I went to France with my mom and two small children, but we flew SAS and traveled through…read moreCopenhagen both ways. I'd been to Copenhagen before and had only vague memories of the airport, but we ended up spending a lot of time here on layovers this trip, definitely long enough to develop some opinions.
Food options weren't great and we left the Carlsberg Aviator lounge within minutes, when we realized the kids were going to be a problem. That was after a hellish eleven-hour evening flight from Los Angeles, and my three-year-old son was completely loopy, irascible but also full of high-wire energy. I desperately looked up kid-friendly things to do in the Copenhagen airport and was pleased to find there were two indoor play areas.
We went to both of them between our two layovers, and they were attractive in what felt like a Scandinavian way, wooden and well built and designed. They were good for some solid stretches of entertainment, though I admit my three-year-old got stuck up in a climbable "control tower" and I let him rot there while I sat and played games on my phone.
The rest of the airport was nice, too, and the place seemed to run pretty smoothly. There were tons of small bathrooms, maybe even one at each gate, a system I hadn't seen before. Our flight out was through the E gates, which were somewhat remote, and that part of the airport was super quiet. No shopping and the only food option I found was a vending machine where I bought, of all things, a chicken teriyaki onigiri. Thankfully, one of the two play areas was right by our gate, and my boys passed the time going down a little slide and pretending to steer a stationary boat.
I'd never recommend getting stuck at this or any airport with my children, but the Copenhagen airport was about as pleasant as it could've been, given the circumstances. I hope to fly there again, and preferably visit Copenhagen while I'm at it.