Denmark & Sweden

Depart Canada.

Overnight flight.

Arrive In Copenhagen in the afternoon, transfer to the hotel on your own. Welcome dinner at the hotel. Introduction lecture by scholar Therkel Strede, a brief overview of Danish and Swedish geography, Jewish history, and culture.

Overnight: Hotel Strand Havnegade

Visit to Carolineskolen, founded in 1805 and the only Jewish school in Denmark. Meet Principal Uri Krivaa who will share with us the history and current realities of the school, which harbors a diversity of Jewish identities.

Walking tour to the Royal Palace, known as Amalienborg, and the vibrant harbor area, then visit the famous bronze statue of The Little Mermaid by Edvard Eriksen, inspired by the 1837 fairy tale of the same name by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. After lunch on your own continue the walking tour to the Amalienborg Palace (the Royal Residence), Harbor front with the Opera House, Nyhavn Canal, Christiansburg Palace (the Parliament), Old Beach (original Jewish quarter), Magstraede (oldest street in Copenhagen), City Court and City Hall Square returning back to the hotel. Free evening

Overnight: Hotel Strand Havnegade

Visit the Great Synagogue to meet with the chief rabbi of Denmark, Jair Melchior, who will share his perspective on the current state of Judaism in Denmark. The synagogue, designed by Danish architect Gustav Friedrich Hetsch and completed in 1833, is one of only a few of its period to use Egyptian Revival-style elements in the columns, ceiling, and cornice over the ark.

We then take an excursion to the small seaside village of Dragør, 40 minutes away, and begin our experience there with lunch at the Café Espersen, in Dragør’s old harbor. At the Dragør Museum, we will learn about the October 1943 rescue of the Danish Jews, including the key role played by the Dragør fishermen’s community, and provide a guided walking tour of the picturesque old fishing town. Visit the K571 Elisabeth, the only navigable fishing boat in Denmark that has a documented record of having brought rescued Jews from Denmark to Sweden in October 1943. Free evening.

Overnight: Hotel Strand Havnegade

Visit to the Danish Jewish Museum and its permanent exhibition, dedicated to 400 years of Jewish life in Denmark. We walk back to the hotel from the museum. On our walk scholar Therkel Stræde will point out various historic locations, including the location of the Stock Exchange (inaugurated in 1628), the home of Niels Bohr (winner of the 1922 Nobel prize in physics), the Melchior family home (where Hans Christian Andersen spent his last years), as well as 17th-century Jewish houses and other locations related to Danish Jewish history. Enjoy a free afternoon to discover the city on your own.

At night celebrate Kabbalat Shabbat followed by Shabbat dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Hotel Strand Havnegade

Drive to Odense, birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen (author of “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Princess and the Pea,” “The Little Match Girl,” “The Jewish Girl,” and many other well-known stories).

We’ll visit the Hans Christian Andersen Museum and learn about the life and work of the Danish master of the literary fairy tale. We will take a guided walk through the city center and see the place of the 1819 pogrom and the October 1943 deportation site.

On the way back to Copenhagen stop at Viking fortress Trelleborg, a circular fort of a special design, built in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. These fortresses have a strictly circular shape, with roads and gates pointing in the four cardinal directions and reconstructions of some of the impressive wooden buildings. Five such Danish forts are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list because of their unique architecture and testimony to the military power of early medieval Denmark.

Free evening.

Overnight: Hotel Strand Havnegade

Travel by bus and cross the Øresund Bridge to Malmö, home to the third largest Jewish population in Sweden. Visit outside the Malmö City Museum in the Malmöhus Castle and see one of the only three original Red Cross white buses from the 1945 evacuation on outdoor display.

Visit the Malmö Synagogue and museum and hear from Daniel Koverman about the history and present-day situation of Jews in Sweden’s most multicultural city. Built in 1903, the city’s only synagogue has an Art Nouveau and Moorish Revival design. After that we will visit the Malmö Jewish Cemetery at Föreningsgatan where you will hear a unique transnational Jewish story.

After lunch on your own depart to Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city. Check-in at the hotel and free time for dinner.

Overnight: Hotel Radisson Riverside

Start the day with the classic city tour on the Paddan boats which shows you the beauty of Gothenburg from a waterside perspective. The tour takes you under twenty bridges and out to the harbor. Visit the world of Volvo, an icon of Swedish culture and society since 1927. Lunch is included in the visit.

In the afternoon visit the synagogue built in 1885 and meet a local members for a talk about the history, present and challenges of the city’s Jewish Community. Free evening.

Overnight: Hotel Radisson Riverside

Depart by train for Stockholm. Our afternoon features a guided walking tour of Old Town Stockholm, a charming labyrinth of cobblestone streets, colored townhouses, and squares, followed by a visit to Stockholm’s Jewish Museum and its collection of Judaica and works by Scandinavian Jewish artists. Check-in at the hotel. Free evening.

Overnight: Hotel Radisson Collection Strand

In the morning, we’ll visit Bajit (Hebrew for home), an important Jewish community center built in 2016 and housing a preschool, school, library, and kosher cafe.

From there, we’ll visit the Vasa Museum and see the famous Vasa warship, which sank on its first voyage in 1628 and was salvaged 333 years later in 1961.

In the afternoon visit the Royal Palace, this royal residence has been in the same location since the middle of the 13th century when the medieval Tre Kronor Castle was built. The palace was not ready to use until 1754.

Overnight: Hotel Radisson Collection Strand

Visit the Great Synagogue, the largest and oldest of the three synagogues in Stockholm, it has been the focal point of Jewish life in Sweden since it was first inaugurated in 1870. We will walk and stop at Raoul Wallenberg Square to honor the heroic Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews by giving them diplomatic status. Then visit the new Swedish Holocaust Museum, recently opened in June 2023. Enjoy the rest of the day free to discover the city on your own. At night enjoy a farewell dinner.

Overnight: Hotel Radisson Collection Strand

Transfer on your own to Stockholm International Airport.