North of Aalborg, Denmark thins into a long finger of sand and then simply stops, at a point where two seas run at each other from opposite directions and the waves visibly refuse to mix.

Getting to that point is easy. Getting around the region that leads up to it is not, because the villages, dunes, harbors and beaches worth your time sit far apart with very little between them except road.

We based ourselves in Tversted, a small holiday village on the North Sea coast, and drove out in a different direction most days for two weeks.

This is that route: what to see, what the walks actually take, when the crowds arrive, and why the car is the part of this trip to sort out first.

Overview:

Why This Corner of Denmark Needs a Car

The best days we had here were the ones that changed shape halfway through. A beach walk that turned into a drive to the next harbor because the wind picked up. An afternoon at the dunes that ran long, so dinner became fish at a harbor kiosk instead of the plan.

North Jutland supports that kind of day badly by public transport and beautifully by car. Trains do reach the region: Nordjyske Jernbaner runs lines up to Skagen, Hirtshals and Frederikshavn, and you can get to Hjørring on the national network. What the trains do not reach is most of the reason to come. Tversted has no station. Neither does Rubjerg Knude, the Råbjerg Mile parking area, Uggerby, Skiveren or the shelters behind the dunes. Buses connect the larger towns on timetables built around school runs, not around beach light at eight in the evening.

If you would rather not drive the full length of the country, the workable compromise is to take…

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