Walking the North Sea Trail, Denmark – Hune to Løkken

I have just returned from a walking holiday in Denmark - The North Sea Trail from Hune to Skagen. Together with four friends I walked almost 130 kilometers along the west coast of Denmark. We started in Hune and walked along the trail for 6 days. The end of our walk was Skagen, at the very top of Denmark. This walking holiday made us experience the varied landscapes at the North Sea coast in Denmark: forest, long stretches of beach, areas with summer cabins, unspoiled nature, sand dunes, moors and small villages. In this post I will share with you our first two days. We met in Hune to spend our first night. Three of us came from Norway. We had traveled almost all day by ferry, then train and bus, before walking for a couple of hours to reach Hune. The next day we walked 25 kilometer, to Løkken for our second night. Since we were carrying the backpacks our selves, I took the photos with my phone.

We all arrived in the afternooen at a place called Anne Just Have in Hune. This is a very small town a few kilometers from Blokhus, which is a well-known resort town popular during the summer because of the sea. This place is beautiful. It's not an ordinary hotel. The garden has several buildings where you can book a room. As soon as we entered we noticed the art on the wall! What a great start on our west-coast walk.

Our room

Anne Just (1948 - 2009) used our building, called "Verkstedet" as her first studio, when she settled here to work with her paintings. In 1991 she started on the garden. I don't know exactly when the garden became a place to overnight. The gardens are open to the public until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. But because we were staying overnight, we were free to walk around the garden any time.

The next morning the actual hiking started. We didn't have to walk very far before we found the trail. It is easy to follow because of the blue markings that follow the entire route. The first third of today's stage goes through areas with forest. Along the way we found both blackberries and wild apples. We ate enough to ensure that our packed lunch wasn't eaten up!

Gradually we come through a summer house area. They blend in very well with the landscape and we could now see the sea. Gradually we came down to the beach and from then we followed the beach for the last third to Løkken.

The «Nordsøstien» is part of the North Sea Trail and the NAVE Nortail project. The goal of the project, is to establish routes along old historical tracks around the entire North Sea. Involved in this project you will find 26 regions in countries surrounding the North Sea from Denmark to Scotland, passing through Norway, Sweden, Netherland, Germany and Englan. These walking trails are located where rescue routes, royal roads and church paths connect with historical and cultural places of interest. The North Sea Trail along the coasts of these countries, has a total length of 5,000 km. Quite impressive. The paths follows forest roads and paths. Sometimes you have to walk along a paved road.

We are approaching Løkken. Another well-known holiday destination. There is a small harbour here and lots of small huts. These are meant for day visits as they have no water and electricity. We had a short break at the harbor with a few fishing boats. Then we went to our lodging for the night. Løkken is a pleasant little town that is flooded with tourists in the summer. During WWII it was part of the Atlantic Wall with fortifications stretching from Norway along the Danish coast to Spain.

When we continues from Løkken we saw what is left of the German bunkers on the beach, huge sand dunes and dramatic cliffs where the sea has eaten into the land, causing houses to houses collapsing into the sea.
To be continued in a few days.