STEM Trip to Denmark – Physics and Astronomy in Copenhagen

Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group throughout your STEM trip to Denmark. For the next six nights, you’ll enjoy the convenience of your centrally located Copenhagen hotel, where breakfast will be included.

Copenhagen is a place of contrasts—this cobblestone city has been Denmark’s capital for over 1,000 years and is home to the world's oldest monarchy. Yet, modern Copenhagen is a surprisingly cosmopolitan city of cutting-edge fashion and design as well as striking modern architecture.

Stroll with your guide while learning about buildings and attractions along the way and receiving an introduction to Copenhagen's past—some sites you’ll see include: the Copenhagen Town Hall, Stroget shopping street, the Marble Church, and the Danish Parliament.

Next, it’s time to board the sightseeing boat and see Copenhagen from the water. This guided tour around the harbor and through idyllic canals offers a new viewpoint on some of the city's beautiful churches, castles, old listed houses, new buildings, and other places of interest.

Spend some time exploring the area around picturesque Nyhavn.

Enjoy an evening meal with your group.

"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey On every evening of the program, we’ll set time aside to update your Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come up during the day.

During your tour, you’ll gain the knowledge and insights of local Danish guides.

Enjoy a guided tour of the Round Tower, usually starting at the foot of the tower and ending in the Observatory at the top. Your group can choose the level of conceptual difficulty and whether to focus your tour on the history of the building and how it relates to the general history of Copenhagen (with an opportunity to visit a few places that are normally inaccessible to the general public), science, instruments, or astronomical history. The duration of your guided tour should be between one and one-and-a-half hours, depending on the size of your group and general traffic in the tower. If the weather and time of day allow it, your guided tour may conclude by looking through the old telescope in the Observatory.      

The magnificent halls and rooms at Christiansborg Palace are used by the Royal Family to carry out their official duties. Explore the history of the impressive halls, the décor, and the artworks. Study the tapestries, which depict over a thousand years of Danish history. Your guide will also talk about what happens when the Queen hosts gala dinners and holds audiences at Christiansborg Palace.

End the day with a visit to Rosenborg Castle. For four generations, Rosenborg provided the setting for the lives and work of the kings and queens of Denmark, leaving indelible traces. The guided tour focuses on this unique castle’s most special objects, rooms, and stories. See Christian IV's private chambers, the staterooms of the absolute monarchs, the Great Hall, and the Crown Regalia, which glitter side-by-side with the Crown Jewels in the Treasury deep underground. Here, you’ll see Danish history from a royal perspective, walking in the footsteps of the Danish kings and queens who lived here over 200 years.

Enjoy an evening meal with your group.

CopenHill is the "cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in the world," topped by an artificial ski slope that is open year-round. CopenHill offers a unique visit with a tour of the building, where you have the possibility of experiencing the amazing project firsthand. Guides will take you to the top of Amager Bakke by the elevator, where they will tell about the building’s architecture, vision, sustainability, ski slope, as well as the thoughts behind each component, all while you enjoy the view of Copenhagen and the ocean.      

Proceed to Christiania and learn about this distinctive destination, named "The Social Experiment" by the Danish government. Everyone familiar with Christiania knows there are many different opinions about the independent state. On a guided tour led by a 'born' Christianian, your group will gain insight into Christiania's structure and history while hearing the guide's perspective. Each Christiana tour is a unique event as the guides themselves are living history—they’ve resided here, seen events unfold, and many have lived here since the state’s beginning. Every visitor is given a short, factual historic summary initially, but guests also receive an individual account of the Christiania story based upon their guide's experiences.

Enjoy an evening meal with your group.

Today, you’ll ferry over to Ven (1 hour and 45 minutes away). Upon arrival, enjoy a one-hour bicycle tour. Legend has it that this small island between Landskrona and Denmark was formed when a giant dropped a lump of earth into the sea. Today, Ven is known for its beautiful cliffs dropping straight into the sea, white beaches, quaint cottages, cozy cafés, and exhilarating hills for cycling.

This tour takes a holistic approach to Tycho Brahe. Hear about his curiosity in science and see recovered instruments as well as some original objects. By visiting the sites of his castle and observatory, Uraniborg and Stjärneborg, as well as the surrounding Renaissance Garden, you’ll gain as broad a picture as possible of Tycho Brahe and the focus is his work in astronomy, medicine, and paper manufacturing.      

Enjoy an evening meal with your group.

This morning, enjoy a one-hour guided tour of the historical locations at the Niels Bohr Institute. Nobel Winner Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory.  

This afternoon, visit the National Museum, with exhibitions from the Stone Age, the Viking Age, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and modern Danish history. The National Museum is located in The Prince's Palace, built 1743-44. It is no longer used by the royal family, but the Great Hall still appears elegant enough to fit princes and princesses. Your group’s 45-minute guided tour of the National Museum can be geared toward your interests or feature the current exhibitions.  

Enjoy an evening meal with your group.

This morning, you’ll take a green and sustainable energy tour to discover the pathway and indicators of Copenhagen’s green transition—the tour is a unique opportunity to experience why it’s known as the world’s greenest city. We stop by environmentally conscious and energy-efficient places while learning about how Copenhagen plans to become the first CO2-neutral city in the world by 2025, the Copenhagen public transport system and Danish biking tradition, how Denmark became a front-runner of the wind energy revolution, and how Denmark has the best district heating coverage in Europe.      

Discover Tivoli, Copenhagen's historic amusement park. This popular park has been charming visitors for over 160 years with its carnival atmosphere, shows, rides, and pavilions. At night, the beautiful illuminations dazzle guests with their Victorian splendor.   

This evening, you’ll enjoy a special dinner at a local restaurant.

This evening, you’ll make the final entries in your Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape during your STEM trip in Europe. We’ll also discuss how these experiences may be most relevant for us all as we return home.