The 7 Biggest Mistakes That Expats Make When Moving to Copenhagen

Despite having a high quality of life, Copenhagen often ranks as one of the hardest cities to move to as an expat in annual surveys. I can empathize with the questionable weather conditions and high cost of living, but I also think that a lot of ex-pats make life more difficult for themselves. 

I moved from the UK to Denmark in 2020, and as is always the case when moving abroad, not everything was plain sailing. However, I would also argue that I’ve done a pretty good job and also exposed some of what I believe are huge myths that hold newbies in Copenhagen back. 

If you’re thinking about moving to Copenhagen, or the headlines about how hard it is to settle in here have scared you, I’m making this guide exactly for you. Listening to others and their negative opinions stopped me from making this dream a reality for so long, and I don’t want the same to happen to you. 

Without further ado, here are seven mistakes that many expats make when they move to the Danish capital. 

Taking the Wrong Approach to Making Friends 

One of the most common things you’ll hear about moving to the Nordics, in general, is how hard it can be to make friends. If I’m being honest, I think that much of this depends on where you’ve previously lived. Having grown up in London, I actually think it’s easier to make friends in Copenhagen. 

I empathize with people who find it hard to make friends here because many people are not really taught how to meet new people as adults. I have also been in that position myself before. From personal experience, I’ve found that the best way to make friends in Copenhagen is to do activities in your spare time that interest you. For example, I’m really into photography and also like playing sports—and most of my friends have either one or both of those things in common. 

Generally speaking, I’d say that these three things hold back newcomers to Copenhagen.

1. Having a sense of entitlement. 
2. Not being proactive enough when meeting new people. 
3. Making little effort to keep building the friendship over the long run. 

First, let’s talk about entitlement. I’ve noticed that some (but definitely not all) expats feel like everyone should roll out the red carpet for them. The blunt and honest truth is that while people shouldn’t be nasty, nobody owes you a friendship. And if you go into every conversation with a sense of entitlement, you’re naturally going to repel people. 

Another problem I see is that a lot of people in general—not just expats moving to Copenhagen—expect life to just happen to them. In the same way that you’d put a lot of effort into planning goals in other areas, you need to be proactive when meeting new people. And yes, that means making the first move and accepting that you’ll sometimes face rejection.

Whenever I see people talk about how it’s “nigh-on impossible” to integrate into Danish society, I personally disagree. Most of the time, my opinion is that people aren’t willing to do the difficult work to make friends. How do I know? Because I’ve been guilty of this when living elsewhere, especially when I moved to Sweden. If you’ve genuinely done everything you can to make friends and it isn’t working, fair enough. But I don’t think that a lot of people can say that, myself included.

The third point is also important. Once you meet people that you think would be cool friends, you must make an effort to build the relationship. That means suggesting things to do, partnering with them during workouts, and so on. Many Danes have tight-knit friendships, and it takes time to get into these groups. That’s actually a good thing because you’ll have a genuine friendship.

A Useful Side Note… 

Another thing I often see, especially online, is people obsessing over having Danish friends. I’d argue that a better approach is to focus on meeting interesting people, regardless of their nationality. Naturally, that will include Danes and non-Danes.  

Not Getting Enough Vitamin D

Before we continue, I should point out that I’m by no means an expert on vitamin D. However, I’d argue that by doing the bare minimum research, I still know more than the average person. 

If you’re feeling unwell or tired around November time, you’ll almost inevitably hear someone say: “Are you taking your vitamin D?”. Not only are daylight hours short in the winter, but you can go weeks without seeing the sun because it’s hidden behind thick grey clouds. 

After moving to Denmark, I realized that so many people in the UK are vitamin D deficient—including me when I lived there. I don’t recall ever being told about the importance of fish oil and similar supplements at school, and I know for a fact that many people aren’t getting enough in their diets. 

Personally, I’ve found that I need to increase my vitamin D intake from mid-August until around April. You’ll need to experiment to figure out what works best for you; food sources I’ve found helpful include eggs, fish, and butter. 

Complaining About *Everything*

Another huge annoyance I see when expats move to Copenhagen is how they complain about everything and focus on the negative aspects of living here. More specifically, they’ll complain about how it’s always raining or their weekly grocery prices (or that the food selection available in grocery stores is limited). And while I get that moving to Copenhagen (and Denmark by extension) can be a huge culture shock for some people, I don’t think that complaining is such a productive thing to do unless you can actually fix the situation. 

First of all, let’s be honest: You knew that you weren’t getting blue skies and warm temperatures for most of the year when you moved here. Similarly, you probably knew that Copenhagen is a very expensive city to live in.

