Nobel Week Tour 2024

Due to the length of the flight and time zone change, most travelers will be on a flight departing on December 2 in order to arrive on December 3. 

Arrive in Stockholm. Tour Director will greet students at airport and escort to check in at the hostel. 

Evening: Meet & greet orientation dinner at the Generator Hostel

Daily breakfasts at the hostel included 

Guided tour of Stockholm City Hall, housing the Stockholm City Council and ceremonial halls where the Nobel Banquet takes place every year on December 10. Guided tour of the Concert Hall, where the Nobel Prize ceremony occurs.

Visit and guided tour of the Nobel Prize Museum. Time to explore the old town around the museum, Gamla Stan, where the royal palace and a Christmas market are!

All day at Stockholm University, Lectures by professors on Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize process, and Contemporary Sweden. Study visits to science labs and an underground art space. Lunch in the student canteen. 

Evening workshop: creative session at the Generator Hostel, where you’ll create your own Swedish souvenir 

All-day bus excursion to the nearby city of Uppsala and Uppsala University. Guided walk in the historic city and the cathedral to visit the historic sites and Sweden’s oldest university. Lunch at an Uppsala University Student Nation House.

Reception at the U.S. Embassy residence for presentations to learn about diplomatic relations/careers, refreshments, and Q&A

Morning: Travel by tram to the traditional Swedish Christmas market at the outdoor museum, Skansen, for fun and souvenir shopping in the snow-covered park. Guided visit to Vasa Museum, and possible visit to the Nordic Museum or other museums

Evening: cultural activity

Open lectures at Stockholm University by Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry, and economic sciences

All full-day event to attend the Nobel Week Dialogue in Stockholm with Nobel laureates and experts discussing a science-related topic. Nobel laureates, scientists, and experts sit on different panels discussing global issues that affect us all.

Morning: Opportunity to visit more museums and/or other universities in Stockholm. Optional visits to Karolinska Institutet (Medicine) and Royal Institute of Technology (Engineering) or participants can choose from a couple of local museums and break up into chaperoned groups to visit the ones that interest them (museum admission is not included, but most are free for students!).

Evening: A very special Nobel dinner and our own Nobel Ceremony at the Faculty Club of Stockholm University

Travel back home or extend your trip!

These terms refer to hotel room occupancy. All aspects of the tour are the exact same for each attendee, so we base the tour price on the attendee's hostel room preference. If you select QUAD, you reserve ONE SPOT for yourself in a hostel room with 3 other tour participants. The hostel room will have two beds, with two people in each bed and 4 students in the room in total. QUAD hostel rooms might end up being 2 sets of bunk beds, but it will just depend on availability. If you select TWIN, you reserve ONE SPOT for yourself in a hostel room with 1 other tour participant. The hostel room will have two beds, with one person in each bed and 2 students in the room in total. If you select SINGLE, you reserve an entire hostel room for yourself. All tour pricing is per person.

Yes! To attend the Nobel Week Tour, each attendee must purchase a tour by filling out an enrollment form individually with their personal information. Parents are allowed to accompany their students on this tour, and they would participate in all aspects of the tour just as every other member does.

Each attendee (parents and guests included) must complete their own enrollment form to attend the tour. Please note tour prices are per person regardless of group size. Adults can only be placed in a room with students they are attending the tour with. If a parent and a student would like to attend the tour and room together, the student would fill out an enrollment form and select TWIN, and the parent would fill out their own enrollment form (with their information as both the traveler and payment contact) and select TWIN. If the student does not want to room with their parent and would like to be paired with other students attending the tour, the parent must select SINGLE, and then the student can select any rooming option. For a group of 4 attending the tour (any combination of parents, students, siblings, or guests), ALL attendees would fill out their own individual enrollment form with their personal information, and ALL select QUAD.

