Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse

Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse was lit in 1900 on a clay cliff high above the North Sea, and the sand began to beat it almost immediately. Drifting dunes buried the keeper's houses, blocked the light and forced it out of service in 1968, and by the 2010s the cliff edge had eaten close enough that collapse was a matter of a few years. In October 2019 the tower was jacked onto rails and rolled about seventy metres inland, which should hold it for a few decades more. You can climb it, and the walk in crosses open dune sand that the wind rearranges constantly.

What you actually see

• The tower - the white lighthouse, climbable for a view down the coast.
• The migrating dune - the sand sheet that buried the buildings and still moves.
• The cliff edge - the drop to the North Sea beach below.
• The move - the rails and the story of rolling the tower inland in 2019.

When to go

Late spring to early autumn for settled weather and open tower hours; winter closes the climb and turns the walk into hard work. Late afternoon puts the sun over the sea behind the tower. Wind is the constant here, and there is no shelter at all on the approach from the car park.

Honest expectations

The walk from the car park is fifteen to twenty minutes over loose sand, heavier going than it looks and effectively impossible with a wheelchair or a pushchair. Parking is charged and the lot fills in July. The stair inside is narrow and the platform crowded when a coach arrives. On grey days there is only sand and cloud.

Nearby

Lonstrup village and the beaches at Lokken are close; Skagen is an hour and a half north.