There’s nothing like summer in Copenhagen. After months of being bundled up in winter clothes, the Danes flock into the sunshine and soak up every second of it. The season may be short, but it hits differently when you don’t live in a warm climate year-round. People jump off sunny piers into ice-cold water, sunbathe with a glass of wine in hand – and, of course, eat a lot of ice cream.
We’ve eaten our way through the city to bring you this Copenhagen ice cream guide, with all the best places for a frozen treat. Whether you’re looking for rich Italian gelato, creamy soft serve, or something more experimental like popsicles with wild flavors, here are our picks for the best ice cream in Copenhagen.
Looking for more great spots for food and drinks in the Danish capital? Check out our city map of Copenhagen!
The Best Ice Cream in Copenhagen
Dillon
Copenhagen’s hottest new ice cream shop is 100% worth the hype – it’s our favorite in town. This tiny gelateria churns out an impressive variety of flavors, from classics like pistachio, hazelnut, almond, and creamy milk with olive oil and sea salt, to seasonal fruits like fig, sea buckthorn, and yuzu kosho, as well as creative combos like coffee and cardamom, roasted corn, strawberry chili chocolate, and their signature golden stracciatella with turmeric. Our absolute favorite? The pandan gelato! Made with one of our favorite ingredients from Southeast Asia, it’s sweet, creamy, and herbaceous – the nutty, aromatic flavor is enhanced with a drizzle of concentrated pandan oil on top, resulting in the most intense pandan flavor we’ve ever had in ice cream. Get it in a house-made vanilla cone that tastes like a buttery, crispy cookie – or in an icy cold coupe with cone chips. Be sure to go early – everything is handmade in small batches and sells out fast!
DILLON Address & Contact Information Tåsingegade 51, Copenhagen, Denmark Instagram
Aurora Ismejeri
Unlike other Copenhagen shops that churn out gelato or the old-fashioned Danish-style ice cream, Aurora has an ingredient-driven style all its own. Owners Anders Lorenz and Rasmus Sjødahl take a scientific approach to crafting ice cream. They never work with an ice cream base; each recipe is developed from scratch. The milk ice cream is a signature flavor, made with milk from the small Danish dairy farm Søtoftes. (We especially love it as a creamy soft serve.) Aurora makes its own nut roasts in-house to create pistachio and hazelnut ice creams, two other popular choices. Sea buckthorn, chocolate, koldskål (a Danish buttermilk product), coffee, stracciatella, and strawberry are also offered regularly. But maybe the thing that makes Aurora stand out the most is its house-made tonka bean waffle cone. With its deep, buttery, vanilla flavor, it tastes like a cookie – it’s the best waffle cone we’ve ever had. Bakeries Alice and Benji joined forces to create “Earnest Eats,” a small chain of independent cafés and bakeries, where you can also find Aurora’s ice cream. But the ice cream production facility and shop are located in Carlsberg Byen, with a summer pop-up outside Magasin at Kongens Nytorv.
AURORA ISMEJERI Address & Contact Information Flaskehalsen 11, Copenhagen, Denmark Instagram
Østerberg Ice Cream
“Ice cream scientist” Cathrine Østerberg got her master’s degree in food science (specifically studying ice cream) before opening her scoop shops in the Østerbro and Vesterbro neighborhoods. Most recently, Østerberg added a location in the city center. Everything at Østerberg Ice Cream is homemade, created with top-quality ingredients and a whole lot of passion. Flavors range from unique Danish ingredients like sea buckthorn and licorice to exotic fruits from around the world. Cathrine’s dad owns a fruit import company, which means you can enjoy exciting flavors like dragon fruit (our favorite!), mangosteen, soursop, tamarind, and jackfruit. The soft serve flavor rotates, but our favorite by far is the tonka bean – it tastes similar to vanilla bean, with notes of caramel and almond.
ØSTERBERG ICE CREAM Address & Contact Information Rosenvængets Allé 7C, Copenhagen, Denmark Tullinsgade 25, Copenhagen, Denmark Grønnegade 27, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Det Vide Hus
Forget everything you know about popsicles – Det Vide Hus (the little white house across from Kongens Have) is about to show you just how delicious ice cream on a stick can taste. This is not your average Magnum bar, these are small-batch, artisanal Danish ice lollies. Flavors change with the seasons, but some of our favorite flavors have been the tonka bean ice cream dipped in a frozen apricot yuzu shell, the koldskål (Danish buttermilk) dipped in a frozen strawberry shell, and the raspberry rosemary sorbet. For you chocolate lovers, try the dark chocolate ice cream pop with butterscotch caramel and roasted peanut filling.
DET VIDE HUS Address & Contact Information Gothersgade 113, Copenhagen, Denmark Instagram Facebook
Coffee Collective
Take your daily cup of joe in ice cream form at Coffee Collective! Around April each year, the espresso soft serve returns to the menu for the summer – a refreshing sweet treat for true coffee lovers. The soft ice is everything you’d expect it to be: incredibly creamy, with a silky-smooth texture and a perfectly balanced flavor of espresso and milk, gently finished with a dusting of coffee grounds on top.
COFFEE COLLECTIVE Address & Contact Information Jægersborggade 57, Copenhagen, Denmark Kristen Bernikows Gade 2, Copenhagen, Denmark Vendersgade 6D, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Ismageriet
This kid-friendly ice cream shop serves chunky scoops jam-packed with candy pieces and swirls of caramel and chocolate. Flavors include Tropical Cheesecake, with cheesecake bites and swirls of passionfruit; Roasted Peanut, with chocolate and caramel (Kaitlin’s favorite); and Nutella, with cookie bites mixed in. We loved the limited-edition Dubai Chocolate soft serve, with pistachio and chocolate ice creams swirled together and layered with crunchy, buttery knafeh, plus a Dubai chocolate bar stuck in the side. Fun fact: This is the only scoop shop open year-round in Copenhagen, so come here to get your ice cream fix even in the winter months.
