The Blue Planet aquarium Tickets

From the outside it coils like a whirlpool, a swirl of dark aluminium shingles that seem to spin toward the water. Inside, the biggest tank is a wall of blue where hammerhead sharks slide past the glass and rays bank overhead. The Blue Planet is the largest aquarium in Northern Europe, and it sits right on the Oresund shore a few metro stops from the airport, which makes it one of the easiest big attractions in the city to reach.

What will you see at the Blue Planet?

The Blue Planet is the largest aquarium in Northern Europe. Its set pieces are the giant Ocean tank, where hammerhead sharks and rays circle behind a curved wall of glass, and the walk-through Amazon section with piranhas and dense rainforest planting overhead. Around them run coral reefs, cold northern seas, sea otters and colonies of puffins.

The Ocean tank is the moment most people remember. You stand in front of a vast curved window while sharks, rays and shoals of fish move through deep blue water, and a viewing tunnel lets the biggest animals pass right over your head. It is the kind of tank you sit down in front of rather than walk past.

The rainforest section changes the temperature and the mood entirely. Warm and humid, it puts you inside a flooded Amazon, with free-flying birds, piranhas below the surface and, behind glass, some of the river's larger residents. From there the route moves through coral reefs bright with tropical fish and into colder tanks that mirror the seas around Denmark.

It is built for close encounters as much as big tanks. Touch pools let children meet rays and crabs under supervision, sea otters put on an unofficial show at feeding time, and a puffin colony gives the northern section real character. The loop is designed so younger visitors always have something moving to look at, which keeps the pace up.

The building itself is worth a look before you go in. Its whirlpool shape, clad in thousands of small diamond-shaped aluminium shingles, was designed to echo the swirl of a current, and it sits low against the water so the aquarium seems to grow out of the shore. On a bright day the metal catches the light and shifts colour as you walk around it.

How do Blue Planet tickets and prices work?

Admission at the door is 249 DKK for adults, or 219 DKK booked online, rising to 259 and 229 on peak weekends. Children aged 3 to 11 pay a reduced rate and under-3s go free. The Blue Planet is not on the Copenhagen Card, so plan to pay for it separately even if you are carrying the card for the rest of your trip.

Booking online saves both money and time, since the online adult rate undercuts the door price and lets you walk past the ticket line on a busy day. Weekends and school holidays are the crunch, when the peak rate applies and the tanks are at their fullest, so a morning slot is worth locking in. You can check the latest dates and prices in the booking panel above.

The point worth planning around is the Copenhagen Card. Many visitors assume the card covers the aquarium and it does not, so this is one attraction you budget for on its own. The prices below are the current 2026 figures from the aquarium; confirm them and any peak-day rate on the official site before you travel.

If a visit is part of a bigger family trip, check whether a combined family ticket works out cheaper than separate adult and child entries, since the aquarium often prices family groups together. Whatever the make-up of your group, booking the exact date online locks the lower rate and removes any risk of a sold-out afternoon on a wet weekend.

How long do you need, and when is the best time to go?

Most families spend two to three hours here. Come at opening or on a late Monday, when the aquarium stays open until 21:00, to get ahead of the school groups and see the tanks in calmer light. Feeding sessions run through the day, and they are the moments worth timing your loop around, especially at the big Ocean tank.

The layout is a single flowing route, so you do not need a plan beyond deciding when to arrive. Two hours covers the whole loop at a relaxed pace; families with young children who linger at the touch pools and otters can happily stretch it to three. There is a cafe partway round for the inevitable break.

Timing is the difference between a calm visit and a packed one. Rainy days pull crowds in, so a fully indoor aquarium fills up fast when the weather turns. Arriving at opening, or using the late Monday evening, gives you the quietest tanks and the best chance to stand at the front of the Ocean window without a scrum.

If you are travelling with very young children, build in extra time at the touch pools and the otter enclosure, which tend to become the anchors of a visit whatever else is on the route. Older kids and adults gravitate to the Ocean tank and the rainforest, so a family can happily split for a while and meet back at the cafe.

How do you get to the Blue Planet?

The Blue Planet sits at Kastrup on the Oresund shore, right by the airport. Take the M2 metro toward Lufthavnen, the airport, and get off at Kastrup station, about 15 minutes from the city center, then follow the signed five-minute walk to the water. It is one of the easiest museum trips in the city to make.

The metro runs frequently and is fully automatic, so there is no timetable to worry about, and Kastrup is a clearly marked stop on the airport line. From the station the route to the aquarium is signposted and short, ending at the whirlpool building on the shore. If you are flying out the same day, the airport is only one more stop along the line.

The Copenhagen Card covers the metro even though it does not cover the aquarium entry, so the transport still rides along if you hold the card. The table below sets out the journey so you can see how quickly it fits into a half-day plan.

The airport link makes the aquarium a clever first or last stop on a trip. Arriving early with time to kill, or facing a late checkout before an evening flight, you can leave bags and ride two stops from the terminal to the tanks. Few big attractions in any city sit this conveniently on the airport line.

Know before you go: hours and the essentials

The Blue Planet is open every day, generally from 10:00, staying open late on Mondays until 21:00 and closing at 17:00 the rest of the week. The address is Jacob Fortlingsvej 1 in Kastrup. Because it opens daily, it is a reliable Monday option in a city where many of the art museums are shut on that day.

That daily opening is worth remembering when you plan. Monday catches out a lot of visitors, since Louisiana, the Glyptotek, SMK and others all close, while the Blue Planet stays open and even runs late. Confirm the exact opening time for your date on the official site, as hours can shift around holidays.

Inside there is a cafe, a shop and family facilities, and the whole loop is designed with strollers and young children in mind. The at-a-glance table below sums up the essentials, and you can read more on the aquarium's own pages before you go.

What can you combine with the Blue Planet?

The Blue Planet pairs best with the city's other family favourites. The hands-on science center at Experimentarium is the obvious match for a two-day family plan, while Tivoli Gardens and the Children's Museum inside the National Museum round out the options. All are open on Mondays, which makes them a useful set for the day the art museums close.

For a second big day out with kids, Experimentarium is the natural companion, all buttons, levers and experiments to the aquarium's tanks and sharks. Book Experimentarium ahead and check availability for a rainy afternoon, and you have two weatherproof days sorted.

In the center, Tivoli Gardens gives younger visitors rides and lights, and the National Museum of Denmark hides a full Children's Museum inside its galleries. For more on the aquarium itself, see its official Den Bla Planet pages, and there is wider family planning on VisitCopenhagen.

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