The Best Places to Work When Visiting Copenhagen with a Laptop

Having spent more than a decade in Denmark’s capital city, often with an increasingly less bulky but increasingly accessorised laptop computer in my backpack, I have developed quite a few favorite haunts to get my work done. I will keep my personal hidden gems to myself in this guide, but I will share a few of the worst-kept secrets with you. 

While Copenhagen is small as cities go, it is understandable if the travelling researcher does not want to brave the bike paths brimming with irate Danes to get to a specific location. I have thus selected a favorite place for most of Copenhagen’s neighborhoods. So, wherever you find yourself, you might find a spot for getting work done.

Kulturhuset Islands Brygge

Website

District: Islands Brygge/Copenhagen S

Location: Islands Brygge 18, 2300 København

If you would prefer not going right down the street to the University of Copenhagen’s Southern Campus, this venue’s cafe offers a great view of the canals of Copenhagen while you type away. Be warned though, on Copenhagen’s sunny summer days (yes, we have those), the waterfront is likely to be crowded out by sunbathing locals. If such festivity has an impact on your productivity, then at least you are close enough to take a dip yourself.    

Photo credit: Kulturhuset Islands Brygge.

 

Aerial drone view of the harbour bath at Islands Brygge. Photo credit: Olivier Forester via Adobe Stock

The Black Diamond – The Royal Library of Copenhagen

Website

District: Inner City/ Copenhagen K

Location: Søren Kierkegaards Pl. 1, 1221 København K

The Royal Library of Copenhagen offers many separate quiet reading halls, both old and new, and if you are in the exam period, it pays to get in early and glue yourself to your seat. If you forgot to bring your thermos, the library café offers a reasonable selection of drinks. For a sense of history, you may want to check out the North Reading Room. Rumour has it that Vladimir Lenin favoured seat number 9 here during his stay in Copenhagen in 1910. I will leave it up to you to decide whether that means the spot should be grabbed or avoided. 

Photo credit: The Royal Library of Copenhagen
The interior of the Old Reading Hall at the Royal Library of Copenhagen. Photo credit: Det Kongelige Bibliotek

Absalon Vesterbro

Website

District: Vesterbro/ Copenhagen V

Location: Sønder Blvd. 73, 1720 København

This deconsecrated church offers cheap coffee and a community atmosphere. As you will no doubt see from the calendar in the entryway, this place boasts a packed schedule of social activities. However, the long tables and hidden nooks usually leave at least a couple of spots open for the serious-minded laptop user.   

Photo credit: Helene Høyer Mikkelsen

Mokkariet

Website

District: Nørrebro/ Copenhagen N

Location: Jagtvej 72, 2200 København N

This venue offers a unique interior more akin to a bathhouse than any other café I recall visiting. The music selection is usually great, even if the table selection is usually sparse – and subject to restrictions if you come with a laptop. Nevertheless, I believe the novel vibes more than make up for it. For a touch of history, you can spend your break walking Assistens Kirkegård a few hundred meters away, and make a treasure hunt of finding famous dead Danes and their increasingly elaborate headstones. If you felt academically intimidated by the likes of Niels Bohr before, wait till you see how his grave is marked.  

Photo credit: Mokkariet

Original Coffee

Website

District: Nordhavn/ Copenhagen North Harbour

Location: Göteborg Pl. 6, 2150 København

Okay, this one is admittedly cheating. Original Coffee are a chain spread out across Copenhagen, but if you find yourself in Copenhagen’s newest neighbourhood, this is a good place to get your fill. A particular upside is that it is rarely as crowded as its counterparts in the more youthful parts of town. Take a break by viewing the city literally expanding before you in this neighbourhood. The artificial islands currently growing are the result of millions of tons of dirt being trucked out. Return in a decade or so, and the waterline might be quite different. Also, the reviews of whatever you were working on might have come back by then.   

Photo credit: Orginal Coffee

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