North Sea.
Cycling vacation on the North Sea
The North Sea invites to many discoveries. It is bounded by the island of Great Britain in the west and the northern and the central Europe continent with Norway, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France. In the southwest the North Sea leads through the Strait of Dover into the English Channel, in the east it has contact with the Baltic Sea through Skagerrak and Kattegat and to the north it opens like a funnel to the North Atlantic. The North Sea itself is an important trade route and serves Central and Northern Europe as a way to world markets. The southern North Sea, together with the adjacent English Channel, the most densely trafficked shipping region in the world. The main inflows are the Scheldt, the Meuse, the Rhine, the Ems, the Weser, the Elbe and the Thames. The surface area of the North Sea is around 575,000 square kilometers at an average depth of 94 meters, which is a water volume of about 54,000 km.
Tailwind while cycling
Cycling tours with a tailwind, that's what you get at the North Sea: Ride on the very well developed North Sea coastal cycle path from Emden to Cuxhaven, hop from island to island in East or North Frisia, make a round trip or go on the Fehnroute and thus through the moor. There's plenty of choice, the sea air blows through your lungs, and your gaze falls on the endless expanses of the Wadden Sea.
Good morning, North Sea!
Low tide and high tide, mud flats and Halligen, dikes and the endless view of sea and sky, which seem to merge somewhere on the horizon, are your companions at the North Sea. Discover colorful crab boats, ringed lighthouses and endless sandy beaches in small fishing villages. See sailboats and dinghies bouncing on the waves, ferries and yachts sailing back and forth between islands and the mainland. Seals lie lazily in the sun on the sandbars. In the towns on the mainland, thatched houses, windmills and bascule bridges dominate the scene. Visit the various islands: Norderney, the oldest seaside resort of the East Frisian islands with seemingly endless beaches, appears rather sophisticated at first glance, Borkum has healthy offshore climate to offer, Langeoog is particularly interesting for cyclists, as it is car-free, and has pretty sandy beaches. Listen to mysterious stories about the pirate Störtebeker and about East Frisian chieftains, and let yourself be enchanted.
Crab bread makes cheeks red
A crab sandwich or a matie roll at one of the harbor kiosks is a must, of course. The plate is also often filled with golden-brown fried sand plaice or Kiel sprat, which can be found in the North Sea as well as in the Baltic Sea, and is eaten smoked with "Kopp un Steert", i.e. head and tail. But it's not all about fish, cake fans also get their money's worth. In the afternoon, people drink Ostfriesentee, a black tea blend of ten varieties, or Pharisee and eat a piece with it. You might like the East Frisian Knüppeltorte, which is made of layers of pancakes. The long-matured dike cheese is another specialty. Salt marsh lamb or beef traditionally grazes on the dikes and salt marshes and therefore tastes slightly salty, is lean, juicy and very tender.
Shanty choirs and sea shanties
Open airs take place in Büsum or Husum, for example, and in Cuxhaven there is the annual Deichbrand festival with metal, rock, hip hop or pop music. But you may not even need to visit big cultural events, because you will always be able to listen to shanty choirs singing their sea shanties. In some places there are even harbor concerts. "Sailor, your home is the sea!"
Watt’n dat?
As far as nature is concerned, the greatest sight, but also oddity, is the Wadden Sea, the wading sea. Twice a day it dries up and is flooded again at high tide. A rich and partly endemic flora and fauna can be found here, which is protected in the 4,380 square kilometer National Park and World Natural Heritage Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Around 3,200 species are found here, about 250 of them on the salt marshes of the Wadden Sea. The most popular species are the cute seals and grey seals, but harbor porpoises are also found in the North Sea. 63 species of fish are found in the North Sea. The national park is the area with the most birds in Central Europe.
