Henne Strand, Denmark  - The wind had shifted to south-west overnight and a stiff breeze bent the grasses in Henne Strand's dunescape. Wind-whipped white clouds galloped, in an unending herd, high above the North Sea to Denmark's west coast. Their shadows flitted over the mounds of sand. On this Sunday afternoon, though, the sun definitely had the upper hand.

The surf pounded the packed sand where a young woman and her daughter struggled to get a kite flying. Several beach strollers, in shorts and barefoot, watched until the kite had climbed into the sky.

Not every summer's day on the west coast of Jutland, Denmark's mainland, is this pleasant: sunny but not too warm, with clouds of white in a deep blue sky. It can rain and be oppressively hot. The weather is fickle.

Sometimes a strong east wind carries millions of cockchafers to the beaches, where they cling to anything that will keep them from being blown out to sea: blades of marram grass, bikinis or bathing bags.

The bathing resorts in western Jutland - Blavand, Vejers Strand, Henne Strand and Hvide Sande - essentially consist of thousands of holiday homes hidden among the dunes. Many guests are regulars who return every year. Others find one visit plenty.

Denmark, after all, is not a cheap country. Its holiday homes are often very comfortable, but electricity costs a pretty penny and eight rolls from a bakery will set you back the equivalent of nearly six euros.

Excursions to Ribe and Esbjerg are worthwhile, especially on days that are less than perfect. Ribe is considered to be the oldest town in the Kingdom of Denmark. In addition to an attractive traffic-free zone, its points of interest include very old churches.

Ribe Cathedral, whose tower rises nearly 50 metres, dates from the 13th century. The church and monastery of St Catharinae are about 200 years younger.

A day tour to Esbjerg might be a better choice for families with small children, however. The city's Fisheries and Maritime Museum has many interactive areas. Visitors can observe marine biologists doing laboratory work, and touching the fish is permitted in a low pool in the aquarium hall.

Short trips away from the beaches add variety to a summer holiday in western Jutland but are not the primary purpose. Tourists quickly realize this when they step outside their holiday house in the morning and get the feeling that, yes, the new day on the North Sea could also turn out to be a perfect one, with white clouds in a blue sky, a stiff breeze and roaring surf.

Then Ribe's churches and the giant "Man Meets the Sea" sculpture of four figures in Ebsjerg's harbour are merely bytes in a camera's memory chip. What really matters is getting a kite in the air over the beach and, in the evening, lazily laying sausages on the holiday house grill.

Internet: www. visitdenmark. com, www. visitwestdenmark. dk, www. visitesbjerg. dk, www. visitribe. dk, www. visitvest. dk (dpa)