ISMAGERIET Address & Contact Information Rued Langgaards Vej 6E, Copenhagen, Denmark Flæsketorvet 45–55, Copenhagen, Denmark Refshalevej 163F, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Confecture Copenhagen
Confecture Copenhagen in Christianshavn is a chocolate shop founded by chocolatier Patrick Pörtner, serving truffles and flødeboller year-round, as well as house-made ice cream from Easter through October. Ice cream flavors are simple but well-executed, with four types of chocolate ice cream (naturally!), our favorite vanilla ice cream in town, and a pistachio-almond combo that instantly transported us back to Italy. Get your scoop in a chocolate-dipped cone and top it with vanilla, licorice, or raspberry guf (marshmallow fluff).
CONFECTURE COPENHAGEN Address & Contact Information Overgaden Oven Vandet 40A, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram
Isoteket
Isoteket serves organic, Italian-inspired gelato with creative, rotating flavors and unusual combinations. On past visits, we’ve enjoyed a mango lassi ice cream with black sesame, a cinnamon ice cream with caramel sauce, a rhubarb ice cream with star anise and vanilla, a coconut-guava sorbet, and an incredibly floral rose ice cream. Isoteket currently has five locations around Copenhagen, including one in Østerbro on Bopa Plads and one overlooking the lakes in Nørrebro.
ISOTEKET Address & Contact Information Sortedam Dossering 11, Copenhagen, Denmark Stefansgade 15, Copenhagen, Denmark Bopa Plads, Copenhagen, Denmark Valby Langgade 64, Copenhagen, Denmark Vesterbro Torv, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Andersen & Maillard
Why not fill your morning pastry with some ice cream this summer? Andersen & Maillard fills half of a croissant (a croissant cone, if you will) with coffee soft serve, which is made with leftover milk from the coffee bar and old coffee grounds. The croissant is coated with a cinnamon sugar glaze that adds some nice sweetness to balance out the coffee ice cream. Only available at the Nørrebro shop.
ANDERSEN & MAILLARD Address & Contact Information Nørrebrogade 62, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Siciliansk Is
For the city’s most classic gelato, try Siciliansk Is, with outposts in both Vesterbro and Nørrebro. Classic Italian and local Danish flavors are on offer – choose from Sicilian pistachio, Sicilian almond, and Piemonte hazelnut, or opt for sea buckthorn, koldskål (buttermilk), or licorice. The texture is creamy, smooth, and chewy (in a good way), but get it in a cup – the waffle cone here is nothing special.
SICILIANSK IS Address & Contact Information Skydebanegade 3, Copenhagen, Denmark Rantzausgade 56, Copenhagen, Denmark Website
Istid
Have you ever tried liquid nitrogen ice cream? Istid is the first of its kind in Scandinavia, which opened on trendy Jægersborggade in Nørrebro. All of the ingredients are fresh and organic, and each ice cream is made to order in front of the customer, thanks to the process of using liquid nitrogen to freeze the cream. The result is one of the creamiest ice cream textures you’ll ever try. The most popular flavor is their signature salty caramel, and other choices include marzipan stracciatella, caramelized banana, and rhubarb cheesecake.
ISTID Address & Contact Information Jægersborggade 13, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
What is your favorite ice cream in Copenhagen? Please leave a comment below.
I want to try all these places!
You are missing Isoteket at Randersgade! And Nordhavn Mikromejerei has fantastic goosberry sorbe and popcorn icecream.
We tried Isoteket, but didn’t love it. Might try it again when they have different flavors. Nordhavn Mikromejeri looks very interesting! Thanks for the tip.
Nice Cream is my favorit 100%
We’ve tried it, but sadly weren’t very impressed. But we’ll give it another chance!
You should try Bon Bon Ice on Frederiksberg. Homemade Italian Gelato in freshly baked waffles. Made from high quality organic ingredients they serve a variety of original flavours that you won’t see anywhere else. For example the rich “Black Vanilla” that colours your lips with vanilla bean, or their take on Danish classics such as “Rødgrød med fløde”, “Koldskål” and “Rugbrød gelato”.
The shop is placed right next to Frederiksberg Have, perfect to take your ice cream for a stroll.
Thanks for the tip!
Hmm…. my favorite ice cream at IS SMAGERIET is Basil & Bergamot. The raw liqurious ice cream is surpurb. In my opinion no other ice creams in Copenhagen have the handcraft or the work behind the flavors as at IS SMAGERIET.
What we like about Ismageriet is that it’s open all year long and they have fun flavors, but as for ingredient quality, ice cream texture, and pureness in flavors they were at the bottom of our list. But that’s the fun thing with taste, it’s subjective, so everyone can have their favorites. 🙂
Mamma Che Gelato-La Fiorita i Nansensgade har HELT FANTASTISK is.
Takk for tipset!
Alice 🙌 No one better! Subjective flavours or not. It can’t be argued ❤️
We have to agree!
Great list! Elis Copenhagen, Holbergsgade, Italian run, incredible gelato and other naughty treats. Elis is a master barista and also sells Italian roasted chessnuts in the winter. Big fan (if you couldn’t tell 😅)
Thanks for the tip!
Elis Copenhagen – Holbergsgade 22. Reeeeaaaallllyyyy delicious
Yes, we have tried it! 😊