Sylt. For the sake of nature

Sylt, this beautiful Frisian island tucked in the northwest corner near the North Sea, with 40-kilometre long, wide, white-sand beach is a natural private paradise.

Nothing better than waking up early in the morning to go for a walk at the Watt

The Frisian Islands — located off the coasts of Netherlands, Germany and Denmark — form the Wadden Sea National Park, one of the few remaining large-scale, intertidal ecosystems in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site with pristine air and where the water teems with sea life, including marine mammals such as the harbour seal, grey seal and harbour porpoise is a natural heaven. A perfect spot for a year-round health and wellness destination.

…. or through the Heide

 

With the benefits of trace elements of iodine and minerals in the air, where you can dash naked from sauna huts hidden among the grassy dunes at List, Hornum and Rantum into the icy waters of the North Sea is the best you can do for your health.
I like it the most pre-and-post season, when the island is almost empty, another health benefit, pure solitude to calm down and find inner peace .

Find more of the benefits of this island which is pure bliss when it comes to recharge your batetries and dine & wine:

  • Rent a bike, the island is small enough to take the bike and take advantage of the pure air.
  • Sylt’s chefs were using the amazing home-grown products long before farm-to-table was fashionable.
  • Take a tap of Sylter Salz for a detox bath with the the sea salt that is produced in List or season your meals with it.
  • The most natural food: The grass-fed lamb, raised on the dyke; the beef, goose, asparagus, strawberries, herbs, kale and potatoes are from local farms; and the oysters, fish and shrimps are pulled from the North Sea.
We launched our IRMA basket collection in Sylt this weekend and thought that they fit perfectly to the island

 

FOOD

  • OYSTERS: Johannes King’s gourmet shop and café in Keitum. I was surprised by the clean, fresh taste of the simply prepared oysters, cultivated in the 30-hectare offshore farm in the tidal mudflats known as the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site.
  • WHERE TO FOOD SHOP:
    Pape’s Sylter Genussmacherei (gourmet shop) in List, Sylt

 

Homemade cakes at the Kleine Friesen Teestube in Keitum with a great selection of different teas.

COFFEE & CAKE

 

  • Die Kupferkanne (The Copperpot) is the place to go for cake and coffee. On a sunny day, park your bike at the gate and head out to the patio among the dunes with a generous piece of freshly baked cherry or rhubarb slab cake and a steaming mug of coffee, roasted and ground onsite. The onetime Second World War flak bunker became a drop-in centre for artists after the war and the café maintains an artsy vibe.
  • MORE CAKE: Raffelhüschen Bäckerei und Konditorei, where the house specialty is Burgermeister — a flaky, sweet puff pastry drizzled with white icing and filled with marzipan. The bakery and patisserie, established by Thomas Raffelhüschen in 1933 and managed by the fourth generation, has 12 locations on Sylt. All of the breads and rolls — rye, sourdough, spelt and corn — are kneaded and formed by hand.

 

COCKTAILS

  • Die Alte Friesenstube, Westerland. Rhubarb Royale cocktail — a concoction of rhubarb liquor, Prosecco and vanilla —

paired perfectly with North Sea prawns marinated in ginger and basil and served on red algae.

 

DINE & WINE:

  • Hotel Stadt Hamburg. For the dyke-raised lamb, I headed to Hardy’s Bar and Restaurant at Hotel Stadt Hamburg, for a platter of loin and butt (both tender and tasty) cuts, a curried lamb meatball and a small sausage served atop warm hummus and an eggplant ragout came with a glass of Pinot Noir from Nahe, Germany.
  • The original Gosh. If you’re out cycling at the Ellenbogen nature park, Gosch Alte Bootshalle, the flagship location of the Gosch Group, is a perfect place for lunch. In a maritime-rustic building, which was once a warehouse for boats, you’ll find casual, inexpensive fare, unfortunately the interior is no longer what it used to be , instead you ´ll find ugly billboards and signature everywhere.