Iteranti
A red-and-white striped lifeguard tower flying a red flag on a wet beach, with yellow rescue boards lettered "SURF RESCUE" on the sand.

Bikepacking Denmark’s North West Coast

An iconic gravel cycling route tracking the wildest coast in Denmark: a 270km journey that unfolds through flat gravel tracks and hard-packed sandy beaches, with intermittent stretches of asphalt on quiet back roads.

Description

An iconic gravel cycling route tracking the wildest coast in Denmark: a 270km journey that unfolds through flat gravel tracks and hard-packed sandy beaches, with intermittent stretches of asphalt on quiet back roads.

The route follows much of EuroVelo 12, North Sea Cycle Route. It’s roughly the top half of Denmark’s West Coast Route and it’s also a short part of the European Divide Trail.

Highlights

  • The surfing villages of Cold Hawaii: Nørre Vorupør, Klitmøller, Hantstholm.
  • The food at Hantsholm and the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall.
  • Thorup Strand, for great seafood and seeing the fishing boats on the sand
  • The food and luxury accommodation at Svinkløv Badehotel
  • Cycling the beach at Løkken
  • The off-world atmosphere at Rubjerg Fyr
  • Picture perfect shelters at Østerklit Stokmølle.
  • The tourist and fishing town of Skagen along with Grenen, literally the tip of Denmark.

Route map

Open in Komoot

Alternative suggestions

If you’ve got 7 days or just want to extend the route slightly, then start the route in Struer, cycling up to the lighthouse, Lodbjerg Fyr, where there are good shelters for the night and then catching up to the trail as described above just before Nørre Vorupør.

Getting there and back

The best way to get to the starting point (Bedsted in our case) is by train. All trains in Denmark take fully assembled bikes, though you need to reserve a bike space on the train which is easily done with the state railway (DSB) app and a debit/credit card. There are direct trains to Struer from the major cities in Denmark (takes about 4 hours from Copenhagen). From Struer there’s a branch line to Thisted, running parallel but about 10km inland from the coast. you can get off at any of the stations on the way, and head towards the coast, joining the route as described.

From Skagen, there’s a branch line to Aalborg (takes 2 hours) and from Aalborg there are direct connections to the rest of Denmark (4 hours). The branch line to/from Skagen does not need bike reservations but still requires a bike ticket.

  • A grassy double-track running between a potato field and green cereal towards a burial mound on the skyline, with wind turbines beyond.
  • A cyclist in a blue helmet and yellow-rimmed sunglasses grinning close to the camera on a forest track, with a second rider on a loaded bike coming up behind.
  • Two clinker-built fishing boats hauled up on a sandy beach, one lettered "SIMON", with dinghies alongside and a rock breakwater beyond.
  • Marram-grassed dunes rolling away above a pale shingle beach and turquoise sea, with a road threading between them.
  • Three restaurant dishes seen from above on a weathered wooden table: fish in broth with peas and dill, sliced pork with peanuts and lettuce, and raw fish under crisp shredded pastry.
  • A young person climbing the graffiti-covered flank of a wartime concrete bunker on a grassy clifftop, with a wind turbine and the sea behind.
  • A young cyclist riding a loaded bike down a sandy path from a grassy dune hill, with a wooden viewing platform on the ridge above.
  • Two beach-launched fishing boats lettered "HM70" and "HM83" standing at the water's edge with orange marker flags, under a rain squall.
  • A single-masted fishing boat lettered "HM70" hauled up on the sand under heavy cloud, with a band of pale sunset over the sea.
  • Two beach-launched fishing boats drawn up on the sand with orange marker flags, under a grey sky over a choppy sea.
  • Battered fried fish and chips with a tub of tartare sauce and lemon wedges on greaseproof paper.
  • Three beach-launched fishing boats lettered "HM70", "HM63" and "HM8" drawn up on the sand at the water's edge under a heavy grey sky.
  • A long strand where a broad band of dark pebbles meets pale sand and breaking waves, with dune cliffs receding into the distance.
  • A long timber-clad building with tall many-paned windows and weathered wooden chairs on a gravel terrace above the dunes, the sun setting over the sea.
  • A young person in a black puffer jacket eating a pastry beside a loaded orange gravel bike outside a white canvas-topped camping shelter.
  • Three white beach-launched fishing boats at the water's edge beyond a wide expanse of sand deeply combed with tractor tracks.
  • A red-and-white striped lifeguard tower flying a red flag on a wet beach, with yellow rescue boards lettered "SURF RESCUE" on the sand.
  • Two loaded bikes, one orange and one black, leaning against a graffiti-marked concrete bunker on a dune clifftop above a grey sea.
  • A young person in a cycling helmet leaning into the wind with arms outstretched on top of a concrete bunker above the dunes and sea.
  • A close-up selfie of a cyclist in a blue helmet and mirrored sunglasses riding along a wide sandy beach, with a second rider following and beach huts on the dunes.
  • Concrete bunkers slumped onto the sand below an eroding grassy dune cliff, with a rough grey sea breaking along the shore.
  • A wild camp in a grassy dune clearing, with a small tent pitched among pines, two loaded bikes laid on the grass and sleeping gear spread out.
  • A lone figure walking up a vast bare sand dune under a big blue sky streaked with cloud.
  • A white lighthouse with a red lantern standing above a vast rippled sand dune, with the sea beyond.
  • A tall white lighthouse with a red lantern standing on bare sand, with people walking across the dune towards it.
  • A lighthouse seen along a huge migrating sand dune above eroded cliffs, with tiny figures walking on the ridge.
  • A high dune ridge of rippled bare sand falling away to pine and scrub, with a bigger sand mountain beyond.
  • A narrow sandy path winding into sunlit woodland, low sun flaring through the leaves.
  • A pale gravel track running away between marram grass and fenced dune pasture, with conifers on the horizon.
  • A white lighthouse beside a gabled keeper's house, the red-and-white Danish flag flying from a mast and a person standing on the grass path below.
  • The interior of a thatched timber-framed barn with heavy roof beams, old horse carts, a wagon and farm machinery standing on the floor.
  • A long whitewashed thatched farmstead with a small white windmill mounted on its ridge, standing on rough heath under a deep blue sky.
  • Timber shelter cabins and picnic tables at the edge of a pine wood across a rough grass clearing, with cyclists and bikes at one of them.
  • An ultra-wide view of an empty sandy beach curving away to distant dunes under a clear blue sky.
  • A small tent pitched on dry heath at dusk, with a thatched windmill farmstead silhouetted on the horizon against a yellow sunset.
  • A narrow asphalt path running away across low dune heath under a heavy grey sky.
  • A person in a bucket hat wading barefoot out of the surf carrying their shoes.
  • A large orange-and-white fishing trawler lettered "AG-2-K" moored at a concrete quay, with long green and blue trawl nets laid out on the dockside.