Germany Guide
Schleswig-Holstein
Sylt
New Yorkers weekend in the Hamptons. Germans escape to SYLT. They've come en masse since the nation went crazy for seawater bathing in the mid-1800s, and today around 600,000 people a year swell a year-round population of 23,000, thankfully only 50,000 at a time. In recent decades Sylt has carefully cultivated its reputation as the stylish playground of the nation's moneyed elite. Every minor celebrity for decades has been caught in flagrante delicto by the paparazzi, fuelling the gossip press each summer and adding to the prestige of Kampen.
Cross under grey North Sea skies to disembark in main resort Westerland and you might wonder what all the fuss is about. The answer is a broad beach of pale quartz sand that fringes the entire west side of an elongated island tethered to the mainland by its railway. The sheltered east coast looks over the mud-soup of the shallow Wattenmeer, while the north arm around the port of List is a restless sea of sand dunes. Flashy restaurants and boutiques aside, Sylt is an island of simple holiday pleasures: dozing in one of 11,000 Strandkörbe, the cute wicker beach-seats for two; dawdling through lanes of postcard-pretty Keiten; nature walks among Germany's largest sand-dunes at List; sea cruises from Hörnum or any number of watersports. And people-watching at Kampen, of course.
Beach activities on Sylt
No surprise on an island fringed by 35km of sand that the focus of all activity is the beach. The finest whitest sands run the entire length of the west coast, access to which costs €2–3 and is payable as the Kurtax included in accommodation or as a Tageskarte as you enter for day-trippers. Hooded Strandkörbe (beach seats), which come into their own in these breezy conditions, are available for rent by the day or hour on all beaches except those north of List on the Ellenbogen. Prevailing winds mean waves usually crash onto the sands along the west coast while those on the east are sheltered (though often muddy) strips – Königshafen lagoon northwest of List, or the peninsula south of Hörnum are safe for young children.
Walking aside, watersports are the main alternative to loafing on the beach. Windsurfing is excellent thanks to waves and smooth water on either side of the island – Sylt hosts the Windsurf World Cup in the last week of September. Other aquatic activities include kitesurfing, and on calm days, surfing. The principal breaks are at Westerland – a mid-tide A-frame known as Brandenburg is the most popular spot in Germany – though you can scout out quieter waves all along the west coast. In Westerland, Surfschule Sunset Beach (Brandenburger Strasse 15; t04651/271 72, www.sunsetbeach.de) rents windsurfers, surf- and bodyboards, as well as sit-on kayaks and Hobie catamarans. Surfschule Camp One on Hauptstrand in Wenningstedt (t04651/433 75, www.surfschule-wenningstedt.de) has windsurfers, surfboards and kitesurfing gear. Both provide lessons on request.
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