9 reasons why I hate living in Copenhagen, Denmark

Hey there greetings from the Pacific Northwest in the USA - I sincerely appreciate your video for its HONESTY - it's refreshing, especially when considering how so many travel/culture videos of a similar focus tend to overly hype the place they are talking about. Thanks!

Thanks for this video, I thought I was crazy for leaving cph after only 6 months of moving there from southern Italy. I can easily see through stuff pretty easily and noticed many of the points you mentioned but around my circle I was labelled crazy to leave Denmark as on paper is one of the best countries in the world. I now realise that most of the elements that contribute to a county being happy can't be quantified and measured. During my time there I've met people with deep mental health issues, passive aggressiveness, directness used as a mean of being aggressive and a great lack of empathy and a lot of people dismiss alcoholism as being "cultural". Man imagine saying hello to your neighbours and don't reply! That has happened to me many times and I get that it's polite to ignore but man, it costs nothing to be kind and reply!

Been living here for 2 years now and your points are spot on! But as a born-and-raised Parisian, I can affirm the quality of life here is uncomprarably better than in Paris, especially with kids. People are relaxed, the city is human-sized and globally, things work. Yet, I surely would enjoy cheaper prices for food/bars/cafés, lower taxes and... less wind! 😅

This is wild, watching from Southern California (South of LA) this almost looks economical. average 2 bed apartment to rent here is much closer to $3000 USD or above. Latte is the same if not more here if asking for Dairy alternative milk. Weather is different though of course. Love the video's Adam!

I'm in Toronto and Copenhagen looks cheaper. Rent for a two bed is $3000+ per month. Eating out typically is $30 - $50. Also, there isn't much nature and what nature there is left is boring for the most part. Winters can be evil with temperatures dropping as low as -40(rare but does happen). Even the typical -20 it far too cold for me. Great video!

I visited Kobenhavn in 2018, in February sadly, but I still loved it. I had long johns under my jeans, double socks, gloves and pretty warm jacket. But I was freezing still, extremely cold wind didn't help either. That, and having spent whole day out, we walked like 20km that day, to see as much as possible. It is properly cold, I'll give you that. Was still enjoying the beautiful architecture of old buildings with clipped roofs and bricks. You were lucky to be excluded from major battles in recent history. Unlike Serbia here, which was practically leveled in WW1 and WW2, then came the communists which destroyed the rest of buildings from the old kingdom. It is expensive and I was expecting that, some things are just over your head, like having a pint of beer or any food except the hot dogs which are pretty good and somewhat cheap. We did find some locally brewed lager in Christianshavn for around 2,5 euros if I remember correctly. :) Gonna have to visit Denmark next summer to properly enjoy it during warm, long days.

I would like to elaborate a bit on "Janteloven". It was invented by the Danish/Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose in his book "En flyktning krysser sitt spor" (1933), and is neither unwritten (because he wrote it), nor an official set of rules. Many Youtube videos present Janteloven as a really positive thing, but that is not at all how Sandemose intended it. This becomes apparent if you read the original wording. While I do like certain aspects of it, because it tends to keep people from getting on too high horses, losing their connection to reality, it can also be too restricting. In any case, living by Janteloven as Sandemose intended it, cannot be recommended.

Thank you for your video. It was great.

I am traveling Europe solo for a few months and have been strongly considering spending a month in Copenhagen, partly because of the popularity of badminton in Denmark. Not sure how easy it is to find people to play badminton with, but I would hope that that would be my way to make friends with some locals. This video is making me second guess Copenhagen just a little, but this video seems more targeted towards people who want to move there, rather than just spend a month. Thanks for the information!

Next content should be the cost of living in Denmark and Do and Donts in Copenhagen :)

I loved the video.im living here for 35 years.i totally agree with you with the first 3 reasons. Expensive.weather and landscape. I hate the landscape. There is nothing to see ( except of møns klint). Its all flat. Its also hard to make friends. I dont mind the High taxes. The weather is very depressing. That's why half of Danish people go to south Europe for holidays. And I refuse to pay 50 kroner ( 7 dollar) for a coffee. Thanks for a lovely honest video.

