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Wadden Sea island on the German North Sea coast
Photo: de:Benutzer:Geoz, derivative work Lämpel, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Neuwerk is a 3-km² tidal island in the Wadden Sea off the coast of Germany. You can walk around it in an hour. Salt marshes (the "Outland"), lie outside the dikes and provide a hatchery for birds such as oystercatchers, common terns, sandwich terns, black-headed gull, and herring gulls.
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Doubles as a small hotel. You can climb up to a small lookout atop the lighthouse, even if you don't stay there, and enjoy the view of the island and the sea around it. As it was built from 1300 to 1310, the lighthouse is the oldest building in Hamburg (because Neuwerk is administratively part of the city), as no older building remains in mainland Hamburg, due to a fire in the 19th century and the devastation of World War II.
Inside Hotel Nige-Hus offering regional food.
In the garden of Hotel Nige-Hus, focuses on fish smoked on site.
Inside the lighthouse.
Traditional food and cakes.
Regional food.
They also have an on-site restaurant.
By boat
There is regular ferry service to/from Cuxhaven (~1½ hours one way). Booking in advance is very advisable.
On foot
As this island is close to the mainland and the seafloor is exposed during every low tide you can walk there to or from the mainland (~3 hours one way).
By horse-drawn carriage
There are horse-drawn carriages, called Wattwagen in German, that regularly make the trip to and from the island.
As the island is small and (as common on German North Sea islands) has no cars, getting around is mostly done on foot.
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Wurster Nordseeküste · Regional · FCN
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