Welcome to Borkum, an island and municipality in Lower Saxony — where you can’t go any further north or west, and still remain in Germany.
Know where you are yet? Right, you’re on one of the East Frisian islands — the largest inhabited one, to be exact.
The first thing you might notice about Borkum are its cars, or should I say, lack thereof? Yeah, plenty of ferries will bring you to this grand seaside resort island, but your car isn’t all that welcome in the height of “High Season.”
When is that? Oh, the last weekend of April kicks off bathing season. Better hurry to grab yourself a Strandkorb, or beach chair while you still can.
Sunning yourself on the beaches of the North Sea isn’t the only activity to enjoy. Heck no, you’re right on the Wadden Sea, so get yourself a guide (or a tide schedule) so you can go mudflat hiking. No big skills are involved, just moving one foot in front of the other, making it back to shore before the tide rolls back in.
What you could do after the tide comes back in is to visit Borkum’s lighthouses. What’s an island without one of those? The Alte Leuchtturm (Old Lighthous, built 1576) didn’t always have that designation, but the New Lighthouse was a feat of modern late-19th century engineering. And close to the Old Lighthouse is a local museum, if you’re interested.
I know some of you are more interested in many of Borkum’s super-fun events. One of the biggest is the Borkumer Meilenlauf, or Mile Run, always held on the first weekend of September.
And I’m pretty sure the history lovers will want to hear about pirates who once sailed these waters, tales of the German Navy, and the story of the island’s long-gone whaling days.
These days tourism is what fuels Borkum’s economy — and it’s a perfect place to enjoy a cuppa tea with Klutjes, the rock candy sweetener so popular up here.
Sorry, if you don’t mind, I’ll enjoy a coffee while taking in the views from my striped beach chair; that is until the tide goes back out. ;-)
