13 hour Layover in Copenhagen -- do I have to go through customs to stay at a hotel?

Yes. There are no airside hotels in Copenhagen as far as I know.

Well, it depends where you are coming from, and where you are going to. (Also assume that by "Customs" you mean immigration/passport control)

The other factor is if the hotel is within the secure zone (Airside) or outside.

But if the hotel is outside the secure zone, then you will need to do any needed immigration, since you will be entering the country. Then on return, you will need to do security, and possibly any exit immigration for the Schengen area if that applies.

Only if the hotel is within the secure zone for the international concourse would you not.

Where are you coming from? Where are you going?

Unless we know that, we can't anser te question.

We are coming from Paris to LAX, with possible layover in Copenhagen.

Currently we are booked from Paris - LAX, via Copenhagen (2.5 hr. layover), to Stockholm (9 hour layover).

Stockholm has airside hotels, but we want to see if we can avoid doing 2 stops. There's a one stop flight, with layover in Copenhagen , but not sure it has airside hotels. I thought the Clarion Hotel was airside, but someone on this thread says there are no airside hotels at Copenhagen.

Btw, how do you check if an airport has airside hotels?

France and Denmark are Schengen zone members, so there is no 'immigration' procedure ( "customs") upon arrival in Copenhagen from Paris.

You will have Schengen zone exit processing/passport control when you depart CPH for LAX. In that regard it doesn't matter where in the airport the hotel is.

OOPS-- Thank you Dutch Traveler for proof reading .... correction inserted

Customs is about the goods you bring with you and you will pass customs whenever you exit airside in Copenhagen or Stockholm (due to airport layout even if you only do a domestic flight). If you don't have anything to declare you just walk through but very rarely you might be be selected for a check.

There are no airside hotels in Copenhagen and Stockholm.

If you have a layover (regardless of Copenhagen or Stockholm) and want to go landside you will pass customs to get out and airport security to get in again. Your luggage will likely be checked through so you only pass customs with you hand luggage.

Regardless of how you get there, passport control for Schengen exit will be done airside when you enter the non-schengen area at Copenhagen airport.

I’m 100% sure it’s by accident, but in his post Joe32F has left out the very crucial word “no”.
France and Denmark are both Schengen zone members, so there is no 'immigration' procedure upon arrival in Copenhagen from Paris.

There is no immigration between Schengen countries...France, Denmark, Sweden. So, when you get off the plane in Copenhagen it is like a domestic flight.

You will go through exit immigration at your last stop in Schengen before continuing on in the US. (Stockholm in your current schedule.)

Customs (for your luggage) is usually just a walk through. Few people get stopped.

However, countries can require you to go through immigration even from Schengen countries. It happened to me in Stockholm arriving from Athens. Everyone on the flight went through immigration. It was the most intense questioning I've ever had in a Schengen country. I had to show proof of my exit transportation out of Schengen.

In the US, we tend to lump immigration and customs into one thing. Not in other countries. Immigration and customs are two different things. Immigration for people, customs for stuff.

As stated previously, there are no hotels in either Stockholm or Copenhagen that are airside. I've stayed at the Clarion at Arlanda (Stockholm airport.) Just because it's in the terminal does not mean it's airside.

I’ve stayed at that Clarion too at the Stockholm airport. As Frank says, it’s definitely not airside. Although it is convenient !

The advantage you have at Copenhagen is that the airport is so darned near to the city center, so you can quickly get into town and back out to the airport (i.e. doing so will take up hardly any time). So you have more time to actually see something, have dinner, whatever you want to do.

In any event, as those who have posted above have pointed out, since you’re coming from Paris to Copenhagen, you don’t have immigration upon arrival to Copenhagen. You will have emigration when departing CPH, but you would have to do it anyway when departing (even if you just did a connecting departure).

