23 kmMandø Ebbe Road
The gateway to the tidal landscape creates a natural connection with Fanø’s Wadden Sea.
Fanø is not an island where the beach lies as a narrow edge at the very outer side. On the western side, the sand spreads out on a grand scale, and the wind helps shape the landscape from day to day. Here, an ordinary trip to the beach can quickly change character: from swimming and sunbathing to amber hunting, surfers in the wind, or land yachts farther out on the firm sand.
The island lies in the Wadden Sea National Park, and the nature changes noticeably over short distances. There are open dunes, dune heath, plantation, marshes and mudflats, so a trip by bike or on foot can go from salty sea air to shelter and pine trees on the same day. In the south by Hønen, you may be lucky to see seals and large flocks of birds during migration season.
Nordby and Sønderho give Fanø a different rhythm from the beach. The two well-preserved skipper towns are reminders of the island’s maritime background, where seafaring left its mark on houses, streets and local stories. That makes Fanø more than a beach island: it lies in the Wadden Sea, but still bears traces of the people who lived with the sea as their workplace.
Fanø Vesterhavsbad emerged in the early 1890s, when the beach became the setting for hotels, villas and facilities for bath guests. In 1895, the place was described as young, but already with four hotels and five or six villas.
One of the notable hotels was Hotel Kongen af Danmark, built in 1893. It was restored after two fires in 1929, but after many years of changing fortunes and decline, it was eventually demolished in 1989.
Nordby Church does not quite resemble the church form many people expect. The large Neoclassical building from 1786 is arranged as a preaching hall without the traditional division into nave and chancel, and the altar stands by the south wall on the long side.
Several parts came from the demolished Rindby Church, including the bronze baptismal font. It dates from the late Middle Ages and bears a Latin inscription that is both mirrored and upside down. The church also contains a notable collection of model ships.
