Germany Trip Plan:
Baltic Coast, maritime flair in Rostock-Warnemünde

Boardwalk Warnemuende, CC-Darkone
[ source: Wikipedia]

Day 1: Arrival

Warnemünde is located on the Baltic Coast of Northern Germany. On arrival, your fully fitted vacation apartment is ready to move in and make yourself home. It is easy to find your way around town with the oldest navigational aid of Warnemünde, the lighthouse. Besides the fishing industry this town welcomes many international guests all year round and knows about their various needs!

Lighthouse and Teapot, GNU-Tina Weinreben
[ source: Wikipedia]

Day 2: Warnemünde

After a hearty breakfast use the day exploring the maritime flair of Warnemünde, best discovered at the Alte Strom, the old canal with its many historical fisher houses and traditional boats. This is also the spot for the daily fish market, offering regional delicacies. The city center is historic and modern at the same time. Don't be surprised to find historic churches and traditional buildings amidst modern stores and restaurants. Warnemünde offers the optimal mix of old and new, making it a dream destination for history lovers and shopaholics alike.

Visit the Old Lighthouse! This very traditional lighthouse is Warnemünde's most famous landmark. It is located on the beach promenade, right next to the Teapot. During the summer months you can climb up to the top and enjoy magnificent views over the Baltic Sea and Warnemünde. The Teapot, or Teepott as it is called in German, is one of the most beloved buildings in Warnemünde, housing a great restaurant and a bakery. Then take a walk down the boardwalk and when visiting in summer, head down to the beach and enjoy a relaxing afternoon at the largest beach of the German Baltic Sea coast.

Kroepeliner Strasse, shopping in Rostock, CC-Darkone
[ source: Wikipedia]

Day 3: Visit the Hanseatic City of Rostock by boat

Enjoy a trip to Rostock's city center by embarking on one of the boats, that brings you right in the heart of the city. Along the way you will get to enjoy the many harbors and the Baltic Sea. The city itself has basically three parts; the Old City around the Alter Markt, Old Market with its St. Petri Church, the Middle City around the Neuer Markt, New Market with its St. Marien Church, and the Neustadt, New City around the Hopfenmarkt, Hops Market, now the University Square. The main shopping center is around the pedestrianized Kröpeliner Straße, offering great shopping opportunities and for the history lovers, numerous gabled houses of different periods.

Rostock Zoo is open all year round and its 1700 zoo animals, of 250 species, offer animal activities and zoo fun for the whole family. You will be able to get up close to petting zoo animals as well as to the wild ones.

Rostock has also a lot in store for the German Soccer League fans. F.C. Hansa Rostock is based in the city of Rostock. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the former East Germany and made several appearances in the 1. Bundesliga. The original Ostseestadion was built in 1954 and the first international match of East Germany was held here on September 26, 1956. In 2001, the stadium was refurbished and modified to accommodate 30,000 spectators. In 2007, the naming rights were sold to Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB), hence the new official name is DKB Arena.

Heiligendamm, center of the G8 summit, GNU-DieBuche
[ source: Wikipedia]

Day 4: Bad Doberan and Heiligendamm

Today drive a few miles west to the charming spa town Bad Doberan, which is situated between Rostock and Wismar, just 6 km away from famous Heiligendamm. In the center of the neo-classical town is the Kamp, a landscaped English style park with historical buildings like the Saloon and the Grand Palais, and 2 Chinese pavilions, home to a cafe and exhibition house.

Later continue your drive to Heiligendamm, a district of Bad Doberan on the Baltic coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Heiligendamm is the oldest seaside resort in Germany and called the White Town by the Sea, because of its white row of houses near the beach, best viewed from the sea. Through the G8 summit, held in Heiligendamm in June 2007, the city gained international fame. Participants were: Angela Merkel (Germany), George W. Bush (United States), Nicolas Sarkozy (France), Romano Prodi (Italy), Shinzo Abe (Japan), Stephen Harper (Canada), Tony Blair (United Kingdom) Vladimir Putin (Russia) and José Manuel Durão Barroso (European Union).

Wismar, Water-Art and the Old-Swede, CC-Unify
[ source: Wikipedia]

Day 5: Wismar

Time well spend is a visit to the Hanseatic City of Wismar, since 2000 a World Heritage site. It is also located on the Baltic coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, on the southern end of Wismar Bay and protected by the island of Poel. Wismar offers a wide variety of architecturally exciting, and culturally important buildings. The development of architecture and the changing history of Wismar have produced buildings of various styles and use. Here you find one of the best-preserved city centers in Europe! Walking through the streets of the old city, you take every step to witnesses of the past. In Wismar, many buildings and street names recall the fact that the city was until 1803 Swedish-owned. It is not until 1903 that Wismar finally returned to the State of Mecklenburg.

The main sights are concentrated in the Old Town. These include one of the largest squares in northern Germany with the neoclassical City Hall, the famous Mansion and the Old Swede city historical Schabbelhaus Museum. In the vicinity of the market are many excellent restored medieval streets with gabled houses and features from the classical period. Interesting spots are also the historic Old Port with the Water Gate, the last remaining gate of Wismar and the southern Baltic coast. Enjoy strolling around and feel the flair of past maritime centuries.

Warnemuende old town, GNU-Norbert Kaiser
[ source: Wikipedia]

Day 6: Departure

All year round Rostock-Warnemünde offers plenty of leisure activities for its guests. Besides great water sports you can go on a real fishing boat and get first hand experience, before eating the catch of the day; on a colder day get pampered in a local spa, and maybe you fancy a round of golf or tennis; all choices are yours. But for now it is time to say good-bye and your return to the airport for the return flight. Bon voyage!

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