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If you have the option, skip Frederikshavn altogether in favour of SKAGEN , 40km north, which perches almost at the very top of Jutland amid a breathtaking landscape of heather-topped sand dunes. It can be reached by private bus or train (Eurail not valid, Scanrail and InterRail fifty percent reduction on both) roughly once an hour. The bus is the best choice if you're planning to stay at the Skagen youth hostel, as it stops outside. Sunlight seems to gain extra brightness as it bounces off the two seas which collide off Skagen's coast, something which attracted the Skagen artists in the late nineteenth century. They arrived in the small fishing community during 1873 and 1874 and often met in the bar of Brøndum's Hotel , off Brøndumsvej, the grounds of which now house the Skagen Museum (April & Oct Tues-Sun 11am-4pm; May & Sept daily 10am-5pm; June-Aug daily 10am-6pm; Nov-March Wed-Fri 1-4pm, Sat 11am-4pm, Sun 11am-3pm; 50kr). Many of the canvases depict local scenes, using the town's strong natural light to capture subtleties of colour. The hotel owner's stepsister, Anna, herself a skillful painter, married one of the group's leading lights, Michael Ancher. Nearby, at Markvej 2-4, is Michael and Anna Anchers' Hus (daily: July to mid-Aug 10am-6pm; May-June & mid-Aug to Sept 10am-5pm; April & Oct 11am-3pm; rest of the year Sat & Sun 11am-3pm; 40kr), evoking the atmosphere of the time through an assortment of squeezed tubes of paint, sketches, paintings, piles of canvases, books and ornaments. The artists made Skagen fashionable, and the town continues to be a popular holiday destination. But it still bears many marks of its tough past as a fishing community, the history of which is excellently documented in Skagens By og Egnsmuseum on P.K. Nielsensvej 8-10, a fifteen-minute walk south along Skt. Laurentii Vej from the centre (July daily 10am-6pm; May-June & Aug-Sept Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat & Sun 11am-4pm; March-April & Oct Mon-Fri 10am-4pm; rest of the year Mon-Fri 11am-3pm; 30kr). Amid the dunes south of town, a further twenty minutes' walk along Skt. Laurentii Vej, Damstedvej and Gammel Kirkesti, is Den Tilsandede Kirke (The Buried Church; June-Sept 11am-5pm; 8kr). This fourteenth-century church was swallowed by sandstorms during the eighteenth century. Part of the tower is open to the public, while the floor and cemetery lie beneath the sands. The impressive new Skagen Odde Naturcenter (daily: June-Aug 10am-10pm; Sept-May 10am-4pm; www.skagen-natur.dk ; 65kr) is designed by the world-famous architect Jørn Utzon (author of the Sydney Opera House) and centred around the themes of sand, water, wind and light. The forces of nature can be further appreciated at Grenen, a lighthouse and restaurant 4km north of Skagen (hourly bus #79 during the summer), along Skt. Laurentii Vej, Fyrvej and the beach, where two seas - the Kattegat and Skagerrak - meet with a powerful clashing of waves. You can also get there by a tractor-drawn bus (April-Oct; 15kr return) aptly named the Sandormen (lugworm) - although it's an enjoyable walk as the scenery is beautiful.
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