No! As an NSHSS member benefit, members and their guests can use the NSHSS member tour pricing. Please note tour prices are per person. Non-member pricing is reserved for students unaffiliated with NSHSS who want to attend the tour.

Each attendee is responsible for their own transportation arrangements. NSHSS does not assist with airfare, and flights are not included in this tour price. With NSHSS members all over the country, it would be too difficult to facilitate flights for every member coming from different airports at different times. Some members also choose to extend their trip in Europe past the tour dates, so we can offer a lower price for everyone without flights included.

This is due to international travel restrictions, most airlines require students to be 16 years or older to travel independently. With the tour group being so large and attendees arriving at several different times throughout the day on December 3, attendees cannot claim unaccompanied minor status as a staff member will be unable to go through passport control and meet them at their gate, so students must be able to fly and get to baggage claim independently. The hostel also requires all minors to be over the age of 16 to stay in the hostel without a parent. 

The package includes hostel accommodations for the week, ground transportation, breakfasts on program days, one dinner OR lunch per program day, guided tours and activities within the programming, a full-time tour director, NSHSS swag, a Swedish souvenir, and all gratuities.

No, the NSHSS Nobel Week Tour is only sold as an all-inclusive tour package, so, unfortunately, we cannot remove the hostel cost from the tour price as that is a part of the package. Keeping all tour participants at the same hostel makes it easier to keep everyone accounted for overnight so we don't run into logistical issues in transportation to and from the hostel and daily activities.

NSHSS will provide a welcome dinner reception upon attendees' arrival in Stockholm on Day 1. On each full program day, breakfast will be provided at the hostel. Either a lunch or a dinner will be provided on each full tour day. Most lunches and some dinners will be provided, but on the other days, tour participants will be taken to a popular area or the area surrounding the hostel and given free time to eat independently with their peers. Be sure to bring a global credit card and plan to provide yourself with one meal per day, as tour participants are welcome to eat at an eatery of their choosing. This is always a great opportunity for students to make friends with other participants, shop for souvenirs, and have some freedom to explore the area a little. On departure day, attendees can enjoy breakfast at the hostel before arriving at the airport. 

NSHSS highly recommends bringing a credit card capable of international spending on this trip. Bringing cash for currency exchange is NOT recommended, as Sweden operates almost entirely cashless. If you don't have a credit card, a pre-paid, reloadable VISA card would also be a good option, but make sure you check in about foreign transaction fees. Travelers will want to have a credit card available to purchase certain meals (either lunch or dinner each day) and snacks, souvenirs, optional excursions during free time, etc. Plan on $15-20 each day for the one meal not included, plus any additional refunds for souvenirs.

Attendees are encouraged to review their cell phone service provider’s international travel policies. For constant use of your phone for communications throughout the week, travelers should get an international cell service pass from their cell phone provider if their plan does not cover international cell reception. We will have Wi-Fi at the hostel, but it is important to have cell service to receive tour information. meeting reminders and updates during tour programming away from the hostel. It is also useful to chat with other participants, to be able to use GPS to navigate, and to research restaurants and spots to visit during free time! The tour group will communicate during the tour via WhatsApp group chat. The group chat will open a few weeks before the tour date to allow students to get to know each other pre-tour!

No! NSHSS has decided not to implement a vaccine mandate for our Nobel Week tours as the World Health Organization no longer defines Covid-19 as a pandemic. However, participants are strongly encouraged to take a COVID test and ensure they are negative prior to traveling to the tour's starting point to prevent a situation where they may not be able to participate in the tour.

As NSHSS tours are entirely optional to our members, we currently do not have any financial assistance programs for our tours at this time. However, payment arrangements are very flexible, allowing participants to create their own payment plan and pay the tour fee in increments of their choosing at any time and as many times as they would like up until the final due date. Please be sure to check out our NSHSS Scholarships page for multiple scholarship opportunities where many of the scholarships are open to both high school and college students. Keep an eye out as new scholarships are always being added!