Rømø

Rømø

The Wadden Sea also extends over Denmark and so there are several Wadden islands in Denmark. During our visit to the national park Vadehavet (Wadden Sea) we visited one of the Danish Wadden islands. Read in this blog about our visit to Rømø and the wonderful day we had there.

Rømø is the southernmost inhabited Danish Wadden island and is located between the “last” German Wadden island Sylt and the northern Danish Wadden island Mandø. The area of ​​the island is 130 square kilometers and about 600 people live there.

There is a 9 km road over a dam that connects the island to the mainland. Rømø is therefore very easily accessible by bicycle, car and camper. When you cycle or drive over the dam, you can see very nicely on both sides that you are in the wadden region. When we passed it in the morning the mudflats had fallen dry, in the afternoon at high tide there was water.

There is also a ferry service from Rømø but only to the German Wadden island of Sylt, which is quite odd. There is no ferry connection to the Danish coast. When the ferry enters international waters during the crossing to Sylt, some duty-free trade stalls on the boat are open.

Bike on the Beach

On the Sønderstrand beach and Lakolk beach you can ride your bike, and car or camper

Like a number of other Wadden islands, Rømø has had an ever-changing size, which is characteristic for many Wadden islands. For a long time fishing was the main source of income on Rømø, later trade became more and more important. The island now lives mainly from tourism. The island boasts of the "fact" that they have the widest beach in Europe. We cannot confirm that, but the fact is that Rømø has 2 very wide beaches.

Because we stayed on the mainland, we chose to go to Rømø by bike. The weather was really great and we were looking forward to it. In the end we cycled 80 kilometers which is doable for us on our electric bikes. And it is very nice and convenient to have your bike on Rømø with you, so you can see almost everything of the island in 1 day at your own pace.

If you drive up Rømø by bike on the east side of the island you arrive at the small village of Tvismark. Then you immediately get an idea of the atmosphere on the island, small picturesque houses on a Wadden island as we also know it in the Netherlands. Dunes, slightly hilly and wide and green. And after a kilometer or two to the south we really enjoyed coffee with great pastries in the sun at Cafe Hattesgaard, highly recommended. For the antique lovers, they sell that too.

Beach sailing

The wide beaches provide a great opportunity for beach sailing

After coffee we cycled along the east coast to the southern tip, where the town of Havneby is located. Along the coast you have great views across the mud flats that the Wadden are when they fall dry. Havneby is nice to have been to and to have a look in the harbor but it is not really special. If you cycle a little further you will get to the huge beach Sønderstrand. And once you've been there, you really come to believe that they show off the fact that this is the widest beach in Europe. It is not only enormously wide but also long, kilometers. And the nice thing is that you can get on the beach with your bike, but also with a car or camper, and that possibility is used extensively.

As mentioned, not many people live on the island, but the island and this beach attracts many tourists from the mainland. We cycled very relaxed across the beach to the sea and that is about 2.5 kilometers. The weather was great so we had a nice lunch there by the sea. The wide beach also makes it possible for beach sailing. Beach sailing is racing along the beach with a cart with a sail on it and that is very well possible because the beach is of course long and wide. On the Sønderstrand you can rent a cart with a sail and you can also get instruction.

Fun day on Rømø

Of course the weather helped but we had a great day on Rømø

In the afternoon we cycled a bit along the west coast and through the beautiful nature reserve in the middle of the island. Finally you come to the seaside resort of Rømø and that is Lakolk. It really is a seaside resort with a hotel, many holiday homes, shops and restaurants. It is a bit touristic, but because it is not too big you can see through that really well. Just like the Sønderstrand, Lakolk also has a large and wide beach, and here too you can get on the beach with a car and camper. By the way, you are not allowed to camp on both beaches, campers must be off the beach after 9 pm. No idea if that is checked because by then we had already left. From Lakolk we cycled back to our camper on the mainland after a wonderful day on Rømø.

It is a small island that attracts quite a lot of tourists and holidaymakers, but is in any case super fun to visit for a day. It is very good for cycling, walking and enjoying the beautiful nature. And if you like a more touristic beach holiday, you can also go there for a longer period in the summer. However, we think that it is also very nice to go on a rainy and windy day in the fall or winter. And then enjoy a few hours stroll along the undoubtedly deserted kilometers long beach. Who knows in the future…

For more photo material and information about Rømø National Park, check out our Instagram posts and our Polarsteps page!

Ella & Geert.