9 spannende Reiseziele an der Mecklenburgischen Ostseeküste

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The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has more than 1,400 kilometres of Baltic Sea coastline. And there is a lot to discover along this coast: Hanseatic cities steeped in history, noble imperial baths, charming fishing villages and a varied natural landscape. An area that has something up its sleeve for almost every (holiday) taste. No wonder, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is regularly on the winner’s podium of the most popular holiday state.

This late summer, we took a week to visit three of the six Hanseatic cities of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and their surrounding areas. The train journey took us from Rostock via Stralsund to Greifswald in the northeasternmost corner of Germany. In the following lines, we will show you how diverse the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast is and which places we particularly liked.

The Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast at a glance

The coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania stretches from the mouth of the Trave near Lübeck to the Polish border at Świnoujście on the island of Usedom. The Hanseatic cities with a direct connection to the coast include Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund and Greifswald. A little further inland or a little further from the coast are Anklam an der Peene and Demmin. The old towns of Wismar and Stralsund were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2002.

Between Rostock and Stralsund is the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula, which is largely located in the Western Pomeranian Lagoon Landscape National Park and is known for its pretty captain’s houses and extensive nature. Near Stralsund, the “Rügen Bridge” crosses the Strelasund to the island of Rügen – the tourist magnet par excellence. And east of Greifswald, you can go via Wolgast to Usedom, where sun worshippers will find 40 kilometres of sandy beaches. ¨

The destinations of the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast are so diverse that it is by no means easy to set priorities when planning your holiday. Should I plan a day or two for Rostock? Visiting the Kranichland or the island of Rügen? And is it worth a stopover in Greifswald? With these questions in mind, we made our way to the Baltic Sea.

1. The many faces of the Hanseatic and university city of Rostock

With over 200,000 inhabitants, Rostock is the largest city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is also the city with the largest port on the German Baltic Sea coast. On the one hand, Rostock exudes big city flair and on the other hand, it is surprisingly alternative. Two components that I particularly like about cities. Another component is the many “faces” that Rostock has today. These are particularly beautiful at the Faule Grube behind St. Mary’s Church. On the one hand, slightly crooked, small-scale half-timbered buildings. On the other side, the 60-metre-wide “Lange Strasse”. A boulevard based on the Soviet model. It is bordered by an overall development that was built in the post-war years as part of a large-scale building initiative between 1953 and 1967 and has been a listed building since 1979. Highly interesting in terms of urban planning.

If you prefer winding alleys to dead straight road axes, you can start your walk at the Neuer Markt opposite the town hall and follow Kröpeliner Strasse through the western part of Rostock’s old town via University Square with the “Fountain of Joie de vivre” to the imposing Kröpeliner Gate. Also take a look at the alleys adjacent to the left and right. This walk takes you past some beautiful brick buildings. At the height of the Cultural History Museum, you can also take a look at the former city wall and the ramparts.

St. Mary’s Church is also worth a stopover. Inside, the oldest still functioning astronomical clock can be examined. A technical masterpiece from the Middle Ages! Did the walk whet your appetite? Then it’s time for a detour to the Eastern Old Town around St. Peter’s Church. With Mademoiselle Inga, Albert & Emilie and the Old Town Stuben, three of the city’s coolest restaurants are hidden here.

And if you need more (or up-to-date) restaurant tips, then it’s worth taking a coffee break at Café 92 Grad (or alternatively at Café Laska, which is run by the same team). The owners are well versed in Rostock’s restaurant scene and know what’s hot in Rostock at the moment. A visit to the two cafés can be easily combined with a stroll through the Kröpeliner-Tor-Vorstadt (“KTV”). The student and artists’ quarter has a colourful mix of street art, bars, cafés and international cuisine (Vietnamese, Indian, Afghan, Italian – you’ll find it all here).

For the visit of Rostock’s old town, including KTV, it is worth planning a full day. As an alternative to bad weather (or to warm up), a visit to the centrally located Cultural History Museum is recommended. And at the latest at Blue Hour, Rostock shows its most beautiful side even in rainy weather.

