Tönning is a town of 5,000 people (2019) in Schleswig Holstein. It is a quiet town with a beach and good cycling opportunities.

Understand

For beach holidaymakers, Tönning offers an attractive green beach with beach chairs and a little sand on the Eider, which has a "North Sea feeling" at high tide. A special feature are soft silt deposits on the beach area. The silt is said to have a healing effect on skin diseases and is also used in health applications. If you want to avoid the crowds while bathing, you can use two long wooden walkways to access the Eider. In good weather, lifeguards provide security on the beach on weekends and during the holidays.

Tönning sits at the entrance to the Eiderstedt peninsula. What makes it so appealing is its North Frisian small town flair, historic buildings and good infrastructure. It is often referred to as 'the most beautiful historic harbour on the west coast'.

Many places can also be reached by bike, such as cultural monuments and sights. Fashion-conscious people who like shopping do not find quite as much in Tönning (there is only one fashion and one shoe store), but Husum is 25 km away and can also be reached by train in less than 20 minutes. It is a place to relax for a somewhat quieter vacation (also with children), for cyclists and for those interested in culture.

Get in

By train

1 Bahnhof Tönning. Served by regional trains along the line Husum-Tönning-Sankt Peter Ording. 

See

• 1 Multimar Wattforum. Apr-Oct 09:00-18:00; Nov-Mar 10:00-17:00. €9 for adults. (updated Apr 2018)
• 2 St. Laurentius. Medieval church. (updated Apr 2018)

Further afield

• 3 Eider Barrage (Eidersperrwerk). Germany's largest coast protection structure is intended to protect the area from storm surges. While not as impressive as similar structures in the Netherlands, it makes for a nice bike trip. It was built in 1973 as a response to the 1962 Hamburg flood that wreaked havoc in Hamburg as in Tönning as the rivers had until then been mostly ignored in coast protection and dike efforts. (updated Apr 2018)

Do

• 1 Saltwater open air pool, Strandweg 2, ☏ +49 4861 5688. €4. 

Eat

• 1 Roter Hahn, Kattrepel 4, ☏ +49 4861 690383, info@roter-hahn-toenning.de. (updated Apr 2018)

Sleep

• 1 Bio Hotel Miramar, Westerstraße 21, ☏ +49 4861 9090, info@biohotel-miramar.de.