Voderup Klint

Ærø’s stunning cliffs

Before you start check what the sea level is: if it is more than 1.20m higher than normal you cannot go along the beach without getting wet.

Start from the pub (Vindeballe Kro), next to Tranderup church; there's parking and a bus stop nearby. The pub has recently reopened under new management but double check their opening hours (they have not been open for lunch so far).

This walk is all about one of Ærø's highlights, the stepped clay cliffs of Voderup Klint. The Klint is a protected area of special geological and landscape interest. It is wild and beautiful, with views across to Als and Germany.

• From the Kro head down the road (Tranderupgade) leaving the lovely church (where I used to sing in the choir…) behind you to the left. You will pass the little “Viking” grocery store, up some steps to your left, where you can get drinks and snacks for the walk.

• On your left keep an eye out for the old yellow farmhouse “Dalsgaard” which was where the boy Fritz lived in the 2006 Danish film “Drømmen” (released elsewhere as “We Shall Overcome”). The film is well worth seeing and features many locations on Ærø, including the school in Ærøskøbing (where my boys went) and the countryside around Voderup.

• The route flirts with the Kyststi from the main Voderup Klint car park to waypoint 14 (the t-junction on th track between Bregninge and Voderup village.

• The view from the edge of the Klint is wonderful. The giant “steps” are formed by layers of clay sliding over each other. The last big slip was in the 1800s, but there was a smaller one in the 1980s. Across the sea the clearer land to the right (north) is the Danish island of Als. The less clear land to the left (south) is Germany, stretching from Flensburg to (on a very very clear day) Kiel.

  • Flensburg is a nice place with a great beer, and (useful for pub quizzes) was the seat of the last Nazi government under Admiral Doenitz

  • To the SSW is Egernfjoerde, where the Danish navy suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the German shore batteries in 1849, including the loss of the ship of the line Christian VIII. The Ærøbor could hear the guns clearly, and the many lives lost included sailors from the island. The battle is well-described in Carsten Jensen’s book “We the Drowned”.

• The route is bit fluid at the top of the Klint stairway. I recommend staying high initially, so push though the swing gate on your right to stay at the top of the cliff, rather than going down the stairway to the beach. But which ever way you go you will end up crossing the fence at some wooden stairs, down on the second level, after which you need to keep a close eye out for the Kyststi waymarker which is hidden among bushes, pointing you down to the beach itself.

• The beach is clear and clean and lovely to swim in. The stones are slippery though. About 5 metres out from the edge there is sand. You can also fish for seatrout here, along with flatfish and the occasional cod.

• It is heavy going along the beach and if the sea level is predicted to be above 1.20m above normal (check here) it will be impassable without getting wet.

• The brick chimney is the site of the old brick works where they used the clay from the Klint to make bricks. There was another brickworks near Borgnæs (on the Øhavssti) and many more elsewhere in South Funen. At each location the sea nearby is still full of bricks, many of which fell while they were being loaded on to boats for transport. The chimney itself is now home to protected bats.

• At the 8,2 km mark you pass a farm, once the site of the manor house, Voderup Gård, to which the area belonged. It was destroyed in 1767 and there’s no trace today.

• Vindeballe village runs straight into Tranderup village, which is odd. The pub is in Vindeballe, the church, 50 m away, is in Tranderup. During the 11th and 12th centuries Ærø was subject to raids by the Wends from the Baltic German coast, which is why the forts at Søby Volde and elsewhere were built. The only bit of Ærø they ever occupied however was Vindeballe - quite how and why is lost.

Refreshments - assuming the pub at Vindeballe reopens then it is a nice place to have lunch and an Ærø beer. The grocery shop “Viking” sells essentials and ice creams, and anywhere on the Klint or the beach is lovely for a picnic.

Places to stay - the Kro also has rooms, and there are some good Airbnbs, including the excellent Oflid (nothing to do with the Handmaid’s Tale). There are also two spectacular campsites. One, marked as a “primitive campsite,” is right in the southwest corner of Voderup village, close to the Klint, with astounding sunset views. The other is the shelters belonging to Vesterås, near the brickworks - they can be booked here.