According to popular opinion, Tivoli Gardens is a must-see attraction in Copenhagen. But with all there is to do in beautiful Copenhagen, what’s so great about Tivoli and why should you care?

Tivoli Gardens: A Short History

If you love amusement parks, you may have heard of Tivoli. It’s the second-oldest amusement park in the world. (The oldest is Dyrehavsbakken which is also in Denmark.) It’s been open since 1843, making Disney look like a baby. It boasts four roller coasters, including one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the world, and a total of 27 rides.

Seasonal Schedule

Tivoli Gardens is not open year-round. It has three seasons: Summer, Halloween, and Christmas. During each season, the park is decorated in theme. It is closed the rest of the year. I went during Halloween, which was great because I love Halloween and being in Europe in October feels like I’m missing out on Halloween festivities. During Halloween, everything gets a face lift to represent the spooky pumpkin-filled season. There are jack-o-lanterns and skeletons everywhere. You can even get eyeball and severed fingered cakes.

Things To Do

Besides rides, Tivoli Gardens offers games, shows, concerts, dining and drinking. You can check online for the schedule of events, which include events for the open air stage and the Tivoli Concert Hall. If you’re not a 16-year old, you’ll probably just walk around and enjoy the perfectly manicured gardens and Halloween decor. If you are a 16-year old or you enjoy acting like one, you can spend hours (and a lot of money) riding the rides and playing games.

I don’t particularly care for amusement park rides because I feel like their purpose is to spin you until you want to throw up, so the full experience was lost on me. But I did enjoy seeing the spectacle. If you do want to ride the rides, you should plan to be there at least half a day. Even in the rain, the lines for the most popular rides, like the Vertigo airplane ride, was around an hour.

Tivoli also has an extensive array of restaurants and eateries so you can pass the time having a three-course meal or a pint in the beer garden. There is no shortage of options from you to choose from.

Cost

The price to enter the park is around $16 if you go Monday through Thursday. If you go Friday through Sunday, it’s around $17. But this doesn’t include the cost of any rides. You can pay for each ride individually or you can buy an unlimited ride ticket which is a little over $32, not including the price of admission.

So is it worth it?

Now that you know what Tivoli is all about, the answer to that depends on you and what you want to get out of it. I’m glad I went, but if your time in Copenhagen is limited, I wouldn’t choose it over the dozens of other things to do there. That’s why I didn’t go the first time around. For me, the visit was worth the price of admission, even though I didn’t ride anything. If nothing else, it allowed me to venture into a land I love and hold dear: Halloweentown. But would I spend a whole day there? Probably not. Would I return? Probably not. Though I’m sure the Christmas season is even more beautiful, so I wouldn’t rule it out.