Transport in Denmark is developed and modern. The motorway network covers 1,111 km while the railway network totals 2,667 km of operational track. The

Great Belt Fixed Link The Great Belt Bridge () or Great Belt fixed link () is a multi-element fixed link crossing the Great Belt strait between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. It consists of a road suspension bridge and a railway tunnel between Zealand and ...

(opened in 1997) connecting the islands of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

and

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

and the

New Little Belt Bridge The New Little Belt Bridge () is a suspension bridge that crosses the Little Belt strait between Jutland (Jylland) and the island of Funen (Fyn) in Denmark. The bridge is 1,700 metres long, the main span is 600 metres, the pylons reaching a he ...

(opened in 1970) connecting Funen and

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

greatly improved the

traffic flow In transportation engineering, traffic flow is the study of interactions between travellers (including pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and their vehicles) and infrastructure (including highways, signage, and traffic control devices), with the ai ...

across the country on both motorways and rail. The two largest airports of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and Billund provide a variety of domestic and international connections, while ferries provide services to the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, as well as domestic routes servicing most Danish islands.

Air

In 2011, a total of appr. 28 million passengers used Danish airports.

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (, ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as well as the wider Øresund Region, including Zealand and the southern Sweden, Swedish province of Scania. In 2023 it was the largest ai ...

is the largest airport in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, handling approximately 29m passengers per year (2016). It is located at

Kastrup Kastrup () is a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark, on the east coast of Amager in Tårnby Municipality. It is the site of Copenhagen Airport. In Danish, the airport is often called ''Kastrup Lufthavn'' (Kastrup Airport) or ''Københavns Lufthavn, Kast ...

, 8 km south-east of central

. It is connected by train to

Copenhagen Central Station Copenhagen Central Station (, ; abbreviated ''København H'', colloquially usually referred to as ''Hovedbanegården'' or simply ''Hovedbanen'') is the Central station, main railway station in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the largest railway station ...

and beyond as well as to

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

and other towns in

. For the west of the country, the major airport is Billund (3m passengers in 2016) although both

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

(1.4m passengers in 2011) and

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

(591.000 passengers in 2011) have smaller airports with regular connections to Copenhagen.

List of airports

Denmark's main airports are: *

(CPH), Scandinavia's busiest passenger airport located at Kastrup to the south-east of Copenhagen city and handling over 29 million passengers a year. * Billund Airport (BLL), in central Jutland, one of Denmark's busiest cargo centres as well as a popular charter airline destination and an airport for regular flights serving 3 million passengers a year, mainly from the western part of the country. * Aalborg Airport (AAL), located 5 km northwest of

, is Denmark's third busiest airport serving around 1,4 million passengers a year in connections with 25 European destinations and one of Europes busiest domestic lines to Copenhagen. * Aarhus Airport (AAR), located 39 km northeast of Århus, serves some 540,000 passengers a year. Other airports include: * Karup Airport (KRP) near Viborg in the west of Jutland, mainly serving Copenhagen with some 200,000 passengers a year. *

Bornholm Airport Bornholm Airport () is a Denmark, Danish airport located 2.7 nautical miles (5 km) southeast of Rønne, on the island of Bornholm. The airport is operated by Statens Luftfartsvæsen (''The Danish Civil Aviation Administration'') with the air ...

(RNN) 5 km from the centre of

Rønne Rønne () is the largest town on the Denmark, Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,675 (1 January 2025). It was a municipality in its own right from 1970 until 2002, when Bornholm was a Bornholm County, county (D ...

in the southwest of the island of Bornholm, with several regular flights to Copenhagen a day. * Esbjerg Airport (EBJ), a small airport in the west of Jutland with regular flights to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

(although primarily serving North Sea Oilrigs). * Sønderborg Airport (SGD), in the very south of Jutland with connections to Copenhagen. *

Roskilde Airport Copenhagen Airport, Roskilde — simply known as Roskilde Airport — is located southeast of Roskilde near the town Tune. History It was opened in 1973 as the first of three planned relief airports around Copenhagen. These plans were shelv ...

(RKE), 7 km southeast of

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

and some 38 km southwest of Copenhagen, serves mainly airtaxi and private business traffic.

Sea

Being an island state with a long coastline and always close to the sea, maritime transport has always been important in Denmark. From the primitive dugouts of the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

to the complex designs of the

Viking ship Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as being slender and flexi ...

s in the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

, often built to exactly facilitate large scale cargo and passenger transportation. Denmark also engaged in the large scale cargo freights and slave transports of the

European colonization The phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by various civilizations such as the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Han Chinese, and A ...

endeavours in the Middle Ages and operated several smaller colonies of its own across the globe by the means of seafaring. Today Denmark's ports handle some 48 million passengers and 109 million tonnes of cargo per year.

