Tønder is Denmark's oldest market town, sitting right on the German border in the flat, windswept marshlands of southern Jutland. For centuries it was famous for its lace — Tønder lace was exported across Europe, and the town museum still has a definitive collection. Today it is a quiet, well-preserved town of old gabled houses and cobbled streets, pleasant to walk around but not heavily touristed.
The town comes alive each August for the Tønder Festival, one of northern Europe's best folk and roots music events. Musicians from across the world play in the old town's churches, barns, and a big tent by the river. If you are in southern Denmark at the right time, it is worth the trip.
The marshlands around Tønder are part of the Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The flat landscape stretches to the horizon, and in autumn vast flocks of starlings perform their murmurations — the local term is "sort sol" (black sun). The German border is a few kilometres south; Flensburg is half an hour away.