Life in Denmark

The Danes love to bike no matter the weather. Bicycles are easily the most common form of transport in Denmark. The many kilometres of bike lanes in every major city makes this an easy, cheap, and secure way of transportation. 

If you are interested in buying a bike you can either buy a new or a second-hand bike at one of many local bike dealers or from other students through Facebook pages. In the major cities of Denmark, some companies rent out bikes. When buying a used bike, you should first check if the bike has been reported stolen. This can be done by checking the frame number of the bike on the website of the Danish Police.

In all our campus cities, you can get around by bus. Please visit Rejseplanen.dk to get more information concerning timetables, routes, and prices.

If you are a frequent user of public transportation, we recommend that you get a ‘Rejsekort’, which is an electronic ticket system. For more information regarding this visit Rejsekort.dk.

If you wish to travel around in Denmark this can easily be done by train or coach. For information regarding train tickets, schedules, and prices, visit dsb.dk.

Multiple long-distance coach companies operate in Denmark. For information regarding destinations, schedules and prices check the various companies’ webpage.

Some international students choose to bring their cars to Denmark. You can drive a foreign-registered car in Denmark. However, please be aware of the rules and regulations regarding foreign-registered cars in Denmark.

SDU cannot help you with this.

Information regarding rules and regulations can be found here at Skat.dk. 

You can open a Danish bank account once you hold a Danish CPR number. To open a Danish bank account, just bring your Passport/ID card along with your CPR number to a bank. SDU cannot advise you on which bank to choose. If in doubt, try asking a fellow student for recommendations.

You must register your Danish bank account as a NemKonto.

A Nemkonto is a normal bank account that you assign as your Nemkonto. All payments from public institutions will be transferred directly to this account. For more information, please visit Nemkonto.dk.

All major credit cards, such as MasterCard, VISA, American Express, Diner’s Club, and Euro Card are accepted in most restaurants, supermarkets, international chains, and major stores. However, in some smaller stores, they don’t accept foreign cards. Here cash, a Dankort, or Mobilepay is an option.

A Dankort is a Danish debit card. If you wish to obtain a Dankort, please contact the bank in which you hold a Danish bank account and hear more about your options.

Mobilepay is a payment app, widely used in Denmark. You can use the app to pay with your credit card from your smartphone in supermarkets, pay in different stores and take away restaurants, as well as sending/receiving the money to your friends.

If you would like to be able to use Mobilepay, it is required that you open a bank account in a Danish bank.

If you have been accepted in the State Education Grant and Loan Scheme in Denmark or you plan to work in Denmark during your study period, there is a series of tax rules that you need to know about and by which you must abide.

In Denmark, the tax and customs administration is called “SKAT”, and you will find further information on their website. SKAT may take retroactive action if the rules are not properly observed.

There are limits as to how much work you can take on as a student. For more information visit this webpage from SKAT and New to Denmark’s website. 

With your student card in hand, it is possible to get student discounts at various places such as restaurants, stores, museums, and fitness centres in our cities of study.

The University book shop gives a 10% discount on books.

Student discounts are often not listed; therefore, we recommend that you ask if student discounts are available.