Bensersiel: Experience the Wadden Sea, beach and nature

Bensersiel brings together nature experiences in the Wadden Sea, the beach and outdoor activities. The Wattenhuus Bensersiel National Park House, the main beach and bathing beach, and the natural beach each have a different focus. When choosing accommodation, you may therefore want to start by considering whether you’d like to focus your stay mainly on nature, time at the beach or active walks and trails.

Discover the Wadden Sea and nature

At the Wattenhuus Bensersiel National Park House, an interactive exhibition about the Wadden Sea is complemented by several guided activities: mudflat, birdwatching, land and children’s tours, as well as talks and other nature experiences. A tidal model is part of the exhibition and illustrates the subject of tides. The combination of exhibitions, tours and talks offers different ways to explore nature-related topics.

Behind the National Park House, the Wattenhuus garden shows how to garden in harmony with nature; its design is being developed further. This adds gardening to the focus on the Wadden Sea.

Beach, activities and trails

Fine sand stretches right down to the water at the main beach and bathing beach, where accessible beach chairs are available. Bensersiel’s natural beach lies directly beside the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wadden Sea. You can walk along the dike there, and the beach is a starting point for a mudflat hike. Each beach offers something different: fine sand and accessible beach chairs at the main beach and bathing beach, or a location beside the Wadden Sea and walks along the dike at the natural beach.

Bensersiel’s spa park has an outdoor fitness trail. The terrain therapy trails in Bensersiel also offer a practical point of comparison: the six routes have varying levels of difficulty. If you’d like to choose a route based on the level of challenge, these differences can help guide your decision.

There is an excellent, well-signposted network of cycle paths around Bensersiel. Ferries also run from Bensersiel to Langeoog several times a day. If you plan to include the ferry crossing in your itinerary, check the timetable for your specific travel dates.

Culture in the wider destination of Esens

The wider destination of Esens has its own historical and cultural highlights. The August Gottschalk House Jewish Museum is located in the former community house of the Jewish community of Esens, built in 1899. Its permanent exhibition explores Jewish life in East Frisia up to the dissolution of the Jewish communities in 1940. Topics include everyday life, religious life and Jewish holidays, as well as persecution and extermination. Visitors can also see the renovated mikveh, the Jewish community’s original ritual bath in Esens.

Opened in 1982, the Tower Museum is located in the tower of St. Magnus Church in Esens. A climb of 113 steps leads to the sound openings, where you can look out over the rooftops of Esens to the coast. The museum displays a church clock mechanism dating from 1873; visitors can also look inside the Rohlfs church organ, built in 1860. St. Magnus Church itself is a 57-metre-long, three-aisled hall church in the shape of a cross, with a choir and eastern apse. Its interior, designed in the Gothic Revival style, has 1,500 seats.

The Leben am Meer Museum in Esens traces the settlement history of the Harlingerland region and the history of the town. An old watchmaker’s workshop and a tiled room offer a glimpse into the crafts and everyday culture of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Esenser Bärenflyer can help you find your way on a walk around Esens; it is available to download and from the tourist information office. A guided town tour takes you across the market square, through the pedestrian zone and along the former ramparts, sharing insights into the town’s past and present. Other Esens highlights include 52 Buddy Bears, which are considered attractions and photo spots for visitors and locals alike, as well as a sculpture trail featuring seven works of art. The small-scale arts festival is an annual tradition in Esens’s old town, with street theatre, variety acts, acrobatics, clowning and music; programme details may change.

Discover more destinations: Stedesdorf, Thunum.

Back to the overview of the wider destination: Esens.