Husum calls itself the grey town by the sea, a phrase taken from the poem by the writer Theodor Storm, who was born here in 1817 and who made the town and its misty coast famous in his novellas. The grey is more affectionate than gloomy: the sky over the North Sea can be a pale silver, and the old harbour in the centre, with its brick warehouses and shrimp cutters bobbing at the quay, looks its best under a soft, cloudy light.
The harbour is the heart of the town. Small fishing boats set out for North Sea shrimp, and in the cafes and stalls along the quay you can buy them freshly cooked, eaten out of a paper bag with a roll. The harbour basin leads off the main square, which has a large market and is lined with gabled houses. A castle stands at one end of the town, set in a park that fills each spring with a vast number of crocuses, a purple carpet that is one of the sights of the north.
The North Sea coast here is a unique landscape. At low tide the sea retreats and the Wadden Sea, a vast area of mudflats, appears, home to seals, huge flocks of waders and a rich marine life, protected as a national park and a World Heritage site. The dikes that hold back the sea are high green banks where sheep graze, and a walk on top of one gives a wide view across the flat marsh. The tide comes and goes with surprising speed, and the sound of the wind and the calls of birds fill the air.
The roads leading in are flat and straight, with a strong wind from the sea often blowing across them, so ride with attention and a firm grip. With around twenty-one thousand people Husum has fuel, supermarkets and good places to eat, and parking near the harbour is easy outside peak season. Summer weekends are busy with day trippers.
The best time is spring, for the crocuses and the clear light, or early autumn, when the sea has a moody beauty. Bring a windproof layer, because the breeze off the water is cool even in July.