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Getting There & Away

Flensburg has rail connections with Kiel (€15.20, 1½ hours), and with Schleswig (€6.80, 30 minutes), from where trains continue to Hamburg. Trips to Husum (€13.20, 1½ hours) require a change at Jübek.

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COASTAL COFFEE

If the cold wind’s biting, warm up with one of the region’s specialities, rum-laced coffee topped with cream, known as a Pharisäer. So the stories go, chilly locals in the region infused their strong, sweetened coffee with a shot of rum. But, to hide the presence of alcohol from their priest, they smothered the top with cream. The priest, however, quickly caught on, decrying them as Pharisees (his point being that they were following the letter, not the spirit, of the law). The name stuck, as did the surreptitious drinking technique – don’t stir it; instead, slurp the hot coffee through the cream.

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Autokraft ( 690 69; www.autokraft.de, in German) has regular buses to Husum (€6.10, one hour), Niebüll (€6.10, one hour) and Kiel (€8.70, two hours) from the central bus station.

Flensburg is at the beginning of the A7, which leads south to Hamburg, Hanover and beyond. The town can also be reached via the B76, B199 and B200.

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Getting Around

Buses cost €1.70/4.90 for a single/day pass, but you can easily cover Flensburg on foot. To walk from the Bahnhof, which takes around 15 minutes, follow the small blue signs reading ‘Altstadt/Zentrum’.

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GLÜCKSBURG

04631 / pop 5985

Overlooking the water 10km northeast of Flensburg, this small spa town is renowned for its horseshoe-shaped Renaissance Wasserschloss (Moated Palace; 442 330; adult/concession €5/3.50; 10am-6pm May-Sep), which appears to float in the middle of a large lake. The rest of the town is equally charming, and it’s a pleasant stroll around the lake up to the beach.

Strandhotel Glücksburg ( 614 10; www.strandhotel-gluecksburg.de; Kirstenstrasse 6; s/d from €130/180; ), the fabled ‘white castle by the sea’, counts Thomas Mann among its former guests. Rooms at this resplendent beachfront villa are now decked out in cool, minimalist Scandinavian style. Decadences include a spa and gastronomic restaurant serving a daily changing menu utilising fresh produce. Foodies should ask about special bon vivant packages incorporating gourmet evening meals.

Buses run hourly between Glücksburg and Flensburg’s central bus station (€2.40). For boat services to Glücksburg, see opposite.

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HUSUM & THE HALLIGEN

04841 / pop 21,000

The 19th-century German novelist and poet Theodor Storm (1817–88) called his hometown ‘the grey town by the sea’. But although its Aussenhafen (outer harbour) has some hulking industrial monoliths, warmly toned buildings huddle around its delightful Binnenhafen (inner harbour), colourful gabled houses line its narrow, cobbled lanes, and in late March and early April millions of purple crocuses bloom in Husum’s Schlosspark.

After retracing Storm’s footsteps through Husum and seeing where his seminal North Frisian novella Der Schimmelreiter (The Rider on the White Horse) was written, it’s easy to head offshore from nearby Nordstrand to the tiny islets known as Halligen.

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Orientation

Husum is compact and extremely well signposted. The Bahnhof lies 700m south of the city centre. Head north along Herzog-Adolf-Strasse (passing the library and the central bus station) and turn left at Ludwig-Nissen-Strasse, following the sign reading Zentrum, to the Binnenhafen; the Aussenhafen is just west of here. Alternatively, continue north along Herzog-Adolf-Strasse and turn left into Nordstrasse for the Markt, Gross Strasse and tourist office.

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Information

Husum tourist office ( 898 70; www.tourismus-husum.de; Historisches Rathaus, Gross Strasse 27; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat Apr-Oct, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat Nov-Mar)

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Sights

HUSUM

Even if you’re not too familiar with the