Anyone who wants to hike is usually drawn to the Alps, Nepal, the Way of St. James or at least a famous long-distance hiking trail such as the Kungsleden, which leads up to the North Cape. But the real adventures await elsewhere, where there are no hordes of hikers. Where the landscape is unknown and the hiking trail is very often not even signposted.
Denmark is not a traditional hiking country, but the Danish Baltic Sea island of Møn is famous for its chalk cliffs - and a wonderful hiking destination for the curious. The Baltic Sea island now also has a hiking route that has been awarded top marks.
The Camønoen is a 175-kilometer-long circular route around the island of Møn, but it also leads over the islands of Bogø and Nyord and has the lovely title of “friendliest hiking trail in the Danish kingdom”.
Forests and fields
Most of the time it goes along the beach, through forests and fields, swarms of mosquitoes and past the villas of famous writers. The sun is burning, the wind is blowing. Anyone who wants to walk all that will work up a sweat, but will be rewarded with wonderful views.
Møn is not a beauty that screams at visitors. The flat island, surrounded by the Baltic Sea, takes a moment to discover. But then it generously reveals breathtaking nature, historical artifacts, friendly people and many surprises. The highly praised Danish Way of St. James, touted as "Camønoen", is also a great tip for inexperienced hikers, as the walk along the south coast shows.
Outside lies Hjelms G'Bugt, as the Danes call it. On land there is a lot of landscape, few people and wild nature. On our hike around the island of Mon we have reached the south coast, the Camønoen path leads into a wasteland that is hardly interrupted by settlements. This makes the country all the more beautiful, and wild and romantic would be an inadequate description. Mons Klint is the last outpost of tourism, beyond which it becomes lonely. Are.
Goats and Vikings
Goats graze wildly here, and on the side of the road there are signs of mysterious sacrifices in times long past. The Vikings created a place here in the middle of nowhere where they carried out cult rituals, probably by sacrificing the lives of their enemies. What remains from that time are large mounds that rise like cones from the flat landscape.
Some house graves, others, like the mounds in the Busene garden, are memorials to heroes. At Busene, a village of just two or three houses, there are ten such burial mounds in the forest, all of which were built in the Wilcínger period between 750 and 1650. It is believed that some were built in memory of Viking princes who did not return from long-distance voyages in their longboats. In 1874, a huge silver treasure was found here at Mandemarke, and to this day it is unknown who it originally belonged to and why it was buried.
Caribean Coast
Behind the goat forest, the coast becomes Caribbean. Here you come to Mandemarke Haver, the most beautiful mooring on the entire island. The huts crouch idyllically right on the beach, which is made of white sand and has probably not seen a bather for weeks. But the island's environs make for tired walkers: there is running water, fireplaces, a toilet and garbage cans.
Just a few more kilometers and civilization will shine again. Klintholms Havn is also a tiny community, but as the name suggests. It has a harbor and is therefore the first port of call for yacht owners and sailing enthusiasts. There is a marina and a pub, an anchor house and a wind turbine manufacturer, a few small shops and even a Michelin-starred restaurant, the ND122 restaurant. It is also fully booked, although the price for a meal is about what a person travelling around the island can spend in a week.
You can't end better
Today we treat ourselves to a bed in the Marina Park, because a heavy downpour has completely soaked us in the last few meters. In the evening there is live music in the pub next door, we admire the transparent barrel sauna that sits on the pier and drink the local beer, which immediately goes straight to our heavy legs. The sun sets behind the masts of the yachts. The musician on the small stage plays a song by Dire Straits.
An evening can't end better.
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