Where would you recommend to stay for 7 days in September outside of Copenhagen and travel in?

Number 6: isn’t it the same everywhere in the world?

Tak for videoen. Meget interessant. Jeg vil stadig besøge igen (jeg bor i USA) men intet sted er perfekt.

Those are pretty much the same prices everywhere across western Europe. I bet you do have higher salaries though

As a Dane, this video is very precise. I do think people complaining over people not following the rules is necessary, because Denmark has a very individualistic culture, with people showing little regard for others in public spaces. If your neighbour is throwing a party and you say nothing, expect that they will keep blasting music until 4-5 in the morning. In general, the average Danish person feels like they own whatever space they're currently in. Our nature is very beautiful in summer, but like it is stated in the video, most of Denmark's nature looks exactly the same, making exploration comparatively boring for people who live here. Everything is indeed very expensive, and if you like eating out regularly, this is NOT the place to settle down. If you are a responsible adult and have a healthy lifestyle, you will be annoyed with how much you'll be subsidising the poor life choices of the average citizen or resident by paying insanely high taxes (and myriad hidden taxes). You'll be annoyed by all of the bureaucrats being paid to enforce unnecessarily complex rules. It is NOT worth it unless you have kids. Jantelov behaviour is not so dominating in Copenhagen, but more so outside of the capital. That said, people are indeed extremely homogenous in lifestyles and tastes, and Danes are very risk averse. The weather here is truly horrible, and we barely get 100 nice days per year. In short, Copenhagen/Denmark is an excellent destination for a summer holiday... It's true that Danes are always busy, and doing spontaneous activities with Danish people can be hard. It's probably for the same reason that Danish people can be hard for foreigners to befriend, as everyone is calculating in their head how much value they are getting from interacting with you versus building their career and/or being with their family. This industriousness is a big driver behind why Denmark is a wealthy country. Danes are very willing to sacrifice happiness for productivity. It's a cultural thing. The average Danish person believes that Denmark is the best society in the world, and that there's little we can learn from other countries. This personally bothers me a lot, although Denmark is obviously a contender for a top ranking on any list ranking quality of life by country.

Great video, summarizing everything pretty accurately. One addition to it however: Jantelov in my opinion is extremely important in today’s world and I would love to see more people living more “Jantelov based”. I am also commenting as a non Dane but living in Denmark for 10+ years, and see the shift in behavior of younger people. Nevertheless, Denmark is a great country even with its flaws. The more you travel the more you understand why.

thanks, very interesting

As a dane myself the whole "good salary" thing is kinda bullshit. Salary is pretty low in Denmark compared to other countries in the west because of the tax. Im a clinical dietitian with a masters degree and I earn rougly 18.000 dkk a month after taxes (2.500 usd). That puts me at merely 216.000 dkk a year (around 30 k usd) which is insanely low, with prizes for food being what they are in Denmark. Even in USA I would be considered poor. In USA not only is the base salary (without masters degree) almost TWICE as high as in Denmark with a yearly average of 60.000 usd (420.000 dkk) but depending on where you live, you can easily pay 0% - 20% in income taxes. If you earn within the top 25th percentile or go private 100k usd a year is certainly within reach. Not to mention its incredibly hard to get a job in my field in Denmark, even with my masters and good grades it took me 3 years. I really should move out of this country lol

people snitching on people in denmark, I really don't think it is a general issue at all, jante loven only comes into effect if you act outta pocket while having money, or if you are being an idiot. Yes we are a flat country, yes we have so much farmland, but we also have very pretty wandering routes, and a buttload of awesome beaches and beautiful islands - basically I believe some of your points are missing it's mark :0)