Experimentarium

Experimentarium is the place to take children when the weather turns, and one of the few attractions in Copenhagen that teenagers and adults enjoy as much as younger children. It is a science centre built entirely around doing rather than looking, in a former Tuborg bottling hall on the harbour at Hellerup, about six kilometres north of the City Hall Square. The building was expanded and reopened in 2017, and its centrepiece is a sculptural copper-clad spiral staircase that winds up through the atrium and has become an attraction in itself. The exhibitions spread over three indoor floors and a rooftop, and they change and rotate, but some favourites are always there in some form. There is a big water exhibition where children can build dams, steer boats and play with the forces of water, so bring a change of clothes or use the waterproof aprons. There is a huge interactive ball track, billed as the largest in the world, where visitors send balls through lifts, spirals and chutes. The Bubblearium lets children make giant soap bubbles and even stand inside one, and The Miniverse is a gentle area designed for the youngest visitors, under about six, with soft play and simple experiments. Elsewhere, exhibitions explore the human body, sound, light, technology and the climate, with experiments you can run yourself and guides on hand to help. Experimentarium is open every day from 9:30 to 17:00, with occasional changes on holidays, and an entry ticket bought online lets you walk straight in. It is included in the Copenhagen Card. Getting there is easy: take an S-train to Hellerup station and walk about fifteen minutes, take bus 1A from the centre, or cycle along the harbour. There is a cafe on site, and you can easily spend three or four hours here, longer with children who discover the water exhibition. It is busiest during Danish school holidays and on rainy weekends, so weekday afternoons are often the calmest time to visit.

What makes Experimentarium work is that nothing is behind glass. The Danish approach to learning through play runs through every exhibition, and children are expected to touch, try, fail and try again. For parents, the reward is that the experiments are genuinely clever: the ball track explains energy and mechanics better than any textbook, the water area teaches about locks, currents and pressure, and the body exhibitions let older children test their reactions, balance and senses. Most explanations are in Danish and English, and the staff, many of them students, are happy to explain in English.

How to visit well: buy tickets online before you go, and arrive at opening time on a school-holiday day, or later in the afternoon on a weekday, when school groups have left. Start on the upper floors and work down, saving the water exhibition for the end of the visit so wet clothes do not matter. With toddlers, head first for The Miniverse, which is calmer and designed for their size. Leave time for the rooftop, which has views over the harbour and Oresund on clear days. The cafe serves lunch and snacks, and there are places to eat a packed lunch.

The setting at Tuborg Harbour is pleasant for a walk afterwards, with waterfront paths and new residential districts built on the old brewery land. Hellerup is one of Copenhagen's smartest suburbs, and it is a short ride from here to the beaches at Svanemollen and Bellevue in summer, or north on the train to Louisiana and Kronborg. For a family day centred on science and animals, combine Experimentarium in the morning with Den Bla Planet or Copenhagen Zoo on another day, rather than squeezing both into one.