All shops are also allowed to stay open on six Sundays a year. Most small shops are open Monday to Thursday from 10.00 to 18.00. They stay open longer on Friday and close earlier on Saturday.
Banks
Banks are open on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10.00 to16.00. On Thursdays, banks stay open longer, until 17.30 or 18.00. Many banks have cashpoint machines where it is possible to withdraw money using a Dankort card or credit card.
Libraries
All municipal authorities have libraries where you can borrow books, CDs and videos and gain free access to the Internet. Most main libraries are open on weekdays from 10.00 to 19.00, and from 10.00 to 13.00 or 14.00 on Saturday. Local libraries usually have shorter opening hours. Check your municipal authority website for local library opening hours.
Shops
All shops are allowed to stay open Monday to Saturday from 06.00 to 17.00. Shops must normally close on Sundays, public holidays, Constitution Day, Christmas Day and after 15.00 on New Year’s Day. Shops with a small turnover, however, may also stay open on Sundays and public holidays.
Museums
There are about 850 museums and collections around the country. One hundred and forty are national museums or receive grants from the state. Some of these charge an admission fee, but children and youngsters under 18 have free admission to national and stateapproved museums in Denmark. Adults also have free admission to the National Museum and Statens Museum for Kunst, and certain other museums off er free admission on selected days. Danish museums include the major national museums of art and history as well as the smaller museums of local history and those with special themes such as maritime, trade and fishery. Denmark also has special prison museums and museums of medicine and medical knowledge, not to mention toy, chocolate, bicycle, potato and bottle ship museums. Find out more about museums by logging onto www.borger.dk and clicking on “Culture and leisure time”.
Public authority offices
Most public authority offices have fixed office hours and times when they are open to the public. Many stay open longer on Thursday and close early on Friday. Municipal authorities, regions and ministries have their own websites with information and selfservice options. We refer to www.borger.dk for further details.
Public transport
Denmark has a well-developed public transport system, both national and locally. You can buy a monthly travel card and a discount card for buses and trains. Ask at your train or bus station, or ask your municipal authority if you need further information. Or log onto www.rejseplanen.dk.
Post
Some kiosks and newsagents sell stamps, which are otherwise sold at post offices. Post offices dispatch letters and packages, and handle domestic and overseas payments. You can also notify
the authorities of a change of address at your local post office. Here it is also possible to buy tickets for the theatre, concerts and various sports events. National and overseas mail must be placed in the red letterboxes that you will find almost everywhere. Collection times are posted on the letterboxes.
Local post offices have different opening hours but most are open daily from 09.30 to 17.00. Post offices close at 17.30 on Thursday and 13.00 on Saturday. Log onto www.postdanmark.dk for a complete list of postcodes and post office opening hours.
Telephone
Telephone boxes are to be found in many public places. Here you can use coins or a special pay card, which is available from newsagents and post offices. All local areas have their own telephone
directory which is distributed to all households. In addition to telephone numbers, it contains a good deal of practical information about your municipal authority, the emergency doctor service, the police, associations, museums, a map of the local area and the “yellow pages” which provide information on local businesses. You can also find telephone numbers by calling “directory enquiries” on 118, or by logging onto www.degulesider.dk, www.krak.dk or www.eniro.dk, for
example.
Credits: The Danish Immigration Service
