Customs and daily life

Daily life

• Language: Danish. Denmark.dk stresses that most Danes speak very good English. The pronunciation, notably the stød (glottal stop), makes Danish hard to learn.
• Danish courses: language centres offer courses to newly arrived adult foreigners across the country; some courses are free, others paid (conditions to be checked with your municipality).
• Tone and politeness: social conventions are "relatively informal", at work and in private, and dress is rather casual. The informal "you" (du) is used with almost everyone, including at work (common practice, not described on the official pages read).
• Hygge: the art of taking a break and enjoying simple, warm moments, often at home, over a meal or a drink, with no agenda. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself acknowledges that it can be difficult for a newcomer to be invited.
• Associations: about two thirds of Danes belong to at least one club or association, and any resident can join. Your library or municipality has the list.
• Tipping: service is included in hotel, restaurant and taxi bills. You can leave a tip for outstanding service, with no fixed rule.
• Payment: the Danish krone (DKK). The country is very digital: many shops only accept card or mobile payment (MobilePay), and some supermarkets or kiosks refuse cash after 20:00.
• Opening hours: supermarkets often open from 8:00 to 22:00 (varies by shop). Pharmacies (apotek) generally from 9:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, from 10:00 to 16:00 on Saturdays, closed on Sundays, with on-call pharmacies open 24 hours a day. Banks closed at weekends.
• Cycling: it accounts for 21% of trips under 10 km. More than 12,000 km of cycle routes in the country, about 400 km of cycle tracks in Copenhagen.
• Waste sorting: compulsory in most municipalities (glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, electronics, batteries, hazardous waste). When renting, waste management is included in the rent; as an owner, you pay an annual fee. Deposit (pant) on cans and bottles: amounts vary by container, displayed in shops.
• Snow: if your house faces a public road, you must clear and grit your pavement between 7:00 and 22:00 (from 8:00 on Sundays).

Work

• Duration: 37 hours per week in most sectors (set by collective agreement, not by law), 48 hours maximum on average overtime included, 11 consecutive hours of rest per day.
• Holiday: 5 weeks of paid holiday a year; activity slows sharply at the end of July. You generally earn 12.5% of your pay as holiday entitlement (feriepenge); if you are salaried, you keep your pay during your holiday and also receive a 1% supplement (ferietillæg), according to borger.dk (see DK-TRAVAIL-TOUS-001).
• Danish model: pay and working conditions are mainly set by collective agreements between unions and employers' organisations; Lifeindenmark does not mention a statutory minimum wage. Membership of a union (fagforening) or an unemployment insurance fund (a-kasse) is voluntary, and one does not depend on the other.
• Culture: people leave the office at a reasonable hour, notably to pick up the children; coming to work ill is frowned upon. Some companies allow remote working one or two days a week, encouraging people to come to the office on the other days.

Public holidays

• List (VisitDenmark): 1 January, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter and Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday and Whit Monday, Constitution Day (5 June), 24, 25 and 26 December.
• Store Bededag (the "Great Prayer Day", 4th Friday after Easter) has no longer been a public holiday since 2024: it no longer appears in VisitDenmark's official list. The act on the consequences of abolishing Store Bededag as a public holiday, passed by the Folketing on 28 February 2023, abolished it from 1 January 2024 and made it an ordinary working day.
• Constitution Day (5 June) and 24 December: according to Denmark.dk, Constitution Day is a partial public holiday (a few companies close for part of the day, most stay open); on 24, 25 and 26 December, most shops and restaurants are closed.
• School holidays: winter in week 7 or 8 (February), autumn in week 42 (October), summer from the last Saturday of June to early August.

Emergencies

• 112: life-threatening emergency (police, ambulance, fire brigade).
• 114: police, non-emergency.
• On-call doctor (lægevagt): outside consultation hours, number depends on your region.

Common pitfalls

• Waiting to be invited. Danes are welcoming but their circles are long-established; it is up to you to join a club, a sport or an association.
• Relying only on English. It is enough at work in many companies, but local life, school and administration (borger.dk) remain in Danish.
• Arriving with only cash. Plan for a bank card, and MobilePay once your Danish account is open.
• Coming to work ill or staying late to be noticed: poorly perceived.
• Old calendars. Some documents, including a sample school calendar on Lifeindenmark, still quote Store Bededag as a public holiday.
• Faroe Islands and Greenland: their own languages (Faroese, Greenlandic), calendar and rules.