Walking the North Sea Trail, Denmark – Løkken to Lønstrup

My walk along part of The North Sea trails continues. Our second day of walking, from Løkken to Lønstrup. A day with amazing landscapes and historical places: the coastal battery from WWII, sand dunes and desert landscape. The old cemetery at Mårup and the lighthouse that has been moved futher inland because of coastal erosion. Lønstrup is a small fishing vilage, where several houses has been taking by the sea. This day was the one I enjoyed the most because of these historical places and dramatic landscapes.

The path is varied. It takes us through forests and several of the characteristic dune plantations, of which there are many along the coast. The plantations were established to try to prevent sand from drifting. The whole coast is popular during the summer season.

A short walk from the city the trail takes us to the beach. Quite a sight to see the many grey, concrete German bunkers is covering a stretch of the beach As you can see on the photoes, the sun was hardly shining. It was still low and hiding behind the dunes. The coastal battery was part of the defense system The Atlantic Wall that Hitler was responsible for building in the years 1940-45. This coastal battery was set up in 1943 by the Germans. During the war, the battery contained four cannons. Each of them had a range of over 17 kilometers.

These coastal batteries can be found along the entire coast all the way to Skagen at the top of Denmark. These were therefore not the last we would see on our walking holiday.

It didn't take long before we had to climb one of the steep stairs in order to continue along the trail. It is so steep! My legs were a bit trempeling. I didn't dare to look back at the beach.

About half way to Lønstrup, we pass the small coastal town, called Nørre Lyngby. We desided to have coffee break at a lovely little cafe. From now on the trail runs through a small forest to the old cemetery at Rubjerg. As you can see the trees aren't tall and all are growing in one direction, due to the strong winds.

Rubjerg Old Cemetery can be dated back to the 12th century. There were once farms and large forests here. But excessive logging contributed to sand drift and people had to move. Was in use until 1904. Today, mostly flying sand and scrub have taken over. But it's still possible to see several old gravestones scattered in the landscape.

We continued through a small forest until we reached the sand dune at Rubjerg Knude. You can see the footsteps on the sand, which might give an idea of the size of it. The lighthouse is well-known in Denmark and a popular tourist attraction. I have been here a couple of times before. Since my last visit in 2017 the lighthouse has been mooved 70 meters further inland (2019). This was done in order to save it from falling into the water. Two of my travel companions went up to the top to enjoy the view. Since I have been here before, I took a walk around the building, to discover how the landscape has changed.

The lighthouse was built in 1900, but was only in use until 1968. It was closed down due to sand drift. At that time, there were buildings around the lighthouse itself. Until 2003, this functioned as a museum about sand drift. But eventually it had to be abandoned. In 1900, the lighthouse was 200 meters from the coast. The coast has experienced erosion that has led to the lighthouse having to be moved further inland twice. I wonder for how long it will take before it will be left to the sea. The area has facines made up of the top of fir trees. This was done to prevent severe sanddrift and the possible block of acces to the light house.

We kept following the trail towards Lønstrup. At the first photo above you can see the lighthouse in the background. After a couple of kilometers along the cliff, we came to the place where Mårup church once stood. The church was from the 14th century. It was abandoned in 1923. This was about the same time that the farms was moved further inland. Look at the information board and get an impression of the church. When it was built, it was 2 kilometers from the coast. It was moved in 2008 to prevent it from falling into the sea. Today, there is only a collection of gravestones here. When you stand here in the face of this type of erosion, you can wonder how much will disappear in the future.

From here it is only a short walk to Lønstrup. Several houses are located right on the cliff. Several have already disappeared into the sea and more will probably follow. Lønstrup is a charming little fishing village. We arrived early enough to have time to visit part of town. Because of many artists, who live here, you can find paintings, glass art and ceramics. Fortunately, we didn't have room in our backpacks.

The next day we continued from Lønstrup to Hirtshals, which has ferry connection to Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The coast is dotted with bunkers from WWII.

To be continued in a few days.

Link to my fist two days on the North Sea Trail. See my lates travel story below.

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Latest travel story, check out:
Walking the North Sea Trail, Denmark – Hune to Løkken

U.J

Kristiansand, Norway

All the photoes are mine, Ulla Jensen (flickr, Instagram and facebook)

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