A late-evening arrival from Zürich and a noon departure on SAS the next day left one travel writer and his family with 14 hours to kill in Copenhagen — and the city turned out to be well suited to exactly that kind of overnight layover, especially with children in tow.
Their base was the AC Hotel Bella Sky Copenhagen, a Marriott property in the Ørestad district, booked on Bonvoy points. Copenhagen is thin ground for Hyatt loyalists, so Marriott points were the practical play. The hotel's selling points are proximity to the airport, comfortable rooms, a solid breakfast, and a well-equipped gym — plus an unexpected hit with the kids: a LEGO model of the hotel complex tucked in the basement of the second tower. One caveat worth flagging: the wellness area costs extra and doesn't open until 10:00 am, which rules it out for most layover guests.
Getting there is easy, if slightly slower by rail. The family skipped Uber and took the Metro from the airport, which the writer admits took about three times longer and required a backtrack via Christianshavn station to transfer. But if your children like trains, that's a feature, not a bug — and it's the more budget-friendly option.
The morning leg of the layover was spent back at Copenhagen Airport, and here's a genuinely useful tip for parents: there's a LEGO store inside the terminal. Kids can build their own custom minifigures — mixing and matching clothes, hair and accessories — which kept the family's two children occupied for a good 20 minutes and made for a cheap, memorable souvenir. After that, it was the SAS lounge before boarding. The lounge has barely changed in two decades, split between business class downstairs and Gold-level upstairs, but a revamp is planned for next year.
Weather-wise, an evening in the high 60s Fahrenheit made wandering around pleasant — a nice contrast to a summer heatwave elsewhere in Europe.
Who is this for? Anyone routing through Copenhagen on SAS or another carrier with a long overnight connection. The combination of a near-airport hotel, a fast Metro link (or a slow-but-fun one, depending on your kids), and in-terminal entertainment like the LEGO store means a 14-hour layover doesn't have to mean a miserable night on a bench. Book a points hotel in Ørestad, sleep properly, and let the airport itself handle the morning's entertainment. Just don't count on that spa.
