Germany and Denmark’s North Sea Coast (with a Two-Year-Old)

Long-time readers know we typically go to the USA every other summer. That means that this year we were invested in staying in Europe and traveling somewhere with our two-year-old, but unlike past years, deciding on the place wasn’t an easy task. We were thisclose to pushing “purchase” on plane tickets to France (specifically Normandy) but at the last minute we decided not to do it. Although this is a place we’d really like to visit, going there means having to see all the sights, which in turn means very busy days and lots of driving. It sadly did not sound relaxing with a toddler… not to mention the Olympics were in Paris this summer (“why is everything so expensive this August? Ohhhh”), drawing even more tourism to the country and Charles DeGaulle airport.

What did sound relaxing? The beach. A slow stay. Renting a car and popping over to different places on our own timetable. Not flying or dealing with airports, air travel or inflated ticket prices.

The answer we finally settled on – a trek up north to Germany’s North Sea coast right at the border with Denmark. We found a lovely farm-stay accommodation a stone’s throw from the Danish border near Aventoft, a small village at the Rosenkranz/Rudbol border crossing and after a few days in Berlin, we took the train to Flensburg and rented a car there. From Flensburg, it was only a 35 minute drive to our holiday apartment. Staying on the farm in the countryside dikelands between Germany and Denmark allowed us to slow down so much – to greet the curious horses every morning, to take meandering walks along the dike (avoiding sheep poo from the freely-roaming livestock) which reminded me a lot of our time in the UK and walking about the countryside on public paths. Our apartment was very cottage-like, reminiscent of our favorite cottage we stayed in during our work-stay in Arisaig, Scotland and the cooler temperatures were such a wonderful breath of fresh air during another hot summer.

Staying right on the border is interesting. The village we stayed in, Aventoft, was home to big Danish supermarkets with prices listed in Kroner (Euro in smaller print) and cashiers speaking both languages, catering to Danes to travel south for grocery shopping to avoid the high taxes in Denmark — a great place to try some Danish goodies! Reading the reviews and guestbook entries, you definitely get the feeling that mainly the tourists include only Northern Europeans (specifically from Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands)… in my book, the mark of a hidden gem. I am from an extremely agricultural area (Skagit Valley, Washington) but I have to say, I truly have never seen so much livestock or tractors in my entire life than in these border dikelands. I kept getting hints of Washington or perhaps Scotland as my brain was trying to process such a new landscape and unknown cultural space, and in the end, dikelands are dikelands! A little like other places but not completely like anywhere else. Travel challenges you like that, sometimes.

We took some laid-back days of just grocery shopping and getting the lay of the land to recover from Berlin and the travel but then we really enjoyed spending time on both sides of the border. Immediately after getting our bearings we were antsy to cross the border and go to the nearest beach with happened to be the Hjerpsted Strand, only a half hour from the border. The happiness at finally being by the seaside after eleven months is palpable!

On the German side, the Saturday farmer’s market in Niebüll was such a lovely little morning! Popping around to the cheese mongers’ for some local deichkäse (dike cheese), the second-hand clothing stands, drinking hot waffles and steaming black coffee from the waffle truck, playing in the fountain — truly a sweet little town.

Only a few kilometers from us was the Emil Nolde Museum in Seebüll, the estate where the artist had lived with his wife and posthumously requested that it be turned into a public art museum — this estate was definitely worth the visit. Not only is there a sweet and artsy playground and nice cafe onsite but a stroll through the artist’s private gardens is a great way to spend a summer afternoon. I wish I could have toured the museum as the collection and exhibitions looked very tempting but we were mainly there for Saturday afternoon family painting hour! The event is advertised for families and there was even a toddler featured in the advert, but truly, when we walked in to the art room with our two-year-old, the instructor could hardly hide her anxiety. Watercoloring with a toddler (in public!) actually went okay (thanks mostly to Alex). I had a great time painting the view of the dike and farmlands outside the window and it was fun to think about how beloved this land was to Emil Nolde who specifically chose to settle right here. Moments that remind you the history of a place, even fields and farmhouses are kind of special.

