Grenen Beach

The clear, white Skagen sunlight is so unique that it attracted its own school of Impressionists, the Skagen painters. In the village of Skagen, local artists can still be found selling handicrafts from the low, yellow cottages with red-tile roofs. Outside of a brief summer party season, the village is known for its peacefulness and poignant emptiness. But visitors should turn their back on the village and walk out to Grenen Beach -- or from April to October ride the quirky Sandormen tractor bus. There they’ll find a long sand finger poking out into the waters where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet. Due to different water densities, the two tides create a clear division line, a different beautiful blue on both sides. Currents, though, are much too strong for swimming.

This fresh, windy beach will require a jacket even in the summer. It's great, too, for wildlife-watching, whether it’s seals sunbathing on the beaches or great sea birds like golden eagles and osprey, attracted by the lagoons that appear and are then swallowed up by the ocean. Visitors with binoculars have also reported seeing dolphins and whales. The sandbar that makes up Grenen is constantly changing, so next time you visit it may look entirely different.