To Sakskøbing and beyond: A cycling journey of mishaps

It was a cloudy Saturday in the beginning of March. My plans for the weekend had changed last minute when a friend cancelled on me, but I didn’t want to waste an entire weekend. So I decided to head to Nakskov to bike out to Albuen, a headland that I’d been wanting to visit ever since I moved to Lolland. But I never made it that far… I accidentally caught the wrong train and went in the opposite direction!

I ended up in Sakskøbing, one of Lolland’s larger towns with a population of just over 4,500. I’d never been to Sakskøbing before, nor had I seen the surrounding area which is dominated by Sakskøbing Fjord and several lowland nature reserves where nature can evolve undisturbed. Since the next train to Nakskov was an hour away, I decided to change my plans (again) and explore this part of Lolland instead.

I plotted out a route that I wanted to bike, hoping to see lots of beautiful nature and historic manor houses. But first, I wanted to see what Sakskøbing is all about. I wandered through the centre and spent a good while shopping, something I’d surprisingly missed during the long Covid-19 lockdown! The small shops had recently opened up again, so I used the opportunity to visit all of Sakskøbing’s many charity shops. I found the most gorgeous off-white linen shirt, amber woollen socks and dark grey cotton tights, for just 25 DKK in all! I seriously love thrifting so much!

When I’d satisfied my shopping needs, I set off on the cycling trip where the goal was to get as close to the uninhabited island of Vigsø as possible.

The first part of the journey went along the beautiful Sakskøbing Fjord, which is eight kilometres long and very narrow. A hare jumped out a few metres in front me right before I reached Orebygård, a gorgeous Neo-Renaissance style manor house from the late 19th century. The manor is beautifully situated at the banks of the fjord at the mouth where it meets Smålandshavet with the flat islands of Askø and Lilleø in the distance.

I was surprised to learn that the area north of Orebygård belongs to the owners of the manor house, and that cars aren’t allowed. Thankfully, biking and walking is permitted so I continued on my planned route, soon biking slowly along the edge of the quiet Kohave forest.

I’d planned out my route so I’d see as many nature reserves as possible. That turned out to be a disastrous idea. Because unlike most nature reserve in Denmark, entry is prohibited year-round at the first one I came to. What I didn’t realize is that this entire part of Lolland is basically one big nature reserve where several parts are closed off. My map showed several tracks through the nature reserve which were actually there, but signs with “no admittance” in big letters stopped me from going any further. As much as I wanted to go through, I didn’t want to disurb wildlife.

But I still had to find my way around it. So I headed down to the coast, hoping to find a beach that I could walk along instead. There was no beach, but there were tracks along the coast which I decided to follow since there were no signs in sight. I pulled my bike along and made an effort not to make any noise as birds flew over me in large flocks. I soon found myself at the end of the track. There was no road in sight, but I spotted a small footpath through a forest which I decided to follow. I came out to a field and continued along the edge of it and soon reached a road. Finally! But I wasn’t alone… A group of men saw me but I just kept on walking like nothing strange was going on. I heard one of them ask where on earth I’d come from, but I didn’t look back, pretending that I hadn’t heard him…

Out on the other side, I continued past villages full of abandoned houses, a theme all over Lolland. And then I reached another nature reserve. And guess what, it was also closed off, fenced in actually! But this time, I thought I’d found an actual road around it, but it ended in the middle of a field near a row of wind turbines. I had to walk along the edge of the field for over a kilometre before finally getting to a road that actually went somewhere. This Saturday was certainly characterized by accidents and mishaps!

Finally out on the other side of the closed nature reserves, I cycled the last five kilometres in strong headwind, through tiny villages and to the end of the Vigsnæs peninsula. I’d finally reached my end destination after 21 tough kilometres in headwind and with way too many mishaps. But at least the end view of Vigsø was beautiful, especially as the sun decided to pay me a visit as I sat down to enjoy my lunch with an undisturbed view of the ocean.

With the wind finally behind me, the last 14 kilometres back to Sakskøbing were smooth sailing. I had just one stop, an unexpected one as I biked past another manor house by chance. This one is called Berritzgaard and it’s actually one of the largest and best preserved manor houses on Lolland. It was built in Dutch Renaissance style in the late 16th century!

I was so incredibly exhausted when I finally got back to Sakskøbing. Especially the wind had taken its toll on my energy! But even though it was tough and it was a mistake that got me there, I was glad I’d gotten to see this part of Lolland. And the following weekend, I finally made it out to Albuen – stay tuned!