On the hottest day we happened to be in Dagebüll – a town on the sea but not a beach town (hard to find on the German side unless you go to Sylt or one of the other islands). In Dagebüll you can catch the ferry to islands Föhr and Amrum but it has plenty of charm on its own for a mosey in its downtown with cute beachy shops for your souvenir needs and plenty of cafes for an Eiskaffee or restaurants for a Fischbrötchen. Finally at the Nordsee after so many years, I had to try the latter! There are many nice strolling paths and you can peep the colorful beach shacks and even rent a Strandkorb (characteristic German wicker beach chair). They have the cutest nautical-themed playground within a stone’s throw of many cafes — it was a nice (but hot!) afternoon.

On the Danish side of the border we very often spent time in Tønder, only ten minutes across the border and the oldest merchant town in Denmark. As it will sometimes rain in this area of the world, it was a great place for us to go on rainy non-beach days and a picture-perfect town to visit with a winding main street full of interesting shops. We always made a stop at GuldBageren for delicious pastries and when in Tønder, one simply also has to visit Det Gamle Apotek– a giant super giftshop with a massive basement dedicated entirely to Danish Christmas everything. It would be impossible to walk away empty handed! It was also a priority to try the røde pølse (red hot dogs, locally made nearby).

Only a few kilometers from Tønder is the tiny village of Møgeltønder, not much bigger than three long streets in a Y-like configuration and like Tønder on a tiny scale. It’s also worth it “for the vibes” and to poke around in any open cafe or shop that you see. It’s also a great place to see the thatched roof houses that this borderland area is famous for. I happily allowed myself to be talked into some local strawberry and rose jam. Edible souvenirs continue to be my absolute favorites (and now I smile every time I spread this jam on my buttered toast).

But my absolute favorite in Denmark was definitely our beach days spent on Rømø island. I had big ideas about all the island-hopping I was going to do while in the area but in the end a bit shell-shocked at the price of going to German islands just for the day, and once again, with a toddler, squeezing in an expensive ferry ride and a big faff just to spend four hours on an island and then back again was not a part of my vacation vision. As beautiful Rømø was only a forty-five minute drive from the border and no ferry faff whatsoever as well as home to one of Europe’s biggest and most beautiful beaches? It was a huge hit with all of us.

One day we explored more of the island by also visiting the southern ferry village of Havneby which has some laid-back beachy lunch options, but the big draw was always Lakolk town and Lakolk beach. The beach. It’s been a hot minute since I was on a beach big enough to drive around so we spent a good while marveling at that. There is nothing better, really — no parking issues, no getting blocked in, easy beach access.

What I didn’t expect at all was the water. This is the North Sea. I was thinking it would be pretty much the same as the Pacific where I grew up gingerly sticking in my legs… maybe working up to my shoulders and then running out of there. The North Sea in August, my friends, is beautiful and a very comfortable temperature. Like a cold pool.

Sand everywhere and iced coffee drinks. Sandwiches, watermelon, running into the water and spending the longest time playing in the waves. Laughing to myself, all alone. I can disappear there and pop out forty minutes later, no problem. What I am about to say is some of the highest praises I could imagine lavishing on a beach: it was the most fun I’ve had swimming in the sea since probably Mexico, as a child. There needs to be waves and Denmark has ’em. All beaches on Rømø are also certified “Blue Flag” beaches, meaning they pass the highest standards of water quality and it truly checks out — the water was so nice to swim in and without even seaweed or plants at all. Truly just perfect clean seawater and that’s it.

The malted rye bread at the bakery in the general store in Lakolk is also definitely not to be missed. I’ve been pretty skeptical about bread in general in Europe but this was some of the nicest I’ve ever tasted. Malt bread, I love you. A post-beach ice cream cone also hits just right, even though I’m disgusting and go for lakrids (licorice). When in Rome.

If you’re in this area and want to island hop or at least spend more time on the German islands, I highly recommend staying on one of them if you are short on time (or with kids). The German ones are expensive and need a ferry but Rømø is really easy to get to and just as nice.

A few months later, our little one still remembers this trip as “when we had the black car and listened to Raffi” (core memory). This shocked me; him bringing it up so long after the trip! He also brings up the animals on the farm sometimes.

The ability to slow down on this trip and just do what felt right for us… even enjoy slow meals and evenings at our accommodation and having wheels to go where the wind takes us made our trip incredibly relaxing and enjoyable, even sleeping in the same room with our toddler. Our North Frisian vacation was a bit of an unexpected one but there is no better way to do it when relaxation is a priority, as well as getting out and discovering new beautiful landscapes and parts of the world.