An Overnight Trip to Samsø Denmark’s Energy Island
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This blog was written by a student intern on a CIEE High School Summer Abroad program in 2025. You can find more information about the author at the end of the post.
Just a train and ferry ride away from Copenhagen, the Danish Island of Samsø is the perfect summer weekend getaway for any visitor to Denmark, but most especially our renewable energy and sustainability enthusiasts.
Our weekend began with exploration, curiosity, and a little friendly competition.
With our first stop at the Samsø Labyrith, the Guinness World Record approved “World’s Largest Maze,” we tested our global knowledge while answering international questions at every T-junction to help us navigate the maze to the final temple destination. Everyone successfully completed the 60,000 m2 maze, equivalent to12 soccer fields!
After successfully finding our way through the maze, we slowed the pace and leaned into the natural beauty of the island.
Next, we made our way to the beach for some time in the summer sun. The tide is low, and you can walk out about 50 ft in and the water is still just above the knee. We were excited to see a wide variety of tiny creatures and biodiversity just at our feet in the clear water.
As the day continued, our focus shifted from sightseeing to connection and community.
We later filled our free time at the Feriecenter (vacation center) with quality time together. A yummy buffet dinner with Danish delights and unlimited soft serve ice cream, score! A match of sand volleyball, bouncing on the pillow trampoline, testing our balance on stilts, reading in hammocks, and later putting phones out of reach for time in the “hot seat” of rapid fire questions from each other or playing truth or dare under a late sunsetting sky and stargazing with a extended curfew for the special occasion.
One may even characterize this evening as “hygge,” the sometimes difficult to explain Danish concept defined by denmark.dk as “taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about…you celebrate the small joys of life, or maybe discuss deeper topics. It is an opportunity to unwind and take things slow.”
The following morning brought fresh energy and a deeper look into what makes Samsø so globally recognized.
After a restful night, eating a delicious breakfast and packing our lunches began the day. On our ride around the area, our bus driver, Jens, was like the mayor, waving at every person we passed whether they were on bike, by car, by tractor or standing in their front yard.
This sense of familiarity and community extended into our final and most impactful stop of the weekend.
Jens brought us to the Samsø Energi Akademiet where we learned about the circular energy systems in Samsø which make the Island 100% self-sufficient on renewable energy, and learned about the immense intersectionality in the sustainability field, offering space for and welcoming people from variable academic principles to the table. The taking climate action students are curious and inquisitive, and this co-curricular visit was truly inspiring.
It left many of us thinking about how the systems and frameworks we learned about can be translated to our communities back home and how we can use our unique skills to get involved in forward-thinking spaces like the Energy Academy no matter our place in the world.
About the Author
Hi, I'm Isabella DiPietrantonio! This is my second time in Copenhagen with CIEE! After a semester on the Open Campus College Study Abroad program in Copenhagen, Rome, and Dublin, I returned to Copenhagen as the Center's College Alumni Intern this summer. I am an alum of Hood College, graduating with a degree in Sustainability Studies, and have received my Teaching English as a Foreign Language certification through the CIEE TEFL program. I am passionate about cross-cultural exchange, international education, and am thankful for the opportunity to learn about global approaches to building sustainable systems and look forward to applying learned frameworks in my local communities.
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