The Frisian Islands are a long chain of island in the North Sea, offshore from the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. The chain stretches about 500 kilometers, and most of the islands are within 10 kilometers of the mainland. The Frisians are divided into three groups: West, East and North. The West Frisians belong entirely to the Netherlands. The East Frisians are entirely within Germany. The North Frisians are mostly in Germany, but a few of them belong to Denmark.

Borkum is the westernmost of the East Frisians, which makes it the westernmost island of Germany. All the islands farther west are part of the Netherlands. Borkum is about 11 kilometers long from east to west, and it is a popular holiday destination. All the island's hotels and other services are located in the town of Borkum at the northwest corner of the island, and there is little development outside the town. The designated FKK beach of Borkum is located a bit east of the town, at a distance of about 3.5 kilometers east of the town beach promenade. For visitors without a car, the FKK beach is easy accessible by bus or bicycle.

There is a small sauna facility called Strandsauna Borkum along the FKK beach. In addition to sauna facilities and services, Strandsauna Borkum offers a café and beach chair rentals. There is another café along the dune path between the beach and the parking lot. Part of the expansive FKK beach is a designated dog area.

GETTING THERE / PARKING:

There is a small airport on Borkum, but just about everyone gets to the island by ferry, and taking a car on the ferry is possible although not necessary. Ferries depart from two towns: Emden, which is in Germany; and Eemshaven, which is in the Netherlands but is closer to Borkum than is Emden. From either town, there are automobile ferries that are available to passengers with and without cars, and there are also faster passenger-only ferries called katamarans. Ferry information can be found at Ag-Ems.de (in German only). Automobile ferries from Emden take about two hours and katamarans take about one hour. From Eemshaven, each type of ferry takes about half the time.

From the ferry dock on the south side of Borkum, a train shuttles passengers six kilometers to Borkum town, which overlooks the sea at the northwest corner of the island. Borkum town is the only town on the island. From the east end Borkum town, a street called Ostfriesenstrasse goes east past the small single-runway airport to the hamlet of Ostland. A parking lot for the FKK beach is located at coordinates 53.6029, 6.7123 (Map It), one kilometer past (east of) the airport turnoff and one kilometer before (west of) Ostland. It is the only parking lot along Ostfriesenstrasse. From this parking lot, a 600-meter-long path goes directly to the FKK beach.

For visitors who do not bring cars, renting a car is possible, but renting a bicycle is more common. There is also a local bus service, and the bus makes a stop at the FKK beach parking lot. The bus stop is clearly marked "FKK."

Borkum tourist info (in German, English and Dutch)

website about the FKK beach (in German)

more info (in German) from nacktbaden.de

VISUAL RESOURCES

GPS: 53.6073, 6.7051

municipality, district, region, state, country
  Borkum, Leer, Weser-Ems, Niedersachsen, Germany

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