Five indoor activities for kids on a rainy summer day in Denmark
The month of July means the school holidays in Denmark, but it sometimes also means rainy weather. Here are five fun summer outings for children in five different Danish cities.
Den Blå Planet, Copenhagen
Located in Kastrup just outside of Copenhagen (and not far from the airport), Den Blå Planet is a huge aquarium (the largest in northern Europe), offering endless aquatic entertainment four youngsters.
Visitors can get up close to hammerhead sharks, watch piranhas being fed, view a squid dissection and see the sea otters.
In 2023, a special exhibition entitled Once Upon a Sea delves into the oceans of a pre-human earth.
There are some cheap outdoor activities to enjoy nearby if the weather brightens up and you don’t want to head straight back into central Copenhagen after your visit. In particular, the Kastrup marina area (an extension of Amager Strandpark beach) is a nice place to walk, with a jetty and a beach nearby and plenty of spots to sit down for a picnic while you spot aircraft coming in to land in Copenhagen.
Hans Christian Andersen’s House, Odense
The home of fairytale author Hans Christian Andersen – H.C. Andersen as he’s known to all Danes – is like wandering into a Disney origins story.
There are art and architecture installations to fascinate parents, while kids can enter Fairy Tale Land, a series of playrooms thematically inspired by different fairytales. Here, children can dress up and become part of the adventures themselves.
Remember to book ahead for the museum, which was revamped in 2021 and includes the childhood home of the author as well as a sprawling new modern section.
Your Rainbow Panorama, Aarhus
It’s not specifically aimed at children but the circular walkway on top of Aarhus art museum ARoS is more than just the scene of a million Instagram photos.
Kids love the chance to stretch their legs in an unusual environment and are surprisingly enthusiastic about going around in circles repeatedly, plus they can’t get too far away from you if you’re located in an enclosed ring.
Meanwhile, there are great views of Denmark’s second city to be had and it is just as (arguably more) atmospheric to view through coloured plexiglass as the rain streams down outside.
Økolariet, Vejle
A (free) museum dedicated to educating children and adults alike about our environmental impact, Økolariet is a lot less dry than it sounds (this isn’t meant to be a pun about the rainy weather).
There are exhibitions about recycling, biodiversity and even the functionality of Vejle’s sewage system, with live rats running between different sides of the display to demonstrate their habitat in the pipes. Vejle's water supply system is incidentally being modernised by the city government at the time of writing.
It might sound like the stuff of a geography school trip, but I’ve witnessed children from any age between three and eleven years old run around in a rush of excitement and discovery at the unusual displays.
Geocenter Møns Klint, Møn
Not in a city but on the incredibly picturesque island of Møn an hour and a half from Copenhagen. Møn is the location of the famous Møns Klint white cliffs, a spectacular sight and fun to walk on the nearby beach.
However, if the skies open during your drive down from the capital, that’s no reason to turn back. At the Geocenter, which is serviced by the same car park as the cliffs, kids can view dinosaur bones, visit the 3D cinema and learn about glaciers and volcanoes on interactive displays. There are also life-size dinosaur reproductions, which no visit to a geology museum would be complete without.
When you want to rest your feet, you can sit in the terrace café that overlooks the surrounding landscape.
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Den Blå Planet, Copenhagen
Located in Kastrup just outside of Copenhagen (and not far from the airport), Den Blå Planet is a huge aquarium (the largest in northern Europe), offering endless aquatic entertainment four youngsters.
Visitors can get up close to hammerhead sharks, watch piranhas being fed, view a squid dissection and see the sea otters.
In 2023, a special exhibition entitled Once Upon a Sea delves into the oceans of a pre-human earth.
There are some cheap outdoor activities to enjoy nearby if the weather brightens up and you don’t want to head straight back into central Copenhagen after your visit. In particular, the Kastrup marina area (an extension of Amager Strandpark beach) is a nice place to walk, with a jetty and a beach nearby and plenty of spots to sit down for a picnic while you spot aircraft coming in to land in Copenhagen.
Hans Christian Andersen’s House, Odense
The home of fairytale author Hans Christian Andersen – H.C. Andersen as he’s known to all Danes – is like wandering into a Disney origins story.
There are art and architecture installations to fascinate parents, while kids can enter Fairy Tale Land, a series of playrooms thematically inspired by different fairytales. Here, children can dress up and become part of the adventures themselves.
Remember to book ahead for the museum, which was revamped in 2021 and includes the childhood home of the author as well as a sprawling new modern section.
Your Rainbow Panorama, Aarhus
It’s not specifically aimed at children but the circular walkway on top of Aarhus art museum ARoS is more than just the scene of a million Instagram photos.
Kids love the chance to stretch their legs in an unusual environment and are surprisingly enthusiastic about going around in circles repeatedly, plus they can’t get too far away from you if you’re located in an enclosed ring.
Meanwhile, there are great views of Denmark’s second city to be had and it is just as (arguably more) atmospheric to view through coloured plexiglass as the rain streams down outside.
Økolariet, Vejle
A (free) museum dedicated to educating children and adults alike about our environmental impact, Økolariet is a lot less dry than it sounds (this isn’t meant to be a pun about the rainy weather).
There are exhibitions about recycling, biodiversity and even the functionality of Vejle’s sewage system, with live rats running between different sides of the display to demonstrate their habitat in the pipes. Vejle's water supply system is incidentally being modernised by the city government at the time of writing.
It might sound like the stuff of a geography school trip, but I’ve witnessed children from any age between three and eleven years old run around in a rush of excitement and discovery at the unusual displays.
Geocenter Møns Klint, Møn
Not in a city but on the incredibly picturesque island of Møn an hour and a half from Copenhagen. Møn is the location of the famous Møns Klint white cliffs, a spectacular sight and fun to walk on the nearby beach.
However, if the skies open during your drive down from the capital, that’s no reason to turn back. At the Geocenter, which is serviced by the same car park as the cliffs, kids can view dinosaur bones, visit the 3D cinema and learn about glaciers and volcanoes on interactive displays. There are also life-size dinosaur reproductions, which no visit to a geology museum would be complete without.
When you want to rest your feet, you can sit in the terrace café that overlooks the surrounding landscape.
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