Germany Guide
Schleswig-Holstein
Amrum
Föhr seems almost lively compared to AMRUM. A one-road island, 13km from marshy tip to sandy toe and never more than 1.5km wide, the most tranquil of the North Frisian group is effectively an oversized sandbank whose entire western half consists of the Kniepsand, a ten-square-kilometre expanse of beach whose powder sands wouldn't look out of place in the tropics. Sheltered behind the dunes on the eastern side is a rural patchwork of woods and heath. Snuggled among it, the island's five villages are a picture-book-pretty vision of traditional Frisian cottages with a single high gable and tousled gardens.
Good views of the Kniepsand are available from lookouts at either end of the island – in the south from a lookout by the tallest lighthouse on the German North Sea (Mon– Fri 8.30am–12.30pm, Wed till 1pm; free) and atop a sand dune in the north just south of the island's largest village, Norddorf. A 10km path through pines behind the Kniepsand links the two. Should you tire of the beach (unlikely), culture is in Nebel midway up the east coast: you can nose around eighteenth-century Öömrang Hüs (April– Oct Mon– Fri 10.30am–12.30pm & 3–5pm , Sat 3–5pm; Nov– March Mon– Sat 3–5pm; €3) its highlight a tiled wall that depicts the sailing ship of its original captain; or peruse local history displays in the last functioning windmill in North Frisia (April– Oct daily 11am–5pm; €2.50).
Tourist information is at the ferry terminal at Wittdün (Mon– Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–1pm; 
04682 9 40 30, 
www.amrum.de ). Most accommodation is in holiday homes – book through tourist information (or its website). There's also a popular youth hostel by the beach 300m from the harbour, Mittelstrasse 1 ( 04682/20 10, www.jugendherberge.de ; €18/21), and an appealing car-free campsite, Campingplatz Amrum, Inselstrasse 125 ( 04682/22 54, www.amrum-camping.de ), among the dunes by Wittdün.
From mainland port Dagebüll, linked by train to Niebüll northwest, car ferries of WDR ( www.faehre.de ) depart roughly every hour between Easter and October (reduced service in winter) to Wittdün (€8.45). Coming from Sylt, hop aboard regular tourist cruises run by Adler-Schiffe from Hörnum. Cycling is a joy on the island: rental outlets are by the ferry quay and in every village.