Denmark on a Polish Licence — Bridge Tolls, Cyclists & a Slower Motorway

For a Polish driver, Denmark is one of the least intimidating countries to take a car into. You already drive on the right, your EU licence needs no permit, and the road surfaces are excellent. The two things that catch Poles out are not laws at all — they are the bridges and the bikes.

Budget for the crossings. Denmark is a country of islands stitched together by toll bridges. The Great Belt link between Zealand and Funen costs around DKK 250 for a car each way, and if you carry on to Sweden the Øresund bridge adds roughly DKK 510. There is no vignette to buy in advance — you pay at the booth by card or with a pre-fitted BroBizz tag from the rental desk. Plan these into your trip cost; a Copenhagen-to-Jutland drive can quietly add several hundred kroner.

Cyclists own the cities. Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense run on bikes, and the rules genuinely favour them. When you turn right across a cycle lane, the cyclist going straight has priority — a manoeuvre that feels backwards if you learned to drive in Warsaw. Check your right mirror and shoulder before every right turn, watch for the green-painted lanes, and never block one when parking.

The numbers are gentle by Polish standards. Motorways run at 130 km/h, down from the 140 you may be used to on the A-roads at home, towns are a firm 50 km/h, and rural roads sit at 80. Fixed and average-speed cameras are common, and creeping 10 km/h over the limit costs about DKK 1,000 (≈ €135). The drink-drive line is 0.05 — looser than Poland’s 0.02 on paper, but the police do not extend any goodwill, so keep it dry.

Fuel runs near $2.05/litre, among the pricier in Europe, so fill at the unmanned automat stations off the motorway. The emergency number is 112. Before you set off, read the full rules on our Denmark driving guide, confirm your paperwork with the Driving Permit Checker, and price any slip-up with the Speeding Fine Calculator.