Passenger traffic

Passenger traffic is made up partly of ferry crossings within Denmark, partly of international ferry crossings and partly of cruise ship passengers. Some short ferry routes are being electrified and several more may be eligible, as in Norway. Among the most important ports for passenger traffic (thousands of passengers per year in 2007) are: *

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

10,967 *

Rødbyhavn Rødbyhavn () is a small town and harbour on the south coast of Lolland, Denmark, with a population of 1,516 (1 January 2024).Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast on the North Jutlandic Island in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The ...

2,894 * Sjællands Odde 2,233 *

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

1,827 *

Gedser Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Denmark, Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Region Sjælland, Sjælland region. It is the Extreme points of Denmark, southernmost town in Denmark, and also the southernmost poin ...

1,612 *

1,583 *

1,522 * Ebeltoft 962 *

872 In 2007, 288 cruise ships visited Copenhagen, rising to 376 in 2011 before returning to around 300 the following years. Around 800,000 cruise passengers and 200,000 crew visit Copenhagen each year.

Cargo traffic

Among the most important ports for cargo traffic (millions of tonnes per year in 2007) are: *

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region Denmark, Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vej ...

15,327 *

12,189 *

7,379 *

4,480 *

4,476 *

Kalundborg Kalundborg () is a Danish city with a population of 16,659 (1 January 2025),Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast on the North Jutlandic Island in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The ...

3,200 * Aalborg Portland 2,999 *

2,749 *

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

2,616

Waterways

Waterways have historically and traditionally been crucial to local transportation in Denmark proper. Especially the

Gudenå The Gudenå or Gudenåen (), is Denmark's longest river and runs through the central parts of the Jutlandic peninsula. An anglicized version of the name often seen is 'The River Guden'. The Gudenåen has its spring in Tinnet Krat, Vejle Municip ...

river-system in central Jutland, has played an important role. The waterways were navigated by wooden

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s and later on

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

s. A few historical steamboats are still in operation, like the SS Hjejlen from 1861 at

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Limfjorden in northern Jutland, linking the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

to the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

. Many waterways has formerly been redirected and led through manmade canals in the 1900s, but mainly for agricultural purposes and not to facilitate transportation on any major scale. Several cities have manmade canals used for transportation and traffic purposes. Of special mention are the canals of Copenhagen and the

Odense Canal Odense Harbour ("Odense Havn") is the port of Odense, Denmark. Founded in , Denmark's only canal harbour is the country's seventh largest commercial port in terms of turnover. It consists primarily of Inner Harbour, at the end of Odense Canal, and ...

, ferrying large numbers of both tourists and local citizens.

Merchant marine

Denmark has a large merchant fleet relative to its size. In 2018, the fleet surpassed 20 million gt as the government sought to repatriate Danish-owned tonnage registered abroad, with measures including removal of the registration fee. Denmark has created its own international register, called the Danish International Ship register (DIS), open to commercial vessels only. DIS ships do not have to meet Danish manning regulations.

Railways

The largest railway operator in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Danske Statsbaner DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Denmark, Danish train operating company. It's also the largest train operating company in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train opera ...

(DSB) — Danish State Railways.

Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...

operates some routes in

, and several other smaller operators provide local services. The total length of operational track is 3,476 km standard gauge, with 1,756 km electrified. The railway system is connected to Sweden by bridge in Copenhagen and ferry in Helsingør and Frederikshavn, by land to Germany in Padborg and ferry in Rødby and to Norway by ferry in Hirtshals.

Roads

The road network in 2017 totalled 74,558 km of paved road. Motorways are toll-free except for the

Great Belt Bridge The Great Belt Bridge () or Great Belt fixed link () is a multi-element fixed link crossing the Great Belt strait between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. It consists of a road suspension bridge and a railway tunnel between Zealand ...

joining

and

and the

Øresund Bridge The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined List of road–rail bridges, railway and motorway cable-stayed bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the second longest bridge in Europe and combines both roadway and r ...

linking Copenhagen to

in Sweden. Motorway map Denmark.svg, Motorways in Denmark.

Cycling

Bicycling in Denmark is a common and popular

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

and

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

al activity. Bicycling infrastructure is a dominant feature of both city and countryside infrastructure, with

bicycle path A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. ...

s and bicycle ways in many places and an extensive network of bicycle routes, extending more than nationwide. In comparison, Denmark's coastline is . As a unique feature, Denmark has a VIN-system for bicycles which is mandatory by law. Often bicycling and bicycle culture in

is compared to the Netherlands as a bicycle-nation. Bikecultureincopenhagen.jpg, Bicycle rush hour in Copenhagen. Cycle counter.jpg, Heavily trafficked roads in the inner cities, often have cycle lanes. Frederiksgade (Aarhus).JPG, A bike road in central Aarhus. Egådalen.jpg, A cross country bikeway route.

Pipelines

Figures in 2015: ;

Crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...

: 330 km ;

Petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

products: 578 km (2007) ;

Natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

: 1536 km

References

External links

Public transportation Route PlannerOnline Map, Address lookupCopenhagen AirportsS-train and Danish train schedules
*
Metro informationAll railway tracks
{{Transportation in Europe

Air