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Going out for a coffee is not cheap in Denmark
If you are living in Denmark or coming to visit you will know or soon find out that going out for a coffee is not cheap. I remember that an espresso in Portugal is just 1 euro. Let us take a look at the prices at Espresso House in Copenhagen.
Caffe Latte: 5,90 euros.
Cappuccino: 5,90 euros.
Americano: 4,83 euros.
Espresso: 4,02 euros.
Tea: 4,02 euros.
I sometimes work at coffee houses and have meetings there. There is wifi, good chairs and coffee. Mostly however, a coffee house is quite noisy because of the constant hissing of the italian espresso maker and the loud humming of people sharing stories.
Free coffee houses in Denmark?
What if I told you, that there is 250 free coffee houses in Denmark? They have comfortable chairs, hot drinks, water and wifi. There is peace and quiet, because you will most likely have the coffee house for yourself. No mumbling or hissing will disturb you. It is absolutely free. On the entrance doors they have green cups and the words “Come on in” written in Danish.
Here is a map of the 250 locations all over Denmark. Find your free coffee house here!
Opening hours:
Monday: 10 – 16.
Tuesday: 10 – 16.
Wednesday: 10 – 16.
Thursday: 10 – 18.
Friday: 10 – 16.
There is even a few 24 hour coffee houses.
Hang on. Is this a bank? I'm confused!
If you clicked on the map to find the location of the nearest coffee house, you would see that the map shows locations of all the bank branches of the Danish bank, Jyske Bank. Some years back the bank wanted to stand out from other banks. As a part of that process, they started offering free coffee to anyone. Even for tourists and non customers. No matter who you are you can just go there, get out of the rain or cold, and sit down and drink a hot chocolate or coffee. If the weather is just too good to sit inside, you just take it to go!
You may ask: “But is the coffee not for the customers waiting in line at the bank?”
I have never seen a queue in any of these bank branches. I come on a regular basis to get a coffee. People don’t go to the bank in Denmark anymore. They can do almost everything online anyway. Not a lot of people know about the free coffee, so you will most likely get the whole coffee house for yourself.
Coffee bar ahead!
When you walk into the bank you will usually be greeted with some kind of sign. This one says: “Coffee bar ahead. Start with a good cup of coffee. Customer or not – everybody is welcome!”
You then continue to walk to the first coffee machine you see. Here you will have different options. Grab a cup and choose between caffe latte, cappuccino, regular coffee, espresso, hot chocolate, or tea. There is also milk and sugar. If you just prefer a glass of water you can just grab that. Maybe a small glass of sparkling water for your espresso?
Sit down and relax. Enjoy your free cappuccino and the silence
Sit down in either the tall bar chairs or some of the lower chairs if you plan to stay for a little while. You will usually find some candy as well next to the coffee machine or on the tables in the sitting areas. Just relax, take out your phone and get up to date on social media, put your laptop out on the table and get some work done, or bring a friend to chat at this different type of coffee house.
Free wifi and no sales talk
You may ask: “But will no one approached me and try to sell me a pension plan or a high interest consumer loan?” It feels a bit weird being here without being a customer.” If someone comes up and ask you if you need any help, just respond: “No thank you. I just wanted to get a caffe latte and use your wifi. What is the password?”
If no one asks you any questions, wich it quite common if you go directly for the coffee machine and start grinding beans, you can find the name of the wifi and the password on the tablet by the counter. It usually looks like this.
Different sitting areas - low or high chairs, maybe a sofa or a fireplace
Usually there will be some high bar chairs and a tall table close to the coffee machine.
Further away you usually find at least one sitting area with lower chairs, a sofa, and usually a lower table. In some places there is room for a whole group of people.
This one in particular in my home town has three sitting areas and a small “fake” fireplace in one of them. I took Grupeer for one of these banks for coffee, during a heavy shower, after we went kayaking for free and helped save the environment in Copenhagen recently.
I actually had several hour long meetings with other investors in this bank. I had long coffee chats with friends in there as well. I think it is a great option for tourists who needs to sit down, relax and get on the wifi to figure out what part of Copenhagen to see next. It is also great for people in the FIRE movement to have their daily coffee without paying and putting the saved money into investments instead! One of the small little daily changes you could do in regards to your spending habits that over time will amount to a great deal. Go here for your coffee!
Share this article and give free hot chocolate to your friends!
Share the knowledge of this hidden gem of a life hack and give your friends a free hot beverage. Are you going to Denmark or do you have friends who will be traveling to Denmark? Share this article with them for a free and different experience. Comment below if you already had a coffee at one of these free coffee houses. What did you get to drink? Did you invest the money you saved into crowdlending?
