Welcome to Odense – the world’s leading robotics city, Europe’s leading drone hub, the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen and so much more. Odense is a vibrant city with a thriving business environment, lots of unique cultural offers, a diverse restaurant scene, a colorful history, and an air of progress.
Odense is situated on the island of Funen, right in the heart of Denmark. It is the country’s third-largest city, with 208,000 inhabitants.
The city of Odense has a strong vision for its continuous growth and welfare, encouraging big dreams and challenging the norms. Over the last ten years, Odense has changed into a vibrant city. An ambitious urban development plan initiated by the municipality has reshaped large parts of the city. New neighborhoods, award-winning architecture, and a new car-free city center are parts of the transformation, and more is to come.
This transformation further consolidates Odense’s position as a center of innovation, knowledge, and education, where strong clusters in robotics, drones, health technology, and IT are booming.
As the world’s leading cobot hub with an excellent startup environment, a huge national cluster, academic centers, and advanced education possibilities – the city is one of the world’s top locations for robotics and automation activities, currently holding over 160 companies within this rapidly growing industry.
As of 2023, more than 1 billion Euros has been invested in Odense robotics companies. The collaboration between local government (the City of Odense), knowledge institutions, and industry representatives makes for a rare, innovative ecosystem only matched by a few other cities in the world. In Odense, the key elements to a thriving robotics industry are united: economy, expertise, capacity.
Denmark’s robotics, automation, and drone industry grew 21% in 2022 generating a turnover of EUR 4 billion, according to the report from the national cluster, Odense Robotics.
Read more about the thriving industry and download the newest report that gives you all the latest facts and figures on the growing industry.
In Odense, you find one of Europe’s leading drone test facilities – the UAS Denmark Test Center. The test center is located at the HCA Airport which also controls and schedules the airspace 100%, making it the perfect place for drone testing.
The vision of NextGen Robotics is to develop an international powerhouse for testing, development, and production of the next generation of robotics and autonomous solutions for use on land, at sea, and in the air. NextGen Robotics will be housed in a newly built world-class test center where new advanced robot technologies will develop.
At R-24 you can experience the unique business environment here in Odense. Make your R-24 experience even more valuable with a delegation trip to some of the main partners behind the Nordics’ largest robotics event.
Watch the video and find out how Odense became a city of robotics.
When you stay in Odense, we encourage you to take in the local sights and we think the top three must-sees are:
If you need further information about these attractions or some of the many other awesome things we have to offer, please visit www.visitodense.com
Odense is filled with restaurants and cafés all providing their own favorite foods and beverages. With a thriving culinary scene, and working creatively with the wide selection of fresh, local produce, Odense has a lot to offer for the foodies. There’s great pride in serving products grown in the local fields or caught in the waters surrounding the island.
Local specialties include beer from the many local microbreweries, cheeses, and chocolates.
Do not miss out on Fyn’s beloved and famous cake, the “brunsviger”.
Check out the culinary scene and find a place to dine in Odense here www.visitodense.com/gastro
Billund and Copenhagen airports are directly connected to more than 100 cities all over the world and handle 32 million passengers every year. Copenhagen Airport also offers a direct train service to Odense.
Transfer by bus and train from Billund takes app. 1 hour 15 minutes. The time to get from Copenhagen Airport to Odense is app. 1½ hours on the train. From Hamburg you can travel by train directly to Odense railway station. Travel time approx. 4 hours.
“Rejsekort” is an electronic ticketing system for travelling by bus, train, and light rail. It is valid in all public transportation in Odense, and you can read and order here.
The newly opened light rail runs from the north to the south of the city, and you can easily take it to R-24 and the Odense Congress Center. The nearest stop to the arena is ‘Bilka’ and from here you can walk to R-24 and the Odense Congress Center in aprox. 10 minutes. You can buy a ticket via the QR codes at the stations or at the light rail train, or here: www.letbanebillet.dk.
Find the timetable here: www.odenseletbane.dk/timetable
Odense is covered by a network of city buses that run on lines forming a star pattern with the central train station in the city center. If you want to take the bus to R-24 and the Odense Congress Center, use route no. 161-162.
Use this timetable when going to Odense Congress Center from Odense Railway Station (OBC Nord Plads I).
If you want to leave R-24 and the Odense Congress Center by bus, use this timetable.
At Odense Railway station, the bus stop is located behind the station; please follow the signs as they will guide you to the right place.
If you want a taxi to take you to Odense Congress Center from Odense Railway Station, you’ll find the taxi stop just outside the station, next to the bus stop. Please follow the signs at the station, as they will guide you to the right place.
You can also call Odense Taxi at +0045 66122712 and order a taxi.
If you travel by car from Jutland or Zealand to Odense Congress Center, use the highway exit marked number 49 (the intersection Odense/Svendborg) and follow the signs to Odense (and Odense Congress Center). You can rent cars at the airport.
Odense has ample hotel capacity to suit every taste and budget. The city currently has over 1,000 rooms at hotels alone, with further hotel projects planned in time for 2024. On top of that comes hostels, B&Bs and other types of accommodation. Most rooms are in the city center and within a 5-10-minute walk of the train station as well as Hotel ODEON and Comwell H.C. Andersen. Also Hotel Odense is placed on the same address as Odense Congress Center. Meeting up with other delegates, going out for a meal or arranging brief meetings is very easy. For a look at your choices, visit our page www.visitodense.com/tourist/book-now/accommodation-odense
Photos by: Daniel Jensen, Jonas Legarth, Kent Rasmussen – Video by: Instafilm
