After a diversion
inland to find a REWE food shop in the suburbs of Kiel, (don't
rely on satnav POI's as it turned out to be a mini-market branch on
a housing estate!), we reached the improbably named region of
Holsteinische Schweiz, with many lakes in the flat countryside. We
stayed for two nights at an ACSI campsite on Großer Segeberger See,
with a pleasant walk to the town of Bad Segeberg, where we enjoyed
a free choral concert in the kirk on a Saturday morning. From
there we drove to the Hanseatic city and port of Lübeck. The old
centre has seven church steeples and distinctive styles of
architecture on an island. Many brick buildings date back to the
fifteenth century or earlier, including the leaning Holstentor gate, and
the impressive twin spired cathedral. As it was a Sunday, parking
at the stellplatz by the modern concert hall was free. We enjoyed
a stroll in the sunshine around the old streets and riverside
promenade, where we came across a bridge adorned with hundreds of "love
padlocks."
In the afternoon we headed via a toll tunnel to the
resort of Travemünde, with its fishing harbour and promenade, (being
rebuilt), and eventually found a pleasant grassy stellplatz at the north
edge of the town, and an easy stroll to the main beach. The next morning
we had intended to take a shortcut across the estuary on the ferry to
Priwall, but the workers were on strike, so we had to drive back into
Lübeck and eventually found the main road east, after doing a complete
loop of the city due to poor road signs and a confused satnav
(operator). We stayed on the main road to Wismar, another Hanseatic
town, with a large industrial area and a massive shipbuilding yard. The
centre
has been well preserved and is now
Unesco listed. We took a pleasant stroll around the
streets, with many interesting buildings and features. We found
free parking near the quay, where boats were
moored, selling every variety of smoked seafood.
Fish stall on boat
The centre is unspoilt with one of the largest town squares in Germany,
surrounded by traditional Hanseatic buildings with their distinctive
brickwork details. Along the side streets we came across a colourful
old art deco fire station, a bronze pig statue on a bridge much
polished as passers-by stroked its belly, and an unusual street name ABC-Straße.
There are two ships figureheads called the Alter Schwede,
reminders of the era when the town was under Swedish
rule, commemorated in August every year. We felt Wismar was
well worth stopping at with a lively centre yet a relaxed atmosphere.
Alter Schwede figureheads
Continuing along the coast and an overnight stop at a small
clifftop stellplatz at Wittenbeck, we drove to Heiligendamm, apparently
the first German seaside resort, built in 1790. It was a strange
mixture of exclusive hotels and a row of neglected grand villas along
the seafront, although a couple were being restored. The beach had
ticket machines €2 in high season, but the place was virtually deserted
apart from dog walkers. After a quick stroll to the
small pier, we walked through the woods to the Mollie steam railway
station, but there was no activity there either, so we drove inland along
pleasant flat roads, lined with linden trees, to Bad Doberan then, thanks
to the satnav leading us to a non-existant MH service point, we got
lost among large blocks of flats in the suburbs of Rostock, eventually
following a bus to reach Warnemünde, where there were crowds of
passengers embarking on two massive Baltic cruise ships. (it wouldn't
suite us!). As we crossed on the car ferry we spotted many motorhomes
parked on the quayside although we hadn't noticed a stellplatz listed
there.