2024 Denmark/Germany

Day 1 – Tuesday - June 18, 2024 - Today are the arrivals to Copenhagen and the hotel.  The welcome dinner will be on the renovated  lightship called ‘Fyrskibet’ in Copenhagen, which is now called ‘Lightship XI’.  The owner will give a short talk about the ship's renovation.  There will be welcome drinks and a 3 course dinner on board. 

Day 2 – Wednesday - June 19, 2024 - We will have a full day excursion to north of Zealand island today. We will visit Kronborg Slot castle and see the lighthouse within the castle grounds.  We will visit M/S Maritime Museum nearby which has exhibits of lighthouses.  In Gelleleje, we will visit the Nakkehoved West (active) and East (inactive) lighthouses. West is a working lighthouse, and East is inactive and has been converted into the Museum of Lighthouse History. End the day at Copenhagen hotel.

Day 3 – Thursday – June 20, 2024 - We will check out of the hotel and board a touring coach which will be with the group for the rest of the tour.  The hotel will make a bag lunch for us.  Our first visit is at Rodvig Stevns where we will visit Stevns Fyr Center and lighthouse. We will then visit Vordingborg Ore lighthouse for a photo op.  The final lighthouse will be at Gedser Fyr and we will tour this lighthouse which is located at Denmark’s southernmost point and has recently been renovated.  The walk from the parking spot to the lighthouse is about 1/3 of a mile.  We will then board the ferry from Gedser to Rostock and have dinner aboard the ferry.  We will spend the night at a hotel in Rostock.

Day 4 – Friday – June 21, 2024 – This morning we will head east to Darsser Ort. We will take a horse-drawn carriage from nearby Prerow (approx. 45 mins each way) to visit the Darsser Ort lighthouse). We will have lunch on our own at the on-site café or back in Prerow.  Next stop is Warnemünde to visit the Alter Leuchtturm lighthouse, which is located in the centre of town and easy to access. Then we will head back to Rostock for night 2 and have dinner at the hotel or local restaurant. 

Day 5 – Saturday – June 22, 2024 - The first visit of the day will be Bastorf Buk lighthouse. From the parking spot to the lighthouse is less than 1/3 of a mile.   Next we will head to Schwerin Castle for a short visit before continuing to Travemünde to visit the Alte Leuchtturm Lighthouse. We will also see the Molenfeuer Nordermole lighthouse for a photo op, before continuing to Lübeck where we will stay the night.

Day 6  – Sunday – June 23, 2024 - We will have a morning guided city tour of the old Hanseatic Capital today, and enjoy a visit to the European Hanse Museum documenting its maritime legacy. We will also visit the Fehmarnbelt Lightship which is docked in Lübeck and enjoy some free time at leisure in Lübeck before continuing to Hamburg for overnight.

Day 7 – Monday – June 24, 2024 – We will transfer to the ferry terminal in Hamburg this morning, to catch the morning ferry to Cuxhaven. While sailing out the Elbe estuary, we will see upwards of 20 lighthouses or beacons from the boat. A local guide travelling with us will point out the lighthouses. After arriving in Cuxhaven mid-morning, we will stop to view the Hamburger Leuchtturm at Alte Liebe for a photo op.  The lighthouse is up for sale so not open to public.  We will stop to see the historic wooden day beacon known as the Kugelbake, and also the Steubenhoeft and Hapag Halls. We will visit the Elbe 1 Lightship and have a guided tour. We will also get to go inside the nearby Dicke Berta (‘Fat Bertha’) Lighthouse on a private group tour this afternoon, before continuing to Bremerhaven for overnight stay.

Day 8 – Tuesday – June 25, 2024 - This morning we will head to Fedderwardersiel to enjoy a private boat tour, charter MV Wega II or similar. This will be a full day tour (6-hour round trip) which sails out to Roter Sand and back, and will also pass some of the area’s other significant off-shore lighthouses, such as Hohe Weg, Alte Weser and/or Robbenplate. This trip is of course dependent on wind and weather conditions on the day. Another night in Bremerhaven.

Day 9 – Wednesday – June 26, 2024 - We will take a half-day tour of Bremerhaven this morning, to see some of the city’s most famous and distinctive lighthouses – including the Geestemole-Nord which partially collapsed in August 2022 and is currently in a precarious state! Following a visit to the German Maritime Museum, we will make the long drive to Büsum (via the Wischhafen-Glueckstadt ferry, and a short stop in Brunsbuettel to view the Kiel Canal). We will stay overnight in Busum.

