At the Eider Estuary on the North Sea, Tönning combines a historic harbour with architectural history and nature experiences. You can get to know the town through a range of highlights: views of the harbour, the history of the church and Packhaus, or trails and wildlife watching in the Katinger Watt. Swimming and regional cuisine are also among the options that can shape your stay.

Harbour views and regional cuisine

Along the harbour promenade, you’ll find houses and restaurants, where you can enjoy a meal overlooking the historic harbour. Cafés and restaurants along the promenade and the Eider serve seasonal and regional specialities. KFT – Krabben und Fisch Tönning supplies local restaurants with freshly caught fish and crab. This gives the regional cuisine a direct connection to the produce distributed in Tönning.

If you’d like to explore the harbour with your camera, there are several named subjects to photograph: the Skipperhuset, the white Waterways and Shipping Office, a small wooden shipyard and the Packhaus. They offer different perspectives on the harbour area; the Packhaus is also a place to discover the town’s history.

Church and local history

St. Laurentius is a medieval hall church, construction of which began around 1180. Its 62-metre-high tower is one of the tallest in Schleswig-Holstein. The church also houses a black marble baptismal font that is more than 450 years old. The construction date, tower and font offer different ways to explore the building’s long history.

The Packhaus, built in 1783, houses Tönning’s local history exhibition, featuring artefacts from the town’s past. The building also contains a small museum associated with the Society for Tönning Local History; the Packhaus is also used for events throughout the year. Alongside its role as a harbour landmark, it offers its own insight into the town’s history.

Katinger Watt, walks and swimming

The Katinger Watt is a bird sanctuary at the mouth of the Eider, with meadows and woodland, as well as trails for walks and nature experiences. You can borrow binoculars or a spotting scope at the NABU Centre. Five waymarked walks are available for exploring the area. This gives you several ways to discover the landscape on foot and observe its birdlife.

An excursion on the MS Adler II offers a different way to observe nature: you can see Wadden Sea wildlife in a catch and hear expert commentary about the region and the catch. The excursion therefore combines wildlife watching with an explanation of what you see, while the trails in the Katinger Watt focus on walking.

A bathing beach with sandy and grassy areas lies on the Eider dyke; a heated seawater outdoor pool is right next to it. This adds another waterside activity to walking and wildlife watching.

Explore the Eiderstedt peninsula by bike

For a broader cycling itinerary, Eiderstedt offers six themed cycling routes that connect notable sights with characteristic landscape features. One of them is the Waterways Tour, which follows the Eider from Tönning to Friedrichstadt. It’s a specific regional route to consider if you’d like to include a ride between towns alongside the trails in the Katinger Watt.

Discover more destinations: Bordelum, Humptrup, Galmsbüll, Klanxbüll, Südermarsch, Husum, Bargum, Uelvesbüll

Back to the regional travel overview: North Frisia.