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At a glance
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- A first short loop around Utersum
- North of Oldsum
- A round through Wyk
- Through the west of Föhr
- An evening loop near Utersum
- To Wyk and the pancake house
- Another loop near Utersum
- Through the Godel marsh to the Goting cliff
- An evening round in Utersum
- A day trip to Amrum
- The big western loop: Süderende, Oldsum, Dunsum
- A final loop: south beach, Wyk and the island's heart
A walking week on Föhr
Föhr, the second-largest of the North Frisian islands, in April — before the season, with long light and empty paths. Just over a week added up to twelve loops on foot: short evening rounds around the resort village of Utersum, larger circuits through the green, geest-shaped west and across the marsh in the east to Wyk, plus a day across to neighbouring Amrum with its vast dunes. About 88 kilometres in total — flat, wide and almost without ascent, but with no shortage of sky, dyke and Wadden Sea.
The hikes
A first short loop around Utersum
Arriving, stretching the legs, looking at the beach on the doorstep: Utersum sits on the island's quiet west coast, with a long sandy beach and a view across the mudflats to Amrum.
North of Oldsum
Out from the village of Oldsum onto the sea dyke: a still, hazy morning — the mudflats behind the stone revetment on the left, the green dyke slope on the right with the sheep that keep it short.
A round through Wyk
Wyk, the only town of any size on Föhr, lies in the east by the ferry harbour and marina. A short loop through its small streets and along the south-beach promenade.
Through the west of Föhr
The first longer loop: from the beach inland through the green, gently rolling west of the island — geest rather than marsh, with hedgerows, freshly ploughed fields and the first willow catkins. Back along the mudflats again.
An evening loop near Utersum
Out again in the evening: roe deer at the wood's edge, then back to the sea — just in time as a thin band of light settled over the mudflats above Amrum and the sun sank behind the neighbouring island.
To Wyk and the pancake house
Wyk is the island's only proper town — and the pancake house a fixed ritual: first the promenade along the south beach, then a hearty and/or sweet pancake the size of the plate.
Another loop near Utersum
Another short loop from Utersum in the late afternoon — on Föhr the end of the day almost always belongs to the beach and the mudflats.
Through the Godel marsh to the Goting cliff
The Godel marsh in the south-west is one of the island's wildest corners: its only freshwater stream, winding through salt meadows into the mudflats, with the Goting cliff at its edge — one of the few real slopes on otherwise flat Föhr.
An evening round in Utersum
Out again towards evening — the same loop along the Utersum beach, and never dull.
A day trip to Amrum
Amrum in a day is a chapter of its own. The ferry from Wittdün crosses to the neighbouring island, where a remarkable variety is packed into a small space: dunes, lakes, woodland and open heath — and along the western edge the seemingly endless Kniepsand, one of the widest sand beaches in Europe.
On other trips I've walked across the mudflats to Amrum myself and come back by W.D.R. ferry — but always on a guided mudflat hike, or at least with the mudflat guide's blessing (and the right gear). People die in the Wadden Sea every year, overestimating themselves and underestimating the sea.
The big western loop: Süderende, Oldsum, Dunsum
The big western loop: through the old geest villages of Süderende, Oldsum and Dunsum, with their thatched captains' houses and sturdy medieval churches — the historic, "Frisian" Föhr.
A final loop: south beach, Wyk and the island's heart
A farewell on the longest loop: from the south beach over Wyk and straight across the island's heart and back — beach, town and the wide flat land between, one more time, in the best of April weather.
