The island with magnificent nature, exciting stories and self-service draft beer
When we set course for Livø here in Denmark, we had the feeling of having to take revenge. Back in the spring we were on an island hop in northern Jutland and had then planned to visit Livø on the trip around the Limfjord. But the island had simply "closed" in the spring, because the tourist ferry does not sail until the end of April.
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Fortunately, later in the high summer, we managed to get the ferry to the small island that is protected, owned by the Danish Nature Agency and has only 7 permanent residents. The 7 residents are precisely those whom the Danish Nature Agency considers to be the most important for the operation of the island. And what do you need more than a ferry skipper, a farmer and a forester? So they are the ones who are - with their families.
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Life on Livø
When we got off the tables from the ferry, we mostly expected to see beautiful scenery. It had to be limited what the 7 people could dish up. But when we hit the "city", we were so reminded of it. Lots of old, beautiful buildings lay on opposite sides of the "main street", children and adults ran around and played, driving small carts around with beer, water and food, and outside the grocery store the benches were packed with people. Hold up then - how could all this run around with 7 people?
It turned out that on little Livø there is a whole holiday center in the summer, and it therefore abounded with island tourists, high school guests and other good people. The holiday centre's guests slept in the many large and beautiful old buildings from the beginning of the 1900th century, which for 50 years had housed prisoners and also functioned as a "mental institution". People who somehow did not fit into society - yes, they were sailed to Livø. Then they could live there. You can hardly imagine that today… or can you?
Transport on Livø
Livø is of the size where you can get around in the foreseeable future. The island is only a few square kilometers large, so we set off on foot. And just as suddenly as we had bumped into the many tourists, high school guests and residents of the city, we were suddenly all alone in beautiful nature and silence. Despite its small size, Livø actually houses almost all Danish habitat types, and we always had the feeling of coming to a new place. We walked along the beach, along steep slopes, over fields and through the eerie troll forest where witches, trolls and other magical creatures live (just ask Jesper, who rents the holiday center). We climbed through the "hollow tree", which according to old tales should be able to prevent and cure diseases, and then felt completely on the safe side.
After the long walk we found Livø's café, where we got a sumptuous lunch plate and - hold on now - self-service draft beer! What a confidence. We were obviously on an island. With the sun right in our heads, a delicious lunch and a self- and generous beer in hand, we certainly had nothing to complain about. We can only recommend people to go to Livø, but just check the ferry before you drive.
Read more about our Livø trip here
Have a good trip to Livø!