But boy both CPH and Stockholm are the wrong direction from Paris to LA ! So i hope you are getting a real deal on these tickets. That flight is long enough (I go from Paris to LA usually once or twice a year, did it twice last year) without heading east and north to Scandinavia in between.

Kim -- I have a few questions.

First, we have no choice for several reasons but to do this route. Thanks, we did a lot of research in regards to our particular circumstances.

Second: I was under the impression that the Radisson Blu Airport Terminal Hotel, Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, is airside. Here is a quote from their website:

"Our airport hotel is conveniently located inside Arlanda Airport, between the terminals in SkyCity."

Third: I understand there is immigration/passport control when we board for LAX. What I want to know is if we stay in a hotel that ISN'T airside, what is it like/how long does it take to leave and to get back into the airport?

Please understand that I haven't traveled outside the country for decades. Everything is new to me and I'm doing the best I can.

OK, now I am starting to understand how this works:

Airside: Hotels inside the "secure" zone. Don't have to go in and out of IMMIGRATION/PASSPORT CONTROL/SECURITY and CUSTOMS to get into and out of hotel.

Landside: Hotels OUTSIDE of "secure" zone. HAVE TO go thru immigration/passport control/security and customs to get into and out of hotel.

Is this right?

And my next question is: What is it like to have to go through immigration/passport control/security at Copenhagen and Stockholm? Our luggage will be checked through. We are not declaring anything.

OK, once again: (and quoting someone on the thread)

"f you have a layover (regardless of Copenhagen or Stockholm) and want to go landside you will pass customs to get out and airport security to get in again. Your luggage will likely be checked through so you only pass customs with you hand luggage.

Regardless of how you get there, passport control for Schengen exit will be done airside when you enter the non-schengen area at Copenhagen airport."

So we can leave the airport to go to our landside hotel w/o going through security or immigration (only customs) because we are in a Schengen area. But we will have to go through airport security to get back inside the airport.

And then once inside the airport again, before boarding for LAX we will go through immigration.

Is that right?

Second: I was under the impression that the Radisson Blu Airport
Terminal Hotel, Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, is airside.

It's very much a landside hotel.

Here is a quote from their website: "Our airport hotel is conveniently
located inside Arlanda Airport, between the terminals in SkyCity."

That means that the hotel is in the airport, in SkyCity (the large building that connects Terminals 4 & 5) to be exact.

Third: I understand there is immigration/passport control when we
board for LAX. What I want to know is if we stay in a hotel that ISN'T
airside, what is it like/how long does it take to leave and to get
back into the airport?

Leaving the airport is just walking out of the secure area. As long as you have nothing to declare. Going back to the secure area means going through a security check. How long that takes varies a lot. The check itself usually only takes a few minutes, but there can be a bit of queueing involved. And to get from the Schengen area of the airport to the non-Schengen area and v.v. there is a passport check involved.

Thanks, Badger. Starting to understand now.

When you say "a bit of queuing", can you describe a little more what that looks like? Going through the security line at LAX can take up to an hour or more. Thanks.

Badger, what is v.v.?

vice versa /vī″sə vûr′sə, vīs″/
adverb

With the order or meaning reversed; conversely.
The same but with the two things or people mentioned reversed.
With the order reversed.

My guess for the "v.v."

Joe32F You do like your dictionaries!

Security queuing time at Arlanda is rarely over 15 minutes and very rarely over 30 minutes.

Queue for Schengen exit check in Copenhagen is usually a few minutes at most.

vice versa /vī″sə vûr′sə, vīs″/ adverb With the order or meaning
reversed; conversely. The same but with the two things or people
mentioned reversed. With the order reversed. My guess for the "v.v."

Exactly. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/vice-versa

Thanks, Anders! What about the Copenhagen-Kastrup airport? How are security lines? Do they tend to be long?

Waiting times at Copenhagen airport is about the the same as Arlanda, but from Copenhagen you won't fly in rush hours so the risk of 30 mins queuing is close to zero.