Day 10 – Thursday – June 27, 2024 - Today’s itinerary is busy, with a ferry departure to make, so a packed lunch will be provided by the hotel. We will start the day quickly stopping to see some of the sights of Büsum itself, including the Leuchtturm Büsum lighthouse, and also the ‘Erster Büsumer Leuchtturm’, an original wooden structure dating back to 1878. We will then briefly stop in St. Peter -Ording to view the Boehler lighthouse, which is a short 1/3 mile walk from the road, and then continue to Westerheversand Lighthouse which is a distance of 3 miles round trip from the road, so we will stop from a distance for a photo op. We will next head to Nordstrand and catch the afternoon foot ferry to Pellworm island. The coach will remain in Nordstrand, and local minibuses/taxis will shuttle us to/from the Pellworm Lighthouse for a guided visit. On return to Nordstrand, we will re-join the coach and drive to Husum to stay overnight.

Day 11 – Friday – June 28, 2024 - We will take the morning car ferry from Dagebüll to Wittdünn on Amrum island this morning. We will sail past Foehr island and see the Leuchtturm Olhoern from the ferry. We may be able to see the Nordmarsch-Langeness lighthouse to the south, depending on visibility. We will visit Amrum’s Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast of Germany. We will enjoy a local restaurant lunch before returning to the mainland to spend another night in Husum.

Day 12 – Saturday – June 29, 2024 - We will head up to the island of Sylt today. We will stop to view the Hörnum Lighthouse at the south of the island and also the ‘Langer Christian’ lighthouse in Kampen.  As time allows, we will be able to drive close to the lighthouses at the island’s northern extremities, List West and List East, to view them from a distance, and also to walk out to Germany’s northernmost point. We will have some time in List to grab some lunch on your own. Then we will take a ferry to Rømø in Denmark and continue northwards to Esbjerg, where we will stay for the next two nights. En route we will visit the brand new Marsk Tower, a helix-shaped steel observation tower offering great views over the surrounding Wadden Sea National Park.  Overnight in Esbjerg.

Day 13 – Sunday – June 30, 2024 - We will start the day in Blåvand with a visit to the Blåvandshuk lighthouse. We will the go back to Esbjerg, where we will visit the Lightship Museum aboard the Horns Rev Lighthship in Esbjerg and meet the volunteers which maintain it. We will see the two other significant lighthouses in Esbjerg for photo ops; one is Denmark’s oldest iron lighthouse, the other is a small lighthouse but has a very unique, contemporary design. The town is also home to the large ‘Man Meets the Sea’ sculpture. This afternoon, we will head to nearby Ribe, said to be Denmark’s oldest town, dating back to 710 – a local guide will bring its history to life for us on a short city tour of its old town and cathedral. A second night in Esbjerg.

Day 14 – Monday – July 1, 2024 - Today we will need to get an early start in order to manage all three lighthouses on the itinerary. The first stop will be Lyngvig lighthouse in Hvide Sande, followed by Bovbjerg lighthouse, where we will have a self-led visit, and also enjoy a light lunch in the on-site café. The third and final lighthouse of the day will be Lodbjerg, with us ending the day in Hantsholm where we will stay overnight.

Day 15 – Tuesday – July 2, 2024 - The North Atlantic Lighthouse in Hantsholm, with its extensive exhibitions, will be our first visit today. The next stop is the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse, which is strikingly located within moving sand dunes, and was subject to a significant repositioning effort to avoid it being lost to the dunes. The lighthouse is situated approximately ¾ of a mile from the parking spot and we will have to walk on the dunes. The final visit of the day will be the Hirsthals Lighthouse and Museum. The group will end the day in Frederikshaven for an overnight stay.

Day 16 – Wednesday – July 3, 2024 - Today we will visit Skagen, on Denmark’s most northerly peninsula. A member of the Gra Fyr lighthouse team has offered to lead us on a half-day tour of the area; in addition to going inside the Gra Fyr (grey lighthouse) itself, the group will also stop to see the Vippefyret, a replica of a wooden navigational lever light mechanism, and the outside of two other lighthouses in the area, Skagen West and Hojen Fyr.  On the way back to Frederikshavn we will stop at the fascinating ‘Buried Church’, a 14^th century church which was frequently buried by sand from nearby dunes and had to be dug out by the congregation each time there was to be a service.  Only the tower remains today. Another night in Frederikshaven.

Day 17 – Thursday – July 4, 2024 - HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY - We will make the short drive to Aalborg (AAL) airport today, to catch a domestic flight to Copenhagen (CPH). On arrival in Copenhagen, we will embark on a sightseeing tour of some of the city – stopping to view the Nordre Rose Fyr from the shoreline, and a visit to the Gedser Rev lightship, docked in Nyhavn harbour. We will check in to hotel and have our Farewell Dinner.

Day 18 – Friday – July 5, 2024 - We will transfer to Copenhagen (CPH) airport today for flights home.