2. The seaside resort of Warnemünde

And I speak from experience. In Rostock, the weather luck is not on our side. Also on the second day we are greeted by a grey overcast sky and a nasty cool breeze. It’s a shame – because our accommodation, the Radisson Blu on the edge of the old town, scores not only with floor-to-ceiling windows, but also with a great rooftop bar.

Sunshine would also have been more suitable for today’s planned trip to the seaside resort of Warnemünde, a district of Rostock. Fortunately, the MS “Rostocker 7” has a comfortable saloon including state-of-the-art ventilation system. With the flagship of Rostock’s passenger shipping, you can therefore take a large harbour tour even in rainy weather. This leads from the city harbour within walking distance to the old town via Rostock’s overseas port to Warnemünde.

Alternatively, you can also take the S-Bahn from Rostock main station to Warnemünde in about 20 minutes. However, the harbour tour offers a new perspective on the “skyline” of Rostock.

In Warnemünde we eat a fish sandwich at the “Old River”, where the fishing boats dock, and then walk along the west pier to its lighthouse. Directly behind it is the most famous sight of Warnemünde: the duo of tea pot and lighthouse. While colourful fishermen’s and captains’ houses line up along the river and Alexandrinenstrasse, there are some buildings that are striking for the 20th century on Seestrasse: the Kurhaus Warnemünde (built in 1928), the Teepott (built in 1968) and the Hotel Neptun (built in 1971).

3. The “Ghost Forest” Nienhagen

A tour of Warnemünde, including a stop at the local history museum, takes about two hours. We have brought a little more time with us and want to use it for a bike tour along the Baltic Sea Coast Cycle Path to Nienhagen, just under 10 kilometres away. We pick up the necessary mobile “vehicle” at the Dock Inn Hostel at Warnemünde Werft train station. According to Lonely Planet, the “coolest hotel ever” also offers bike rental. Equipped with two bicycles from the retro fleet (in other words: the calves are challenged here), we follow the well-signposted Baltic Sea Cycle Path through beautiful coastal forests to Nienhagen.

To the west of the beach begins the ghost forest. The stretch of coast with the bizarrely shaped 90- to 170-year-old oaks, beeches and hornbeams was declared a nature reserve in the first half of the 20th century. Especially on weekends and on beautiful summer days, the mystical forest attracts numerous day-trippers. However, the bike tour is worthwhile at any time of the year and in any weather.

4. The Old Town of Stralsund

After two grey days in Rostock-Warnemünde, we take the train to Stralsund. The two Hanseatic cities can be reached in less than an hour by public transport without changing trains. In Stralsund, the train station is located directly in front of the ponds surrounding the old town centre as part of the old fortifications. With just under 60,000 inhabitants, Stralsund is significantly smaller than Rostock. Due to its location on the Strelasund or on the way to Rügen and with the Ozeaneum as a visitor magnet, Stralsund attracts numerous day tourists, especially in the high season.

We check in here at the Hotel Hafenresidenz, which is located directly on the water (nowhere in Stralsund do you spend the night closer to the water) and then go straight for a first look. The best view over Stralsund is offered by St. Mary’s Church. But the unforgettable panoramic view of the city requires a bit of a breath. Exactly 366 steps have to be overcome first. But it’s worth it!

Afterwards, it’s best to simply walk through the cobblestone alleys of the old town, which have hardly changed in their basic structure since the city was founded in the 13th century. You will pass some owner-managed shops such as the fish trade Rasmus, which produces the original Stralsund Bismarck herring, or the Treibholz manufactory, which sells self-made boards as well as sustainably produced clothes. The museum workshop of the playing card factory on Katharinenberg is also worth a stop. And as in Rostock, we quickly found two new favourite places for a coffee break (or a delicious breakfast) in Stralsund’s old town with Café 66 and Café SüdWest.

