Skagen was the first port on the start of the second half of this cruise. The previous day’s visit to Copenhagen had been a washout and we were looking forward to re-visiting Skagen and exploring the coast and catch the Sandman to the edge of the Baltic.
Day 16: Thursday 13th July 2023: Skagen, Denmark
In the Horizon buffet we watched a passenger hassle a server in there. First time it was “give me a water “, then “get some tea “and then demanding a screwdriver. When the server was a little confused, very loudly we all heard the recipe of a screwdriver delivered very loudly. The poor server must thought it was a drink from the breakfast menu rather than from the bar. Note this wasn’t even at 9 am.After breakfast, we caught the bus into the town.
After breakfast we caught the shuttle into Skagen. Our only alternative would have been to catch a bus direct to Grenen. The tourist bus that had looped between all the interesting places on the peninsular, that we had called on previous visits, sadly had now been cancelled.
Once in the town centre we started our walk to Grenen. After the docks we walked along the long straight road passing all the houses.
The Vippefyret
This road led to the small hill and the historic lighthouse, the Vippefyret. One day we will be in and around Skagen when the lighthouse is lit in celebration.
The lighthouse is on a high dune that offered lots of views.
On earlier trips we had been told that the ships at anchor could be waiting for crew, cargo or clearance to a port further up the Baltic.
Following the coast paths
From the Vippefyret we followed the path through the grass at the back of the dunes. After a caravan park, we passed this beautiful old Porsche.
Up on a vantage point we had a great view up and down the beach.
We then went down to the beach and followed the high tide mark.
This graphic along the beach gave us more information. The website linked has lots of information but beware when on the details of the Skagen sites the website does switch back to Danish!
This bunker had lots of art on its rear!
Det Grå Fyr – Skagen Lighthouse
After the bunkers until we came to a Det Grå Fyr (Skagen Lighthouse.)
There we turned in land and walked along the main road to Grenen and the car park there.
Grenen
We caught the Sandman in the car park to ride to the beach where the North Sea (Skagerrak) and the Baltic Sea (Kattegat) meet.
This is the Northernmost tip of Denmark’s Jutland.
I did venture too far out and was rewarded by wet feet!
The spit of sand was very busy as always.
So after the obligatory images we caught the Sandman back to Grennan.
We took a taxi back to Skagen. It was only when we were back in Skagen that I realise that my hat was left on the Sandman.
Skagen
We walked up the pedestrian Street checking out the shops as we passed. We gave our usual restaurant a miss and instead walked up to the church before turning back.
Then it was time for an ice cream before we made our way back to the bus stop.
Island Princess
Once back on board we opted to have room service for a late lunch.
After the late lunch we relaxed in the cabin and from the balcony we watched as we waited for our departure.
This is the tug coming up the coast to help Island Princess leave.
Island Princess then headed out into the Baltic going North following a trawler out of the harbour.
The Grenen Coast
When Island Princess had left the shelter of the harbour we had great views of the coast along where we had walked along the sand to Grenen.
Then we passed the sandbanks and could see the Sandman tractors and all the tourists.
Evening on Island Princess
This was one of the formal evenings and we shared a table with our American friends and two Australian couples.
We were sitting at the back of the theatre to watch the magicians show. The Princess Patter had not helped anyone understand just what we would be watching there!
In the bar afterwards, we went for a quiet drink but this bar had a couple of young children running around. They were running up and down between tables. Their parents thought that this was all okay, especially being so late at night. Our fingers were crossed that the incidents on this day would not be repeated for the rest of the cruise.
Our next stop was scheduled to be Haugesen on Norway’s Atlantic coast.
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