How to take the rail journey from Copenhagen / København to Stockholm

Hopefully only for the time being, the Swedish national rail operator, SJ, has withdrawn its direct Snabbtåg train services between the Swedish and Danish capital cities.

So this journey currently involves taking a Snabbtåg train to Malmo C station, and transferring there into an Øresundståg train service on to Koebenhavn Lufthavn st for the airport and Koebenhavn H - the city's main rail station.
Though the Øresundståg trains also go on to call in the city centre at
Nørreport station and Østerport station.

The connecting time between trains in Malmo is typically around 30mins; and the trains on to Köpenhamn / Koebenhavn will depart from the lower level platforms in Malmo C station.
Though reservations are not required on the Øresundståg trains, so board whichever train arrives in Malmo soonest.

By direct train - hopefully resuming in summer 2025:

Final Destination: Köpenhamn (the Swedish spelling of Copenhagen)

All trains also call at Lund, Malmö, Koebenhavn Lufthavn st (Copenhagen Airport)

The final direct train of the day to the Danish capital, typically departs Stockholm at around 15:20; though all of the later departures of the day from Stockholm to Malmo have connections on to København.
During the morning and afternoon, in the hours when no direct trains are available, take other trains to Malmo and connect there for Copenhagen / København

Connecting to Germany:

Until the summer timetable commences on June 8th, if you want to take a Snabbtåg train from Stockholm, there is usually one optimum option for travelling from Stockholm to Hamburg by train during the day, but it is only available on Monday to Friday and Sunday.
The end-to-end journey typically involves:

• Departing from Stockholm before 07:30
• Making a connection in Malmo
• Arriving in København H shortly before 13:00
• Departing from København H at around 14:20
• Arriving in Hamburg Hbf at around 19:00.

Though the new daily Snälltåget train service, that is direct from Stockholm to Copenhagen (Option 2) has an easily timed connection on to Hamburg.

It's now also possible to take direct night trains from Stockholm to Hamburg and to Berlin.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: around 6 months ahead

Try to book for a date too far ahead and ‘Not Available' will be displayed.

It won't mean that the train has sold out, instead you'll have to check back a couple of days later to see if the tickets have been released for sale

Booking Notes for this journey:

The SJ website will sell the end-to-end journey, but multiple options

Rail Pass Users:

Rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding, the instructions for how to do this are available here - you won't be charged a booking fee.

Booking these reservations online before you arrive in Sweden is highly recommended.

Or you can avoid paying the fee when using Eurail and Interrail passes by taking this alternative route.

Final Destination: Köpenhamn (the Swedish spelling of Copenhagen)

The train also calls at: Södertälje, Norrköping, Linköping, Nässjö, Alvesta, Hässleholm, Eslöv, and Lund

The independent rail operator, Snälltåget, has launched a new daily direct train service from Stockholm to Copenhagen.

It is usually scheduled to depart from Stockholm shortly before 09:15 and arrive in København / Köpenhamn shortly after 15:00.

Connecting to Germany:

There is typically a train which departs København H station shortly after 16:20 and arrive in Hamburg Hbf before 21:10.
It is a particularly good option when making a daytime journey from Stockholm to Hamburg on Saturdays.

Online bookings open: around 3 months ahead

Despite not being operated by SJ, the Swedish national rail operator, journeys by these Snälltåget trains can now be booked on the SJ website.
So prices can be compared with the journey by Snabbtåg trains; and this Snälltåget train is usually cheaper.
Though it will list all of the departure options available per day and doesn't have a departure time filter, so hone in on the train which typically departs shortly after 16:00