A little away from the main streets is the Heilgeisthospital, which is a listed building, with its well-known colonnade and the surrounding pretty half-timbered houses.

The most impressive building scenery is offered to you on the Old Market. This forms the centre of the historic old town and is lined with the town hall, the St. Nicholas Church and other imposing brick buildings. It is also home to the tourist office of the Hanseatic city of Stralsund and a World Heritage exhibition (free admission).

On nice days, the harbour pub “Zum Goldenen Anker” right next to the floating museum ship “Gorch Fock” is a popular spot for sundowners. No wonder – with this magical evening atmosphere at Strelasund.

5. The Störtebeker Brauquartier

If you want to enjoy a fine, upscale dinner in the old town of Stralsund, you should make a note of the restaurant “zum Scheele” as a tip. Equally worthwhile is a detour to the Störtebeker Brauquartier, which is a 10-minute bus ride outside the old town. The export of beer from Stralsund to Denmark and Norway played an important role at the time of the Hanseatic League. The long tradition of brewing beer in Stralsund has been experiencing a renaissance since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the products of the Störtebeker brewery are omnipresent on the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast. Here in Stralsund there is the possibility to take part in brewery tours and tastings. Or to enjoy the right beer pairing with a regional and seasonal menu in the brewery.

6. The Western Pomeranian Bodden Coast National Park

The Baltic Sea Coast Cycle Path runs like a red thread through our journey along the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the necessary time to cycle the total of 695 kilometers of cycle path from the mouth of the Trave to Usedom and at the same time to visit all the sights. Instead, we included a bike tour in the sightseeing program at each stop. Rating: worth emulating! The exciting natural and cultural landscape around the Hanseatic cities is a great way to discover it by bike.

This is also the case in Stralsund – here, the tourist office recommends three round trips in the surrounding area for day and half-day trips by bike: the Great Strelasund Tour, a tour through the North Western Pomeranian forest landscape and a tour through the Kranichland northwest of Stralsund. We opt for the latter and set off from Stralsund towards Barhöft on a sunny afternoon. There, at the Hotel Seeblick, you can not only dine fine and with – as the name promises – “Baltic Sea view”, but also enjoy a magnificent view over the protected Western Pomeranian Bodden landscape from the observation tower. The 40-kilometre-long loop also passes the Nabu Crane Centre in Groß Mohrdorf and the Kranorama in Altenpleen. The cranes can be observed here mainly in September and October. In spring (around March) they also make a short stop. But the tour is also worthwhile outside the migratory bird season – if only because of the unique nature.

And on the way back, by the way, it’s worth stopping for refreshments in the café at the Parow manor house. Not only do you have delicious cakes here, but the business also has a beautifully assorted farm shop with numerous regional specialties.

7. The cultural city of Greifswald

Our next destination – Greifswald – is also within easy cycling distance of Stralsund. 37 (rather bumpy) kilometers have to be covered along the former highway 96. Alternatively, the route can be covered in a good 20 minutes by train. Greifswald surpasses Stralsund in terms of population by a few 100 people and thus remains in the position of the fourth largest city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Art lovers will be familiar with Greifswald as the birthplace and place of work of the painter Caspar David Friedrich. Due to the Pomeranian State Museum, the traditional university and various cultural events throughout the year, it is no coincidence that Greifswald is often referred to as a “city of culture”. There’s always something going on here – even if it’s “just” the lively weekly market, which takes over the market square three times a week.

The compact, pedestrian old town exudes small-town flair and at the same time scores with a lively gastro scene. The orthogonal street grid and the building, which at first glance appears homogeneous, are striking. At second glance, Greifswald offers an exciting mix of brick Gothic and a “modern” city addition in the prefabricated building style. The latter was not initiated due to bomb damage, but was carried out in the 1970s as part of an “urban planning experiment”. The prefabricated buildings are surprisingly harmoniously integrated into the historic structure and in many places also adopt details of the old building fabric (e.g. elaborately decorated wooden doors or ornaments).

