Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [640]
Keitum was once Sylt’s most important harbour, which is recalled in its late-Romanesque sailors’ church St Severin, with its Gothic altar and chancel, and heritage-listed gravestones in its cemetery; and in the historic Altfriesisches Haus (Old Frisian House; 328 05; Am Kliff 13; adult/concession/child €3.50/3/1.75; 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun Easter-Oct, noon-4pm Wed-Sun Nov-Easter).
WENNINGSTEDT
The best of Sylt’s Stone Age graves are in the family-oriented resort town of Wenningstedt. You can enter its 4000-year-old Denghoog (Am Denghoog; 10am-5pm May-Sep), next to the town church, which measures 3m by 5m and is nearly 2m tall in parts. The outer walls consist of 12 40-tonne stones. How Stone Age builders moved these is a Stonehenge kind of mystery.
KAMPEN
Hermès, Cartier and Louis Vuitton boutiques ensconced in traditional reed-thatched houses immediately signal that this little village is the island’s ritziest. Each summer, aristocrats and German celebrities come to see and be seen along the main promenade, Stroenwai, aka Whiskey Alley.
People-watching aside, the principle reason to visit is the stunning Uwe Dune, at 52.5m Sylt’s highest natural elevation. You can climb the wooden steps to the top for a 360-degree view over Sylt and, on a good day, to neighbouring Amrum and Föhr islands.
Kampen’s Strandsauna (Beachside Sauna; 4787; La Grande Plage; admission €14; 10am-6pm) is, unusually, open year-round.
LIST
Everything in List is dubbed ‘Germany’s northernmost’ – harbour, beach, restaurant etc… It’s a windswept, tranquil land’s end, but things usually liven up in the harbour when the ferry from Rømø (Denmark) deposits day-tripping Danes.
Nordic walking, using poles to propel your upper body forward as if you were skiing, is hugely popular all over Sylt, but especially along the grass-covered dunes of the Wanderdünengebiet. The List tourist office ( 952 00; www.list.de, in German; Am Brünk 1; 9am-noon & 2-5pm Mon-Fri year-round, 9am-noon Sat Apr-Sep) has maps and details of rental outlets.
List’s newest attraction is the whiz-bang Erlebniszentrum Naturgewalten ( 836 190; www.naturgewalten-sylt.de, in German; Hafenstrasse 37; adult/child under 15yr €11/6.50; 10am-10pm Jul & Aug, 10am-6pm Sep-Jun), a state-of-the-art ecological museum dedicated to the North Sea with multimedia exhibits that keep both kids and adults entertained (especially on rainy days). It’s housed in a vivid-blue ‘wave’-like building powered by renewable energy including solar.
The privately owned Ellenbogen (‘elbow’) peninsula is at Sylt’s far northern tip (there’s a €5 toll if you enter by car). The beaches here are off limits for swimming because of dangerous currents, but are dramatically backed by 35m-high shifting dunes. En route you’ll pass List’s Strandsauna ( 877 174; admission €16; 11am-5pm Easter-Oct) – take the road branching off the main route about 4km southwest of List.
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Tours
Tickets are available from the Info-Pavillon ( 846 1029; 9am-4pm Jun-Aug, reduced hours winter) on the Westerland Bahnhof forecourt.
BOAT
There’s a head-spinning array of boat cruises, mostly operated by Adler-Schiffe ( 987 00; www.adler-schiffe.de; Boysenstrasse 13, Westerland). Highlights include the following:
Amrun & Föhr (adult/child under 14yr from €24/free; daily Easter–mid-Oct from Hörnum) Choose one or both islands.
Hallig Hooge (adult/family from €23.50/62.50; daily Apr-Oct from Hörnum) Other Halligen can be combined with Amrun/Föhr tours.
Seal Colonies (adult/child under 14yr from €14.50/11.50; daily Apr-Oct from Hörnum) See seals bask in the sun on their regular sandbank on this 1½-hour tour.
Wattwandern tours (adult/child under 14yr/family €28.50/18/75; allocated days only mid-May–mid-Oct) At low tide wander across the seabed between Amrum and Föhr.
BUS
Grosse Inselrundfahrt (Big Island Tour; adult/child €15/10; 2pm Feb-Nov, 1pm Dec-Jan) Comprehensive