If you feel like everyone you know is heading to Copenhagen these days, you might be right. The city draws visitors for its bustling, bike-friendly streets and scenic canals. The food scene is a Michelin-starred stronghold, famous for world-class restaurants like Noma, Alchemist and Geranium. Modern design lives alongside Old World architecture—UNESCO has named Copenhagen the World Capital of Architecture for 2023—and hygge-infused Denmark is regularly ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world. So there are plenty of reasons to visit, and that’s before you even get to the bar scene.

Copenhagen’s vibrant nightlife is teeming with cocktail bars, beer bars and natural wine bars, from upscale to intimate venues, with plenty of cosy pubs in between. Here’s where to drink in the city now, with a look at some of the best bars in Copenhagen.

Copenhagen’s best cocktail bars

It’s no surprise that a city that places so much emphasis on food doesn’t skimp on cocktails either. All over Copenhagen, you’ll find bars combining locally sourced ingredients and high-quality spirits to create thoughtful drinks that focus on taste, balance and presentation.

Lidkoeb in the Vesterbro district offers you several options for a drink. Downstairs there is a cozy, sunlit bar and outdoor area, and upstairs there is a more casual whiskey bar. In the former you will find drinks like Fury Road, which combines aquavit with pineapple rum, amontillado sherry, coconut, lime and bitters, or Rød Grød Med Fløde, which is reminiscent of the famous Danish dessert that combines red berry pudding with cream. Upstairs the bar has more than 200 whiskeys from all over the world on offer.

Japan’s traditional jazz kissas have centuries-old roots, but these hi-fi listening lounges are back in fashion today, in Japan and increasingly in the US and Europe. Bird in Copenhagen honors the format, playing vinyl records through special speakers. Drinks are mixed and bottled in advance, so service is quick even when the room is full. The menu changes regularly, but a current highlight is the Bonfire Manhattan, made with mezcal, whiskey, amaro and coffee-infused vermouth.

Even more fun is at Duck and Cover, which feels like you’re at a cool Scandinavian friend’s house, but the drinks are better. Balderdash is a cozy, two-story bar with funky cocktails that feature ingredients like bee pollen butter and patchouli. And Pulp is a fun-loving bar with a creative, irreverent menu inspired by pulp magazines.

Ruby is another classic stop on the Copenhagen bar circuit. Open since 2007, it’s part of the old guard of the bunch and helped kickstart the city’s modern cocktail scene. The menu emphasizes Nordic ingredients, like a margarita that forgoes lime juice in favor of sea buckthorn, a bright orange berry with a tart flavor. And whether you’re staying at Hotel Sanders or not, stop by the Tata bar and sip classic cocktails in cozy nooks and high-backed chairs.

Copenhagen’s best beer bars and breweries

The biggest names in Copenhagen’s beer scene are Carlsberg, whose history stretches back to 1847 and is ubiquitous around the world, and Mikkeller, one of the best – and now biggest – names in craft beer. But there’s a lot more going on alongside these heavyweights, as Copenhagen has embraced international brews as much or more than most European capitals, giving thirsty visitors plenty of choice when they fancy a pint.

It would take you a few months to tick off all the worthy breweries and beer bars in Copenhagen, and that’s a nice goal if you have the time. If you’re hanging out in Nørrebro, stop by BRUS, a brewpub with 32 taps, a great menu, and an attached bottle shop so you can take your favorite beer home. Ølbaren has been serving craft beers in a cozy setting for more than two decades, and is still going strong, with one of the more interesting tap lists in town. And don’t leave without stopping by Mikkeller & Friends. This is Mikkeller’s flagship bar in Copenhagen, with 40 taps divided between house-brewed beer and selected favorites from other parts of Denmark and around the world.

Over in Vesterbro, War Pigs is the unique bar that serves a selection of house-brewed beers and Texas-style barbecue, so you can sip porters and hazy IPAs with dry-marinated beef brisket. In the city center is Skaal and Taphouse are popular options. The former has 48 taps and dozens more in bottles and cans, while Taphouse has 61 taps and one of the best selections in the country.

On the island of Amager is Amager Bryghus, a brewery known for its unique beers, limited editions, and fun packaging. Take a tour to learn more about the operation, or just drop in for a tasting. And right on the water is Barr, in the original space of Noma. It’s one of the city’s better casual restaurants, with traditional open sandwiches, savory waffles, and schnitzels. But Barr also houses a wood-paneled beer bar serving draft and bottled beers, divided by flavor profile, with categories like “Crisp,” “Hop,” “Smoke,” “Spice & Fruit,” and “Tart & Funk.”

Copenhagen’s best wine bars

While Denmark can’t compete with countries like France, Italy and Spain in terms of wine production, it has embraced natural wine with enthusiasm. It imports more natural wine than almost any other country in the world and you can find it all over Copenhagen in wine shops, wine bars and restaurants. The interest in natural wine started mainly in restaurants like Noma. If you’re concerned about the presentation of ingredients, the logical next step is to pair your food with wines that are free of pesticides and additives and contain minimal sulphites.

Nørrebro has the highest concentration of natural wine bars in the city, so it’s worth taking a tipsy stroll through the neighbourhood. Visit Terroiristen, Gaarden & Gaden, Rødder & Vin and Pompette for a unique selection of glasses and bottles. There’s also Friheden, the rare wine bar attached to a skate park.

Other great wine bars can be found in Østerbro, Vesterbro and the historic city centre, including Roots, Ancestrale and Den Vandrette, a harbourside bar owned by importer Rosforth & Rosforth, which was instrumental in introducing natural wines to Copenhagen from the 1990s onwards.

It feels like every restaurant in Copenhagen serves natural and minimally processed wines, but this is especially evident in more upscale establishments and those with tasting menus, where the wine pairing is treated as carefully as the food. On a recent trip, I found excellent wines at Ark, the Michelin green-starred restaurant known for its vegan tasting menu, Caronte, a friendly Italian spot from the same team behind Roots, and Joanne’s, the Italian-inspired restaurant in the comfortable Hotel Grande Joanne. Best of all, if you show interest, the staff are usually willing (and able) to talk about wine and readily share information about varietals and producers, so you gain insight with every sip.