ADVERTISEMENT

 

GPS Coordinates

1 -- Sylt, Germany
Decimal Lat: 54.912343 / Lon: 8.342056
Degree

 

Sylt, Germany, in a nutshell

Sylt is more than an island: 40 km of finest sandy beaches. Rough surf on the west coast, the calm Wadden Sea with its tidal flats to the east. Unspoilt dunes and green dykes. Flowering heathland and majestic cliffs. Daydreams and nightlife. Bustling activity and peaceful seclusion. Twelve places, all of them different and each holding its own individual charme.

SYLT Facts & Figures

• is the largest German island in the North Sea, occupying an area of about 38 square miles.
• extends 22.2 miles from north to south and between 383 yards and 7.8 miles from west to east.
• measures 66 miles in circumference.
• lies between 5 and 12 miles off the mainland.
• is on the same latitude as the English city of Newcastle and the southernmost tip of Alaska.
• became an island about 8,000 years ago, when it was severed from the mainland.
• is 33% dunes, the remaining surface consisting of marshland and “geest”.
• is directly connected to the mainland via the Hindenburgdamm, a rail causeway opened on 1 June 1927.
• counts two unique shifting sand dunes, which migrate eastward up to 4.4 yards every year.
• has 12 churches, 8 of them Protestant, 3 Catholic and 1 New Apostolic.
• is home to about 21,500 inhabitants.
• has eleven villages and one town.
• can accommodate 50,000 visitors at a time.
• attracts more than 800,000 holidaymakers every year.
• has 12,000 second homes.
• averages less than 1% windless days a year. The wind blows mainly from the west.
• finds its highest natural elevation in the Uwe Dune in Kampen, which rises 57 yards above sea level.
• has more than 11,000 strandkörbe waiting on its beaches during the season.
• offers living space to up to 2 million organisms per square metre of Wadden Sea.
• has its own dialect, called “Söl’ring”. It is spoken by 4% of the population and is a variant of Frisian.

Sunbather's paradise

Sylt is well known for its 40 km (~25 mi) of sand beaches but also for its clothing-optional attitude. Although special areas for people in their birthday suits exist it became quite common that people take off the last layers at the not-so-dedicated clothing-optional beach stretches as well. Like in most other German regions people got used to naked facts and mostly nobody really cares any more. Check out what other people do and you should be good to go.

The villages of Sylt, Germany