Don’t get me wrong: I’ve definitely been guilty of being the bitter expat before. But it’s really not productive, and I’ve made serious efforts to stop this because it just sours the experience. Sure, life in Copenhagen isn’t perfect. But it’s a lot better than most other places in the world. How many cities do you know where the water is so clean that you can swim in the harbor? What about the fact that Copenhagen is one of the safest cities in the world? Or the fact that you can cycle pretty much anywhere in 30 minutes? 

I’ve left many expat groups online because *a lot* of the posts were so negative. In my opinion, the Expats in Copenhagen Facebook group was the worst for this. Not everyone was negative, but a lot of people were—and even though I’ve had overwhelmingly positive experiences in Copenhagen, it started to affect my outlook. If the same thing is happening to you, it’s probably a good idea to do the same (and the same is true if you have a group of negative friends in real life, regardless of where you are).

Not Buying a Bike 

Unless you live in the suburbs, cycling is the best way to get around Copenhagen. It’s worth the investment, and if you don’t want to buy one, you can always purchase a Swapfiets membership instead. 

Taking the Wrong Approach to Finding an Apartment

After finding my “dream” Copenhagen apartment, I actually wrote a guide on how to find an apartment in Copenhagen based on my experiences. So, I’d recommend checking that out for an in-depth walkthrough.

I’ll admit that Copenhagen’s housing situation is a bit of a mess, but I don’t think it’s too different from other big cities. Anyway, many expats make things even harder for themselves by not approaching how they look for a place to live in a more effective way. And honestly, a lot of people hold themselves back by listening to how hard it is to find an apartment in the first place. 

Facebook groups are a common place for people to look, and while you will find options, you’re shouting into a very noisy space. Many posts get hundreds, if not thousands, of responses. In my opinion, you’re pretty much in a race to the bottom by using that as your only avenue. 

To get my foot in the door, I used LifeX—a co-living service aimed at young professionals. Yes, it’s more expensive, but you can register as a resident and spend some time looking for something more permanent. Movinn is another company which also has apartments. One of my old roommates also gave positive reviews of Heimstaden, which has a good selection of apartments in Copenhagen and its surroundings. 

You should also consider expanding your search for where you’d like to live. The newer part of Sydhavn is close to the city center by bike, and getting into Copenhagen and from the airport will become even easier when the new metro line is built. Ørestad is also well-connected to Copenhagen, along with being close to the airport and the Amager Fælled nature park. You can also look at the likes of: 

• Valby 
• Kongens Lyngby 
• Vanløse 

Many areas on the S train are within easy commuting distance, though you should keep in mind that you’ll need to pay more for transport costs. 

This is tricky as if you don’t have a lot of money, you might be limited. However, it’s still worth trying these other tips and seeing what you can find. 

Not Learning Danish 

Although most people in Copenhagen speak excellent English, you don’t truly know a society unless you learn the local language. However, not every Dane is fluent in English. For example, I remember speaking in Danish to one person on my tour in the Faroe Islands as he didn’t speak much English, along with doing the same with the truck driver who moved my stuff into my new apartment.

Considering that Danes largely speak Danish with each other, learning Danish will also make it easier to make friends with the locals. Unsurprisingly, most of Danish society also operates in Danish as well.

Many expats hold off from learning Danish because they’ve heard how difficult it is to learn. But to be honest with you, I think that’s not entirely true. The pronunciation takes a while to figure out, but the grammar is simple, and many words are similar to English. And to be honest, foreigners have moved here in the past and learned Danish—so there’s no reason why you can’t. 

Even if it’s to not feel like you never understand what’s going on around you, learning Danish is worthwhile. Many correspondences you get in your e-Boks will also be only in Danish, so it makes reading these documents easier.  

Not Visiting Other Parts of Denmark 

Copenhagen is an amazing city; even after three years of living here and visiting seven times beforehand, I’m still not bored of wandering the streets and admiring the architecture. However, Denmark has plenty of surprises elsewhere—and I thoroughly recommend visiting other parts of the country. 

Helsingør, for example, is a glorious town just 45 minutes north of the capital. Dragør is another excellent day trip, and you can cycle there from Copenhagen in less than an hour. 

Further afield, Aarhus—the country’s second-largest city—is also a fantastic place to visit. I also really liked Aalborg and can recommend Møns Klint as well. 

You can get pretty affordable train travel with DSB if you book in advance, and plenty of bus and ferry operators—such as FlixBus and Kombardo Expressen—will also transport you around other parts of Denmark.