Alsen – the beautiful island in Southern Jutland
The nature on Alsen
On Als you can find some of the most unspoiled nature scenery in Southern Jutland. No matter what time of the year you come, there is often a special light over the island, which got artists like Emil Nolde to live and paint on the island.
There are long stretches of coastline with nice beaches, good for swimming, fishing, kite surfing and other sport activities.
Take your bike, rent a horse or use one of the many walking trails to explore the island. Stroll along the small winding hiking trails and roads through the countryside with forest and cornfields. I will help you to find the speciel places, you are looking for.
Here are some links to my favorits spots on the island Als.
- NØRRESKOV This is one of the longest coast forests in Denmark with high beeches, old oaks, many dolmens and other historical places.
- BLOMMENSKOBBEL The forest has the biggest dolmes of the island.
- BUNDSØ This lake is the latest renatured lake of three in the north of Als surrounded by a hiking trail. You can find a big variation of bird life. The other two lakes are Mjels sø and Oldenor.
- HAVNBJERG STRAND The lokal beach with two bridges, one for swimming and the other one to let your boat into the sea. There a many other beaches, especially the beaches on Kegnæs are famous for their fine,white sand.
Tourist attractions
Beside the fabulous nature the island Als and Sønderborg offers lot of other attractions. The islands history and culture bears the mark of being a border region between Germany and Denmark and its changing borderlines through history. You will experience the dialect of the island “alsisk”, the Southern Jutlandic food culture and the peoples famous hospitality in many places.
Here I give you my top ten list of places to visit
- UNIVERSE Scientific adventure park on the north of the island founded by Danfoss
- HJORTESPRINGSBÅDEN The reconstruction of an iron age boat, which was excavated on Als in 1921/22
- JOLLMANDS GÅRD A very fine restored historic farmhouse.
- MUNKEGAARDS TRAKTORMUSEUM This is situated in the little village Pøl in the north of the island. A collection of more then 200 old tractors.
Until 1920 there were more then 40 windmills on Als. Only four of them survived and three are open to the public.
- HAVNBJERG MØLLE This mill is lying on the second highest point of the island, 49 m high and you can see it just in the back of my garden!
- ELSTRUP MØLLE This is near the village Guderup. It is owned by an association of volunteers who put a lot of effort into the restauration of the mill. There are several activities throughout the year.
- VIBÆK VANDMØLLE There are two mills on the same piece of land, a windmill and a watermill, which run on special occasions. See the activities calendar here aktiviteter .
Other attractions on the island are the three castles Nordborg Slot, Augustenborg Slot and Sønderborg Slot
On the mainland you can find the mill Dybbøl Mølle close to the historical museum Historiecenter Dybbøl Banke. In Gråsten is the summer castle of the royal family Gråsten Slot og den pragtige slotshave . The garden is opened most of the year for the public.