Marielyst Beach

Marielyst runs for several kilometres down the east coast of Falster, a wide belt of pale sand with a shallow, slowly deepening bottom that has made it a standard Danish family beach for generations. A low dune ridge and pine planting separate it from the resort behind, which is essentially a very large summer house district with one busy main street of shops and ice cream. Because the Baltic here has no real tide and only a modest swell, the water is calm and warms faster than the North Sea coast. South of the beach the land narrows towards Gedser, the southernmost point of Denmark, where bird migration crosses in spring and autumn.

What you actually see

• The beach - kilometres of sand with calm, shallow water and a slow gradient.
• The dune belt - marram and pine planting between the sand and the summer houses.
• Gedser Odde - the southern tip of Denmark, a short drive down the coast and a migration crossing point.
• Boto Nor - drained lake ground behind the dunes, now grassland and reed with birds.

When to go

July and August for water warm enough for children and for everything in the resort to be open; June and late August give the same beach with more space. Out of season Marielyst is close to deserted, which some people prefer. Easterly winds can pile seaweed along the waterline for days.

Honest expectations

This is a resort beach, not wild coast: expect summer houses, traffic on the access roads and full car parks in July. Facilities are seasonal, and in May or September much of the main street is shut. Seaweed and jellyfish turn up in warm still spells, and the shallow gradient means a long wade before it is deep enough to swim.

Nearby

Nykobing Falster is twenty minutes away; the Maribo lakes and southern Lolland are across the bridge.