

On the west side of Sylt, you can take advantage of the more rugged North Sea and do activities like surfing and kitesurfing. On the east side, you can enjoy calmer waves in the Wadden Sea. There are also plenty of beaches for dogs if you’ve got a pup along with you. And in the summer, since it’s so far north, it never gets completely dark at night!

There are lots of things to do in Sylt (even though it’s an island, it’s a big island), and I promise you won’t get bored (if all else fails, just go sit by the sea – it doesn’t really get better than that…) Here’s what we did and what I recommend:
GET YOUR BUTT ON THE BEACH

We even got lucky and someone gave us their beach chair, or Strandkorb (which literally means “beach basket), for the rest of the day! Normally you have to pay, so we were stoked that we got to hang out in one for free. I believe they’re €8 for the day though, so really not that bad.

Definitely not what I expected for northern Germany, that’s for sure (to give perspective, it’s literally RIGHT at the border of Denmark!)
IF YOU GO IN LATE SUMMER, HEIDE ABOUND!

You can see the heide at full bloom all throughout August and September, and it makes for a really pretty backdrop!
SPOT SOME LIGHTHOUSES

You can see the Rotes Kliff, Kampen (pictured here), Ostefeuer, Westfeuer, and Hörnum Lighthouses. The Rotes Kliff Lighthouse is no longer in operation, but is still pretty to see! And there was actually a school at the top of the Hörnum Lighthouse which sounds SO COOL to me. However, it was closed in 1930, so no, you can’t enroll there (but maybe there’s a waiting list in case it reopens???)
I’m a lighthouse nerd/have a semi-unhealthy obsession with them so staring at this one was one of my favorite things to do in Sylt! I wish I had time to do more lighthouse spotting, but we chose to spend a longer time swimming (the water was sooo nice) so we only had the chance to see Kampen.
GAWK AT OLD HOUSES

You will pretty much see them all over the island. This is one of my favorite things about Sylt not gonna lie haha.
MEANDER ALONG THE RED CLIFFS


CHECK OUT THE UWE DUNE LOOKOUT

The cover photo of this post is from that lookout. You can see the Kampen Lighthouse, so many dunes, and pretty thatched houses.

GETTING TO AND AROUND SYLT

I’m not sure of the usual cost since my friend had a coupon he used to purchase our tickets, but should be about €20-30 each way normally. You can buy tickets directly from the Deutsche Bahn website here.
We also took our bikes with us on the train. You have to pay if you do this, it’s €5 per bike (although you don’t for some reason if it’s a folding bike since they’re smaller, but honestly my friend’s folding bike was the same size as a regular bike LOL.)

If you do borrow a bike, be sure to go to the train early because there are only certain compartments where bikes are allowed and they can fill up fast.

And I’d imagine they’re reliable as it’s Germany and they are perfect about everything. But don’t forget that if you go on Sunday, pretty much everything will be closed – this is one of the things that totally surprised me about Germany lol.


I love finding out about places I’ve never heard of before! This looks so cute! I never really associate Germany with beaches, but it looks so nice!
Right, me too! And I never ever expected Germany to have nice beaches haha but I was pleasantly surprised! 🙂
Wow Stylt looks like such a beautiful place! I never knew Germany had any islands. I lived in Germany one summer with family and loved it but it was when I was a teenager. Would be great to go back! 😁
Right, I didn’t either! But when I think about it, I’m not too surprised – it’s a huge country! I actually just googled it and according to Wikipedia (lol) there are more than 40 islands belonging to Germany (not including those found in rivers/lakes.) I literally had no idea haha.
And wow, that’s so cool that you lived in Germany for a summer! What an amazing experience!
I´m thinking about visiting Sylt for a while now and I think maybe next year I will make it happen. I would love to wander at the beach and visit the lighthouse (love lighthouses 😉 ). Just having a few days to relax!
Ahhh yes it is so pretty! I would love to go back, too, and see more of the lighthouses as well (also love lighthouses haha). We just didn’t have enough time!
And yes, there is sooo much nice relaxing that goes on there!
What a peaceful looking place!! I had no idea Germany had any islands haha. But this defintely looks like a place I’d love to visit. Those thatched roofs are so awesome!
Yes I’m obsessed with the thatched roofed houses! They are soooo pretty.
And yes, it was so peaceful haha. I was in full chill mode lol
I am ashamed to say that despite being a world traveler I had NO idea that there are islands off the German coast – and so beautiful! I definitely need to make time to explore this region!
I had no idea either!! Totally shocked. It makes me wonder what else I’m missing out on just because I don’t know it exists!