Denmark’s wild west coast

Route description

Start in Ribe, Denmark’s oldest town, where cobbled lanes and half-timbered houses surround the cathedral and a night watchman still walks the streets in season. Head south-west to the causeway that carries road 175 across the Wadden Sea to Rømø.

Rømø’s west coast has one of Europe’s widest beaches, and at Lakolk cars can drive onto the hard sand. Stay on the marked driving areas, watch for soft patches and do not park near the waterline; on windy days the beach is full of kites and land yachts.

Drive north on road 11 and then along the coast road to Hvide Sande, a fishing harbour on a narrow strip of dunes between the North Sea and Ringkøbing Fjord, popular with kitesurfers. Continue north through the dune landscape of Thy and past long empty beaches to Hirtshals, the ferry port for Norway, with a large North Sea aquarium.

Skagen is a town of yellow houses and painters’ light, and nearby the Råbjerg Mile is a large wandering dune. At Grenen, walk from the car park to the sandy tip where the Skagerrak and Kattegat meet in a line of crossing waves; do not swim there, as the currents are dangerous.