Den Blå Planet National Aquarium Denmark – get up and close with life beneath the surface

By Signe Hansen | Photos: Den Blå Planet

At Den Blå Planet National Aquarium Denmark, Northern Europe’s largest aquarium, you can experience life beneath the surface, promising sights that are otherwise only available on screen. However, at the aquarium, visitors don’t just look; they step into an underwater universe where all senses are brought to life.

Housed in an award-winning architectural building in Kastrup, Den Blå Planet National Aquarium Denmark’s 23,000 animals, seven million litres of water, and 727 species are no more than a 15-minute trip by metro and foot from Copenhagen Airport (and a 30-minute trip from the capital’s central station).

Den Blå Planet – get up and close with life beneath the surface

Den Blå Planet is one of the few places in Europe where you will find sea otters.

Moreover, unlike the TV screen, the aquarium offers several chances to literally immerse yourself, or at least parts of yourself, in the experience. At the aquarium’s tropical touch pool you can, for instance, get up close and personal with species like cownose rays and bamboo sharks. “You just experience things differently when you get your hands in the water, and it is not just the children – the adults can’t help but try it as well,” explains Amalie Stubkjær Nissen, communication.

Photo: Magnus Møller

Another place to get up and personal with the aquarium’s inhabitants is in the Rainforest, where animals like birds, sloths, and insects roam freely as you stroll through. Just as popular is the aquarium’s adoring population of sea otters. “All the sea otters at the aquarium have been rescued in the wild in Alaska because they got separated from their mothers or were injured,” explains Nissen. “After they are rescued, they cannot be rewilded, and we are very happy to be able to offer them a new home here.”

The sea otters are not the only creatures to have been through a bit of a rough time before reaching safety at the aquarium. In 2020, a group of tourists came across a tiny sea turtle on. the Danish West Coast. The sea turtle, which had mistakenly ended up in the cold Danish waters, was quickly transported to Den Blå Planet National Aquarium Denmark where it was nursed back to health. Today, it is a thriving and highly popular member of the aquarium’s underwater community – and a reminder that an aquarium offers not just entertainment on a rainy day, but a real world of adventure and life.

To ensure the best experience and guarantee entrance, tickets should be booked online.

www.denblaaplanet.dk