The Wadden Sea is probably the first WHS I visited (disregarding its inscription year). My grandfather was from Sylt, Germany's northernmost island, part of the North Frisian Islands and surrounded by the Wattenmeer Nationalpark. We would go once a year to visit relatives of my father's when I was little. When we crossed the Hindenburg Damm to get onto the island we were crossing right through the national park.

Growing up in Schleswig Holstein meant that the Wadden Sea featured prominently in any vacation or weekend excursion plans. Be it a daytrip to the beach in St. Peter-Ording, the nicest mainland beach in Schleswig Holstein, a cruise to Helgoland from Büsum, or spending repeated summer vacations as an adolescence in the Fünf Städte Heim in Hörnum, Sylt.

What makes the Wadden Sea so interesting is that there are few places in the world where you will experience the magnitude of the tides so directly. Paths between islands and to the mainland open up twice a day and get swallowed up a few hours later, rivers (Prils) appear and disappear. And the wildlife, most notably birds, capture the mudflats.

In addition, the Wadden Sea faces the rough North Sea with high dikes lining the shore lines and land won and lost over millennia. While not part of the site, the Frisian Houses, the Halligs, ... all the ways the locals adapted to the dangerous North Sea and transformed the landscape, are amazing to see. Personally, I feel this should be a mixed site and encompass the traditional Frisian houses, the man made islands and the dikes.

Mudflat Hiking

The proper way to experience the Wadden Sea (and a prerequisite for counting this as visited @Ian), is to join a Wattwanderung (mudflat hike). I would recommend doing a crossing between islands or from the mainland to an island for the best experience. You will feel like Noah and his tribe fleeing Egypt. Several options exist. I had the privilege of taking the late Iain Jackson (pictured) on a hike from Dagebüll to Oland, a Hallig. You can also walk from Cuxhaven to Neuwerk. Or between Föhr and Amrum. More options exist in Denmark, the Netherlands or the East Frisian Islands.

While these walks may seem trivial and joining a tours can be boring, especially if you don't speak the language, you should still join a tour. In the Netherlands and between Amrum and Föhr tours are required. Walking out into where a few hours later water will be is dangerous. The path may not always be straight and you may have to circumvent Prils, i.e. rivers, that have strong currents and cannot be passed. And what is passable now, may not be passable in an hour. Last but not least, you will need a return ride and tour guides organise this.

Where To Go?

The area is pretty large. Of all the inscribed areas, I have seen the Wadden Sea in Denmark (Rømø, Fanö), in Schleswig Holstein (Sylt, Amrum, Föhr, Oland, Husum, ...) and as last addition Terschelling in the Netherlands. I am still missing Neuwerk (part of Hamburg state) and the East Frisian Islands of Lower Saxony.

Of the many options, I would probably recommend Sylt for a first time visitor. On the eastern side of the island you have the mudflats, on the west coast the rough North sea. And in Keitum you have a tradition Frisian village. It's a 3.5h train ride from Hamburg and has plenty of tourist infrastructure (hotels and restaurants). It's not a cheap destination though if you come in season and stay overnight.

Generally, I found the North Frisian Islands more interesting than the West and East Frisian Islands. Sylt and Amrum are very much like the West and Frisian Islands (sand islands), but the islands not directly facing the North Sea (e.g. Föhr, the Halligs) are distinct as they are grass islands, many man made.

Personally, I still want to hike from Cuxhaven to Neuwerk. And sleep on a Hallig, a man made island that gets submerged during floods, with only the farm houses above water as they are build on hills.

Last but not least, in Germany (and I would presume this holds true for Denmark and the Netherlands) to enter the core zone you have to hike out into the Wadden Sea. The first 50m off the Wadden Sea are not part of the national park and thereby not in the core zone. The reason is that flood control trumps preservation.