Sylt is one of the most popular islands in Germany. It is the ‘must-see’ on your travels or staycations around the North Sea. What to do on such a day trip to Sylt Island. Read some hot tips below!
You don’t need a week long holidays to explore its gems. Get a train from Hamburg and visit Kurpromenade & Morsum Kliff in one day! Your soul of a sun and nature lover will be fully satisfied. How to get to Sylt, what train to take and what Kurpromenade & Morsum Kliff look like? Read below, dear curious travellers!
Is there a paradise island somewhere in the North Sea where the Vikings used to drink mead and fight the waves of the wild waters? Of course! There are eventually several beautiful islands in the northwest of Germany and Denmark. One of them is Sylt – extremely popular island of a weird shape resembling a stood-up guy with a hat on holding a basket (it also looks like a very slim crab).
As the official site of the island says: “Sylt is Sea. Passion. Life. Welcome to paradise…” And they are pretty much right! There has to be a reason why thousands of travellers enjoy the place. Let me tell you how the island can look like in August and why is Sylt worth a day trip!
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Why to Spend Only a Day in Sylt?
You don’t have to spend only a day in Sylt but me and a random group of international people from Hamburg decided to give it a go! The reason for going for a day trip instead of spending a night or two was simple. It is a super famous island, full of rich and posh Germans, there are celebrities living, there are businessmen owning their village villas, and there are other regular travellers. In short, the island can be massively crowded over a hot August weekend!
Now imagine the hotels’ and Airbnbs’ prices for a luxurious destination on a demand like Sylt. Yes, we checked the accommodation around 10 days in prior and we found only very expensive flats or hotels and 90% of accommodation was already taken.
Also, to get to Sylt from Hamburg is very easy! You have a direct train which takes from 2 to 3 hours and it is much simplier than it sounds. Moreover, the group train is very cheap and if you gather a group of 5 people you get a return ticket for €40 euros! Yes, we spent 8 euros each! The best on this bargain is that you can use that train as many times as you want so you can explore the areas around another 2 train stops in Sylt – Keitum and Morsum.
Is One Day Enough to Enjoy Sylt Island?
It was for us! We left Hamburg early, taking a direct train at 7:30. We spent several hours on the beach, did a short hike to the stunning Morsum Kliff and ran back to catch a train at 7pm from Morsum. It was splendid! The water was clean and warm, the sand was fine and golden, the landscapes in Morsum where gorgeous and the cliff was the icing on the cake!
We didn’t explore the whole island because our plan was to enjoy the sun, beach and water mostly; but you could easily do that in a day! There are many buses which can take you from one side of the island to another. You can as well rent a bicycle and explore Sylt the sporty way. I didn’t have a feeling I’d have missed on anything. However, I currently live in Hamburg so I am sure I will come back to see more!
How Does the Train from Hamburg to Sylt Operate?
It is much easier than it looks like. Firstly, I couldn’t find any normal direct train. Google was showing me ridiculous results of 4 – 5 hours journeys with several stops. Trainline and similar sites didn’t do their work either. I really recommend you go directly to the official DB Deutsche Bahn website and check it there. The final train stop you want to get to is called Westerland (Sylt).
The cheapest tickets are group tickets – you need to gather 5 people (if you are 4, it is already a bit more expensive and if you are 6 you need 2 of tthese tickets). As mentioned above, we paid altogether 40 euros for a return train for 5 people and we could use it as many times as we wanted. I spent on our day trip to Sylt 16 euros including water and snacks (we didn’t go to any bar or a restaurant).
Another tip is to leave Hamburg early. It is not a secret that the weather in Sylt can be pretty nasty so when the sun finally comes out you can bet on thousands of ‘beach commuters’! You want to sit in the train and you want to find a place on the beach, right?
Sylt’s Top Beach: Kurpromenade
Kurpromenade is probably the most favourite beach of all Sylt vacationers! It is only 10 minutes by walk from the train station and is pretty wide to provide space for many sea lovers. The entry is 4 euros for a day and there are facilities like toilets, bars and food kiosks.
How did I enjoy Kurpromenade? I was nicely surprised that for its very convenient location it wasn’t that crowded. There was still many people enjoying the golden sands, sapphire blue sea and the hot sun, but we were still able to follow social distancing. The promenade is also nice for a walk, paddle boarding or any other beach or water sports. There was just one annoying thing – there are no trees or any other kind of shelters. Take your sunscreen guys!
Morsum Kliff: Natural Gem of Sylt
Those who fancy little walks through a countryside and more peaceful places with splendid views, should go to see ‘Morsum(er) Kliff’! To get there is very easy, but it requires some movement!
We got to Morsum from the main Sylt’s train station in Westerland and we used the very same tickets we bought for our Hamburg – Sylt journey. From the stop in Morsum we walked to the cliff through a beautiful countryside area of fields and cute stone houses. We used Google maps and it took us 30 minutes.
We were blind enough to miss on the little ‘bike rental’ shop which was directly at the back of the train station building! I am pretty sure that if we had seen the shop opened, we would have rented bikes to save some time. The route to the cliff was lovely anyway and all the sweat was worth it!
The rough nature around the cliff area was just breath-taking. The green lands with patches of purple lavender flowers and the wild North Sea under just hit us hard! One of the most beautiful views I ever seen.
Note for beer lovers: there is a hotel/bar close to the cliff. We didn’t have time to stop for a pint, but you should definitely go for a drink, and don’t forget to rent bikes!
Sylt was the very first day trip around Hamburg and the very first train journey I took in Germany. The island is really beautiful, and it has something to offer for both relaxing beach vacationers and nature hike lovers. If you have any questions about a day trip to Sylt and how to get there from Hamburg, please write a comment below. I will try my best to answer you request!
Have safe travels, guys!
Schöne reise.