, prints about DKK 425 by day on weekdays and DKK 520 in the evening and at weekends between Ocean Quay and the airport, about 40 minutes. The port operator, Copenhagen Malmö Port, says DKK 450 to 550. Langelinie is cheaper, about DKK 270 by day.
Yes, with a bus at the end for Oceankaj. Wonderful Copenhagen's route is the M2 to Kongens Nytorv, a change there to the M4 for Orientkaj, then bus 25 or 164 — about 40 minutes on a three-zone ticket, DKK 30. The metro station sits in direct extension of Terminal 3.
Not a public one. MSC's transfer page still shows a 2025 price, €26 a person (about US$30), and lists nothing for 2026 or 2027, so ask MSC for your sailing before you count on it; Holland America sells a transfer after you book, without a price on its page. Neither the port nor the city runs a cruise shuttle.
Yes. Since January 1, 2026 a national cap sets the most a taxi can charge: DKK 94.68 to start and DKK 14.20 a km on weekdays by day, more in the evening and at weekends, per Færdselsstyrelsen. Most companies charge less. TAXA, for one, starts at DKK 39 by day plus DKK 11 a km.
Princess says embarking guests should arrive no later than 2 hours 30 minutes before the ship leaves. That's the latest, not a plan. We'd land at least four hours ahead, or fly in the day before.
Princess says the earliest flight should leave 4 hours 25 minutes after the ship arrives. Norwegian's tour that ends at the airport tells guests to be there 3 to 4 hours before their flight.
Both list Copenhagen. Uber says its drivers are licensed taxi or limousine drivers, and Bolt shows an airport pickup point in its app. Their prices move with demand, so compare them with the taxi rank outside Terminal 3.
At the Car Rental Centre, at the western end of the airport, reached by free terminal buses; returns are directly opposite, per the airport. Discover Cars says most desks are in the Terminal 3 arrivals hall, so check your voucher.
Partly. Trains leave Terminal 3 from tracks 1 and 2 for the city and for Malmö. For Langelinie and Nordre Toldbod, MSC suggests the metro to Nørreport and an S-train to Østerport, then a 15-minute walk. For Oceankaj, the metro and a bus are simpler.
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