I’ve got some more time off coming up (I know, I know).
Who’s been Up Nort’ in Germany and can provide some inspiration? Think Eastertime. I’ve been curious about the ports of Lübeck and Kiel for many years. Not opposed to renting a car and exploring that way, but I tend toward Deutsche Bahn travel when I can get it.
All suggestions welcome!
Been to northern Germany? I live there! And my wife was born near Kiel. (Take my word for it, unless it’s Kieler Woche, there’s nothing to see in Kiel.)
The historic part of Lübeck is worth seeing, that make a nice day trip. You may not have heard of Friedrichstadt, a historic Dutch city on the North Sea side, and is a nice stop on the way to Sylt.
If you just want to take a few days off on the beach, Sylt would be good. It’s reachable by train, the whole island can be seen via bicycle, and you can take side boat trips to the nearby islands.
My brother-in-law is a big fan of Rügen. There’s more variety there than on Sylt.
If you’re looking for resort towns, we’ve enjoyed Boltenhagen on the Baltic and St.-Peter-Ording on the North Sea.
Or for something completely different there are the East Frisian islands of Borkum and Norderney. I’ve never been there, but my wife says they’re nice.
Funny thing… for our Easter vacation we’ve got a meeting in Munich. We’re bringing Christopher, and we have 3 days to fill before we drive home. Any ideas on what to see in Bavaria?
All that Scott said.
And we’re big Rügen fans, too. Beautiful sights, fascinating history. Make sure you see the colossus of Prora http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prora
And on nearby Usedom island, you could get lost in the V2 rocket factory / test centre / museum at Peenemünde.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peenem%C3%BCnde
Don’t like Sylt. Arriving is ugly, lots of fur-clad ladies with too-deep tans, lots of beach you can find all over the North Sea coast, though to be fair I’m sure there are prettier parts of Sylt we’ve not seen.
Feel free to drop by on the way through if you’re coming via HH. :-)
Hey guys… I really don’t know a lot about the area because we’ve fallen in love with one town and just tend to return there for quick getaways. Warnemünde is north of Rostock, offering lovely beaches and great views. The town reminds me of most cruise ports, but this one has a really nice feel to it. We enjoy the hotel Neptun, but it is a luxury 100%. There are plenty of other lovely hotels in the area as well. As a matter of fact, we’re heading up there on Friday in the true German tradition of a “Wellness Weekend”. Oh, and DB is very reasonable out of Berlin… or it used to be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warnemünde
Thanks for the tips, everyone! There are so many points North in which we’re interested, that it might be smarter to just rent a car and make a week of it across both North coasts.
@Scott: There’s lots to do down here in Bayern. If you haven’t been to the Ludwig Schlößer (Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau, of course, but don’t forget Herrenchiemsee and Linderhof) down in the mountains, they are worth a trip and Christopher might get a big kick out of that. There’s also the Zugspitze, but this only works if you’re ok with heights. The Deutsches Museum in Munich is great for science and technology buffs and the Pinakothek complex (Alte,Neue & Moderne) is a wonderful art museum. And Regensburg (a fabulous town…but I’m biased) is only an hour away.
@Ian: I am of two minds regarding Sylt. I’ve seen some pretty pictures and there are always travel promotions to go there, but I’ve also heard that it’s where ‘the beautiful people’ go. And the beautiful people tend to have a lot of money to throw around than I am comfortable with.
@Snooker: I hadn’t considered Warnemünde! I like the way you describe it; ‘a cruise port, but nice.’
There is a Wochenende pass that you can get to head to the Baltic Sea from Berlin for 30 Euros for up to 5 people. I can get you more info if you are interested.
I’ll put another plug in for Lubeck. Great town and definitely worth a visit.
As a former Rostocker, I’d say it and Warnemünde are worth a stop. I like Fischland-Darß, really beautiful. I also really liked Rügen and Usedom, in addition to what Ian said, Usedom is where all the Eastern bigwigs went on vacation.
We did a trip to Schwerin/Luebeck/Hamburg over Easter two years ago. It was all very nice; we loved Luebeck. If you have a car with you, you’ll be able to appreciate the Schwerin area more – it’s built near seven lakes.
http://cndrnh.blogspot.com/2007/04/schwerin-luebeck-hamburg-london.html
http://cndrnh.blogspot.com/2007/04/photos-schwerin-luebeck-and-hamburg.html
We loved Wismar too – we were there in summer that same year. I don’t know what it is about it, but it really made an impression on me.
http://cndrnh.blogspot.com/2007/08/15-hours-at-ostsee-and-wismar.html
I think it’s a little early in the year to make beach the primary focus of the trip, but of course you shouldn’t miss the ocean while you’re up there! :D
Ahhhh… Schwerin. Yes, I concur with the lovely lady from Heidelburg. Schwerin is a charming little town. But as she said, having a car is certainly a plus in this location. Now that you mention it, I’ve heard great things about Lübeck. Maybe that is another side trip worth taking.
Oh yes, Schwerin is nice, thumbs up from me too. Hitting Lübeck, Schwerin and one of the Baltic resort towns would make a nice trip.
I have mixed feelings about Rostock and Warnemünde, probably because my visits were before the Autobahn A20 was complete. And the East Germans didn’t build bypass roads. So I mostly remember the 5 hour trip through every little village along the way. These days with the A20 you can zip from Hamburg to Rostock in 90 minutes.
We took a somewhat spontaneous trip to Helgoland this past summer and really enjoyed it. Not at all trendy, but incredibly beautiful and very small. A short post and photos are here: http://noapathyallowed.com/2008/06/29/hamburg-and-beyond/
P.S. Thanks for your comment over on my blog earlier! I am also a bit wary of folks getting a little too used to my being able to help out. So far it’s a-okay though, and I’m keeping the labor intensive stuff to my boss and the big boss.
Hey Scott: Well, there’s a genealogical connection for me to Kiel.
Hey Ian: I don’t like war, but I really dig weapons museums. Big treat for me and my dad the armchair expert was visiting the Deutsches Museum in Munich a couple years ago. Showing him stuff he’d never seen before was a thrill for me.
Hey Yelli: thanks for the offer. I am intrigued. Is there a link on the DB website you can point me to? I am always on the lookout for convenient and inexpensive ways to travel without a car. Trains were the way to before discount airfare, so when there’s a special, I like to take it.
Hey Snooky and Christina G: thanks for the Warnemünde tip. I’ve never heard of it. In fact, my only association with Rostock are Neo-Nazi violence in 1992 or so. I’d love to have more pleasant memories to associate with that region.
Hey Mandi: those pictures look great!
Hey everybody: I guess Lübeck and Schwerin win the Northern Germany destination slot by acclamation.
Just loaded my Rostock era photos onto my FlickR account if you’re interested in having a look at the surroundings.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clg20171/sets/72157614478177750/
Neat, thanks!
Did I know you had bunnies?
The cheap ticket is called the Schönes Wochenende Ticket. Below, I pasted a link in English although I think the info is wrong. You can travel between any 2 weekend days – Fri-Sat or Sat-Sun.
http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/swt.shtml
And here is the German link if you can read German! The conditions are probably better stated here.
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/angebot/regio/schoenes_wochenende_ticket.shtml
I don’t know if you did. I may have mentioned them, but then again, I might not have. Rainer ended up getting extremely allergic to them so we had to give them away.