Lokken

Lokken sits on the North Sea coast of Vendsyssel with a very wide flat beach that is one of the few in Denmark where cars are allowed to drive out onto the sand, which is a long-standing local right and a large part of the town's character in summer. Along the beach stand around four hundred white wooden bathing huts in rows, rented by the season, which are the town's emblem. Before tourism, Lokken lived by open-boat fishing launched directly off the beach because there is no harbour, and a handful of boats still work that way, hauled up on the sand. The town behind is a compact grid of shops and restaurants that fills completely in July and empties in September.

What you actually see

• Four hundred white bathing huts - rows of wooden boxes along the sand.
• Cars on the beach - vehicles driven out onto the flat sand.
• Open boats hauled on the sand - fishing without a harbour.
• A very wide North Sea beach - flat sand running for kilometres.

When to go

June to August for the season; the town is largely closed outside it. A day or a weekend. July is extremely busy, with German and Danish holidaymakers. September is warm enough and far quieter.

Honest expectations

Cars on the beach are noisy and, for some visitors, ruin it. July crowding is heavy and prices rise sharply. The North Sea here is cold and has rip currents; drownings happen. Outside summer most of the town is shut.

Nearby

Lonstrup and Rubjerg Knude are north; Borglum Abbey lies inland.