Hellert near Gelting
Angeln between the fjord and the Schlei
Hellert is part of Gelting and lies in the north of Angeln. The Baltic is 3.5 kilometres away, near enough that the trip to the water is worth making even for half an afternoon.
Most of it you can reach on foot or by bicycle: the coast, the nature reserve and the neighbouring villages lie so close together that the car can stay where it is for days. You need it for the towns on the Schlei and the fjord.
A glance at the map shows how close everything is: the Geltinger Birk nature reserve, the beaches by the Falshöft lighthouse and the Schlei at Kappeln are none of them more than ten kilometres away. Kappeln is the nearest small town, Flensburg the nearest city.
For everyday shopping you need not leave the village. Gelting has a baker, a supermarket, a pharmacy, doctors and a few restaurants, and none of them is more than three kilometres off.
If you would like to ride, several farms nearby give lessons and take out hacks for all ages.
Things to do nearby
All distances from Hellert, measured by road.
Shopping
- Bäcker (Klosterbäckerei)
- 1.9 km
- Supermarkt (Lidl Gelting)
- 2.7 km
- Apotheke (Birk Apotheke)
- 2.7 km
Nature
- Naturschutzgebiet Geltinger Birk
- 7.8 km
- Leuchtturm Falshöft
- 8.5 km
- Steilküste Schönhagen
- 18.6 km
Restaurants
- Restaurant Niko (italienisch)
- 2.5 km
- Restaurant Hellas (griechisch)
- 2.7 km
- Dat Strandhuus (lokale Küche)
- 4.5 km
Beaches
- Wackerballig
- 4.5 km
- Strand am Leuchtturm
- 8.4 km
- Weidefelder Strand
- 17 km
Places worth seeing
- Kappeln
- 9.3 km
- Maasholm
- 15 km
- Schloss Glücksburg
- 28.3 km
- Flensburg
- 33 km
- Kiel
- 65 km
Family outings
- Minigolf in Gelting
- 3.5 km
- Adventure Golf Olpenitz
- 16.4 km
- Freizeitpark Tolk-Schau
- 33 km
- Phänomenta Flensburg
- 35.7 km
- Wikinger Museum Haithabu
- 40 km
Geltinger Birk nature reserve
The Geltinger Birk lies on the north-eastern tip of Angeln, where the Flensburg Fjord opens into the Baltic. At 773 hectares it is the largest nature reserve in the Schleswig-Flensburg district.
Around 200 bird species can be seen there over the course of a year, and the white-tailed eagle is back, showing on most days.
To keep the land open and stop it growing over, Konik horses and Galloway cattle graze in the reserve all year round.
Four waymarked footpaths run through the Birk, between 6 and 15 kilometres long, so it takes a short walk or a whole day equally well.
On the north-west shore of the clay island Beveroe stands a NABU information hut, which is also where the guided walks begin (information line 04643 189474).
There is no stray light at the north-eastern end of the Birk. At night the stars stand over the bay, and with luck you will see the northern lights.
Natural beaches and water sports
Several beaches south of the Falshöft lighthouse are left in their natural state, with sand underfoot, no stones to pick your way over, and water that stays shallow a long way out.
There is a surf and kite school on the beach at Wackerballig, and because the water stays shallow there too, the bay is a forgiving place to learn.
Cycling in Angeln
Two plain loan bikes belong to the house. You can hire more bikes and e-bikes in Gelting, behind the ice-cream parlour at Norderholm 26a and at the Klosterbäcker bakery in Stenderuper Straße 2, which lies on the way to Hellert anyway.
Angeln is gently rolling and the villages are rarely more than a few kilometres apart, so a ride can be stretched out or cut short as the mood and the weather dictate. You can follow the coast in either direction, up towards the fjord or down along the bay.
The Ostseefjord Schlei tourist association keeps an up-to-date list of what is worth riding just now.
Trips around the region
Kappeln lies 9.3 kilometres away on the Schlei. The promenade follows the water as far as the bascule bridge, with shops and places to eat along the way. The Tauwerk restaurant cooks by the sailing harbour, and you would do well to book a table first.
Arnis, the smallest town in Germany, is essentially one street of painted houses with gardens running down to the water. A ferry crosses the Schlei and takes bicycles; further upstream lies Lindaunis.
Flensburg is 33 kilometres away. The Phänomenta there is a museum where children are allowed to touch everything, and Glücksburg, with its moated castle, lies on the way.
Schleswig is 40 kilometres off, and two museums stand side by side there: the state museum at Gottorf Castle and the Haithabu Viking Museum, which belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage.
Kiel is 65 kilometres away, a good hour by car. Worth seeing there are the Nikolaikirche on the Alter Markt, the botanical garden and the zoological museum.
In every season
Gelting has held the Luftkurort designation for its air quality since 1986 and has been a Kneipp spa town on the Baltic since 1990; both rest on certified air quality and on the coastal climate.
The bay looks different every month. In spring the birds return to the Birk, in summer the shallow water off Wackerballig is warm enough to swim in, in autumn migrating birds rest there on their way south, and in winter the reeds stand grey along the shore.
Outside the season the paths through the Birk are usually empty, though the grazing animals stay, since they are out all year.