You should mark three places as fixed points for your city tour: Greifswald’s St. Nikolai Cathedral (including the possibility of climbing the tower), the didactically excellently designed Pomeranian State Museum and the Caspar David Friedrich Center on Lange Strasse.

The Caspar David Friedrich Centre is also the starting point for the picture trail of the same name, which is an almost two-hour tour of the painter’s favourite motifs in the old town or takes you as a large tour to the meadows near Greifswald and out to Wieck.

Greifswald shows its truly romantic side on an evening walk along the old city wall via “Bleiche” and Steinbecker Bridge to the Greifswald harbour (museum harbour) on the Ryck. This is where locals and out-of-town sailors meet for a drink or dinner on board the “Pomeria” hornfish bar. Fans of fish sandwiches should also make a note of the “Fisch 13″ in the centre for a snack. Among other things, you can find the legendary “Plum August” (sounds exotic and it is).

8. The fishing village of Wieck

The prettiest and most relaxed district of Greifswald is located just under five kilometres downstream at the mouth of the Ryck into the Greifswald Bodden. This is where the approximately 800-year-old fishing village of Wieck is located. This can be reached either by rental bike (there are various rental stations in the city of Greifswald, including right next to the tourist information office on the market square) or in style by cutter. From April to October, the excursion ship “MS Breege” sails daily from the museum harbour in the city centre via Wieck out to the Greifswald Bodden and back. A really relaxing round trip, on which you can also observe the opening and closing of the more than 100-year-old wooden bascule bridge.

Not far from Wieck in the Greisfwald district of Eldena is the founding place of the Hanseatic city of Greifswald. The Cistercian monastery of Eldena was founded around 1199 and was one of the most important monasteries in the region in the Middle Ages. The monastery ruins were “rediscovered” by Caspar David Friedrich. The painter made the ruin one of his central motifs in his work and thus helped it to become world famous. Anyone who, like us, visits the publicly accessible park with the Eldena ruins in the soft evening light, will quickly understand why this building so fascinated Friedrich.

On warm summer evenings, it is worth staying a little longer in Wieck and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere around the harbour. The Fischer-Hütte restaurant scores with a particularly sun-drenched terrace and delicious cakes are available at Café Natalie.

9. The Imperial Baths of the Island of Usedom

No trip to the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast is complete without a visit to one of the legendary imperial baths, right?! From Stralsund, the day trip to the Baltic Sea resort of Binz on Rügen is one of the classics. And from Greifswald it is only a stone’s throw to the imperial baths of the island of Usedom. The journey by train takes 1.5 hours (including changing trains in Züssow). At the end of our Baltic Sea tour, we were spoiled here with fantastic sunrises and sunsets. And for the gourmets among you, we recommend the Michelin-starred “The O’Room” and the gourmet restaurant Bernstein in the Strandhotel Ostseeblick.

Practical tips for your trip to the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast

• From Switzerland, the daily night train connection between Zurich and Hamburg is the most sustainable way to travel to northern Germany. There are regular train connections from Hamburg to Rostock (journey time just under 2 hours). Alternatively, you can travel via Berlin.
• The distances between Rostock, Stralsund and Greifswald are short. The train journey from Rostock to Stralsund takes just under 50 minutes. It takes 20 minutes from Stralsund to Greifswald.
• To visit Rostock-Warnemünde, you should allow at least two days.
• The sights of the old town of Stralsund can be visited in one day.
• From Stralsund you can go on various bike tours through the Kranichland or to the island of Rügen and back.
• To visit both the old town of Greifswald (including the Pomeranian State Museum) and the fishing village of Wieck, it is recommended to plan two days.
• In Greifswald we stayed at the centrally located Hotel Galerie.
• 2024 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Caspar David Friedrich. The city is planning various events for this anniversary – fans of romance should make a note of that.
• The high tourist season on the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast is concentrated in the months of June to August. Outside the high season, the rush of visitors is usually limited.