How would you spend 5 days in Denmark?

I loved Copenhagen! I only had 3 full days and was also primarily interested in Hans Christian Anderson and design. You can follow a self- guided tour of his various apts and where he wrote, I incorporated that with the usual sights.
I was also there in late July, pre- COVID. I went really early one day to the Little Mermaid and arrived just ahead of enormous tour buses. It would have been impossible to have my solo moment with her otherwise.
I took a train to Kronborg Castle- there were Hamlet scenes enacted all around the courtyard! I loved finding Holger Danske in the casements, a highlight. I think it was most of a day, when combined with the Louisiana Museum.
If you are serious Anderson fans the small museum across from Tivoli, although kitschy, was awesome and doesn't take long.
I arranged an English language tour of Christiana- fascinating and much better than walking around on your own.
The library was epic, and somewhere near are trampolines built into the sidewalk.
Although late July it was really cold, especially if cloudy/rainy. My fleece wasn't enough! Of course that could be different when you are there.
Have a wonderful time!

Welcome to my back garden :-)

I suggest you add these places (all in or around Copenhagen) to your planning process:

https://www.bakken.dk/english/ is the oldest amusement park in the world

https://www.stromma.com/en-dk/copenhagen/sightseeing/sightseeing-by-boat/grand-tour/ is a water level view on the city.

https://goboat.dk/en/ if you want the water level view in your own pace.

That is a bit rushed, but can be done. What does the full trip plan look like? Is it just Denmark and Norway?

Three days in Copenhagen and one day for Legoland can work. That will give you an extra day to spend somewhere. Since you're not big on visiting cities, maybe use it to explore the beaches of Jutland?

We were in Denmark a few years ago and absolutely loved it. With 5 full days, I would stay in Copenhagen the whole time as a base and then take day trips. There's a lot to do in Copenhagen itself of course. For castles, Rosenborg, Amalienborg, and Christiansborg. We thought the walk up the Rundetaarn was need for the views. The Little Mermaid statute is, in my opinion, not worth going out of your way for. Definitely would recommend a canal boat tour. We walked through Christiania - not everyone's thing, but it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it, especially once we got past Pusher Street. There was also a really cool food hall called Copenhagen Street Food that was right along one of the canals with lots of outdoor seating that we loved. We were there at a time Tivoli was closed, but if it were open we definitely would have gone. There is of course more to do here than just these suggestions, we really liked Copenhagen.

As for day trips: (1) Roskilde is great (UNESCO World Heritage Site Cathedral where Danish monarchy are buried and the awesome Viking Ship Museum), and it is only like 25 minutes from Copenhagen; (2) Helsignor (I think this was just about an hour north of Copenhagen - Kronborg Museum, the excellent maritime museum, and on the way back to Copenhagen, a stop at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art); and (3) Hillerod (Frederiksborg Castle and cute town).

If you are really interested in Hans Christian Andersen, you could do a day trip to Odense (where he was born). We stayed there for two nights and really enjoyed it, a much smaller town feel than Copenhagen. If I recall correctly, the train from Copenhagen to Odense was around 1.5 or 2 hours each way - a bit long, but doable for a day trip. In addition to the HC Andersen museum (very good) and his home (just ok), we really enjoyed the open air Funen Village Museum (Den Fynske Landsby, a bit south of town), and the ferry in and around the Munke Mose park).

Legoland is all the way in Billund and personally I don't think you have the time for it.

I really loved Copenhagen! If you make it there you really can't go wrong with the various famous sites and/or just walking around. Felt like there was a castle anywhere you turned. Public transit is easy to use as a tourist, you can get a pass for unlimited travel for however many days you want.

There are lots of fun day trips from Copenhagen too. I really enjoyed the viking ship museum in Roskilde, they have real preserved viking boats from a thousand years ago on display.

Thank you all for your responses! Super helpful!!

It seems some places are a reasonable day trip from Copenhagen if using Copenhagen as a base. Do you think Odense is a reasonable day trip or worth staying overnight?

Also, wondering about Aero, which RS really promotes. We love islands and love to bike but have seen some comment that they felt it was overrated and not worth travelling there. Just looking for more feedback on that island specifically.

Thanks,

Jennifer