Copenhagen Indie bookshop crawl

A week of hygge, books, and the understated magic of Danish booksellers

In the summer of 2025, I spent a week in Copenhagen with my longtime friend Shelly and my seven-year-old daughter: three travelers with different priorities: pastries, beaches, and books (I’ll leave you to guess whose is whose). Between café stops, ice-cream breaks, and explorations of Denmark’s culinary scene, I carved out time to wander through a handful of independent bookshops that offered English-language sections.
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What I found was a small but mighty constellation of shops that reflect Copenhagen’s personality: thoughtful, design-driven, community-minded, and quietly excellent.

Below are three of my favorites.

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Politikens Boghallen

Founded in 1915, Politikens Boghallen is the kind of bookshop that makes you forget it’s “indie.” It’s vast, elegant, and curated with the confidence of a shop that has been shaping Danish literary taste for over a century. Stepping inside feels like walking into a cultural institution: beautiful displays, a café bar, and a whole world of English titles spread across the basement level. In fact, it's so vast that they printed the layout onto the floor at the bottom of the steps.

Even on a quick visit, it’s easy to get lost in its universes: sizeable fiction and nonfiction sections, a surprisingly comfy and well-designed children’s area, and a strong lineup of bestsellers across genres. My daughter disappeared into a Danish Bluey book, completely unbothered by the language gap.
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My friend made the tactical error of asking if I had any book recommendations. I parked her in a reading nook with a tower of novels I’ve read or desperately want to read: my love language, really.

At one point, I overheard a customer ask the bookseller for The Shadow of the Wind in English. I jumped in with my highest recommendation (sometimes I just can’t help myself). He was already planning to buy it and didn’t seem particularly interested in connecting over it. That’s okay. We can’t all be book-chat people.
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On a mission to immerse myself in the culture and learn about how the happiest people in the world raise their kids, I picked up The Danish Way Every Day by Jessica Joelle Alexander.

If you want to understand Denmark’s reading culture, or simply lose yourself for an hour, Politikens is worth the stop. 

Thiemers Magasin

Described as “Copenhagen’s friendliest bookstore,” Thiemers Magasin carefully selects books for their social relevance, aesthetic appeal, and overall daring. Their motto says it all: “Happy people read books and drink coffee.”

The shop is small, narrow, and buzzing with personality: sharp curation, postcards printed with cheeky bookish wisdom, and enough tote bags to outfit an entire MFA program. The English section is modest but intentional, and I found something irresistible (The Ministry of Time).

To be completely honest, my timing was terrible: construction outside, a jackhammer that wouldn’t quit, and a tired seven-year-old who had fully entered the “whiny noodle” stage of the day. But even under these less-than-ideal circumstances, the shop’s charm came through. This is a place run by people who live and breathe literature, and want you to join them.

They also run Thiemers Kaffebar, a sister location where you can sip coffee while browsing curated shelves. Next time, I’m planning for a quieter moment to soak it all in properly.

Books & Company (Hellerup)

On the warmest day of our Copenhagen stay - 27°C (80°F), practically a heatwave for Denmark - we took the bus north to the beach in Hellerup. Between swims and sunscreen reapplications, I snuck away to Books & Company, the international bookshop beloved by the area’s expat and diplomatic communities.

It’s bright, beautifully designed, and stocked with an impressive range of titles across genres. The prices, like everything in Denmark, made me clutch my travel wallet (DKK 270 is about $42 USD, and children’s books hover around $21). But the atmosphere? Worth every krone.

What stood out most was the hum of conversation. A customer picking up a book for his mother. Another asking for something similar to a novel she’d just finished, prompting the bookseller to jump into a flurry of pitch-perfect recommendations. Nearby, the owner chatted easily with an expat about books, travel plans, and upcoming author events.

Their website reads like a manifesto: books, people, conversation, events. Their online presence is genuinely impressive: staff picks, themed collections, events, and a full blog (“Shoptalk”). It’s one of the most intentional indie shop websites I’ve seen.
I bought Are You Asleep? and left wishing my travel budget allowed for more. 

Final thoughts

There are certainly more indie bookshops scattered across Copenhagen, but my crawl was shaped by one simple limitation: I focused on places with an English-language section. Within that filter, I feel like I covered the core of what the city has to offer: thoughtfully curated spaces run by people who care deeply about books and the communities that gather around them.
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If anything, this visit reminded me that Copenhagen’s literary culture isn’t about quantity. It’s about intention. Each shop I stepped into felt purposeful, personal, and quietly proud of the role it plays in a city that reads.

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