Destination: Germany

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION

Itinerary: Best of the Baltic

TWO WEEKS / FLENSBURG TO GREIFSWALD

A ride along Germany’s magical Baltic coast reveals eye candy at every bend of the road. Take your sweet time as you travel along this 500km route from Germany’s border with Denmark to where it rubs shoulders with Poland.



Though no stranger to domestic tourism, Germany’s towns and resorts fringing the Baltic Sea rarely make it onto international travellers’ itineraries – undeservedly so. The first stop is Flensburg, easily reached by train or autobahn from Hamburg, is Germany’s northernmost town and beckons with a handsome Altstadt.

Schleswig, a quick hop south, cradles a huge fjord and boasts the intriguing Viking Museum and art-filled Schloss Gottdorf. Next up is Lübeck, a highlight on this route with a fairy-tale skyline, enchanting old town and delicious marzipan. East of here, Swedish-flavoured Wismar woos you with a postcard-pretty setting and a lovely step-gabled old town. En route to Rostock stop in Bad Doberan, with its great red-brick minster, quirky Frank Zappa memorial and kid-friendly narrow-gauge train. Though aesthetically challenged, Rostock does have some interesting sights and serves as the region’s nightlife hub. Stralsund, by contrast, is more sedate but has a very attractive Altstadt and is also the gateway to Rügen Island, with its tree-lined country roads, long sandy beaches and mysterious chalk cliffs.

To truly traipse off the beaten path, head out to the remote Darss-Zingst Peninsula, where nature puts on an especially handsome show. Conclude these meanderings in Greifswald, an old university town close to beach-fringed Usedom Island, a popular holiday island Germany shares with Poland.