DAX

I have a conference in Warnemunde/Rostock and have an extra free day to explore. I spent part of my youth in San Diego so I do appreciate beachlife and sailing but in the Baltic area I am looking more for hanseatic old towns that are fun/lively or at least picture perfect to explore. Which one would you recommend? Appreciate any comments from those who have been to any of these places. Thanks

NB: I realize that Schwerin has the castle but how good is the old town compared to Stralsund which I heard has a lively Marktplatz on Fridays. This is more of a cursory tour since I'm going without my wife so I'm hoping to check out two old towns either Schwerin & Wismar or Stralsund & Greifswald. I heard about Wieck which is easily reachable from Greifswald.

patandhank

Dax - I can't address your questions because I haven't been to this area yet. We'll be there in July on a Baltic cruise and will be renting a car at Warnemunde to see Stralsund. I know there will probably be some Fodorites out there that respond, but I wanted to point you in the direction of someone who is sharing alot of information about this area on Cruise Critic. If you go to that site - www.cruisecritic.com and click on their Boards (= forums) in the upper left hand link, there is a board for Europe under the "Ports of Call" section. Click there and there is another link to Northern Europe and the Baltic. Look at that forum. There is a poster with the user name of HeinBloed who posts lots of information about this area and has answered some of my questions. If you register with CC (free) you can post your question to him and he's great about responding.

Holly76

i know stralsund, and this is a beautiful town with gotic brick fronts. architectural contrast to what most americans love about the south of germany... a point of interest in stralsund is the oceanographic museum, http://www.meeresmuseum.de/english/content/index.htm .
the city is part of the world's cultural heritage. information can be found here: http://www.en.stralsundtourismus.de . this website is not so good, but will give you a glimpse of what you can see there.
greifswald is nice too, but i don't think you'd be able to make stralsund and greifswald in one day.

anyway, germany's sea coast is definitely worth a trip. it will show a totally different aspect from germany, most travelers are not aware of.

DAX

Thanks Patandhank, the link & instruction are helpful. I read Heinbloed's comments. Unfortunately he didn't comment on other towns/cities beyond Rostock. I will be going in May.

Holly76: I appreciate your personal comment on Stralsund. I did find the city website when I googled Stralsund as well as the new oceanic museum which seems to have drawn a lot of visitors' complaints for its poor content but everyone agrees that the building architecture is impressive. Can you share more about your experience in downtown Stralsund? (what's wonderful or lacking) and also in Greifswald. Thanks.

Holly76

dax, i've been to the museum (the old one) 20 years ago and i found it impressive. i do not know the new one.

as for the downtown stralsund's architecture, i like the gothic brick architecture. stunning to see the filigran things they created from simple brick in past times. in my judgement, especially the town hall is an architectural gem. as for greifswald, i've never been there, but it is pretty much the same. to get a better view, you may perform an image search with google using keywords "stralsund rathaus", "stralsund gotik" or just stralsund or greifswald, respectively. since i've not been there in recent years, i can't tell you that much about the current state. but i know that they make serious efforts to preserve everything they can and downtown is declared part of cultural heritage of mankind by unesco, which speaks for itself. to get an overview, you may also take aerial views using google maps.

if you like architecture and have some time left, you might skip greifswald (i know, i don't do justice to greifswald) and make the short trip to the island of rügen, just across the strelasund sound. the towns of putbus and binz, among others provide postcard-perfect 19th century architecture (i do not know the proper term, let's say seaside resort architecture). at least i like that pretty much, as i do with the rough yet lovely nature on the island dotted with small villages with thatched roofs.

wanderfrau

This is tough

I have never been to Greifswald, so I can't comment

I was in Wismar twice. I only went back the second time because I had forgotten I was there the first time!

Stralsund is part of Germany's "red brick road". Interesting brick architecture. My favorite was the area around St John's Monastery. Although much more exciting than Wismar, I did not find it at all lively or "picture perfect".

I am biased about Schwerin. I think the castle is outstanding, inside and out. We enjoyed the castle gardens and grotto, cake/coffee in the restaurant, the fabulous tour and the Meissen collection that I think is as good (perhaps better) than the one in Dresden. I would easily go back, just to see the castle again. We didn't see much of the town since it poured rain the afternoon we were there. Most of the historic buildings in town were destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 19th century. www.schwerin.com may be helpful

Let me know if you have more questions.

I think you'll enjoy any of your choices.

DAX

Thanks for your good input Holly & Wanderfrau. Based on what you told me, I'm going to drop Greifswald & Wismar, so my focus is between Stralsund & Schwerin now. I have been studying the websites & Flickr pics for both cities, but I am really hoping for someone to add more comments on the old town areas for me to weigh further.

Ingo

I have to agree with the other posters: Stralsund is not picture-perfect. They have done a good job of restoration regarding the condition in which the town was in 1990, but it's still a long way to go. The area around Alter Markt and north of it is most beautiful IMO.

I was there in May 2005. Parked the car near Heiliggeistkirche and -hospital (which is a seniors residence now) and wandered around. I found many streets/alleys to be quite run down, although every now and then an interesting facade or house came into view.

Greifswald is similar to Stralsund, only smaller and even more quiet. Skip it.

Haven't been to Wismar for too long, so cannot comment on that one.

Schwerin looks very different. Because of many fires there is almost no medieval brickstone architecture preserved. What you see now is Baroque/Classicistic architecture (pastel colours, plaster) and plenty of 19th century architecture around Pfaffenteich lake northwest of the old town. It is interesting that wanderfrau thinks the collection of Meißen porcelain in the castle is better than the one in Dresden (and I respectfully disagree here). The castle itself is stunning (although 19th century architecture) and its setting on the island in the lake is fantastic.

The most beautiful hanseatic old town I have seen is Lübeck; none of those you mentioned is remotely as perfect.

wanderfrau

Ingo - good to see you posting! OK, I'll modify my comment and say the Meissen collection in Schwerin and Dresden each have their special pieces and are both worth seeing.

And, as usual, I have to agree with Ingo's comment about Lübeck. It is pretty close to picture perfect.

Suspaul

Hi DAX
Don't know if you'd have any interest in visiting Stade Germany from Rostock, here is their website:
http://www.stade.de/
http://www.stade-tourismus.de/en/

We lived there for one year quite a while ago but love it. There may not be much of interest but the above website will give you an idea.

It is about 250 km from Rostock.

Enjoy your travels.
Susan

Ingo

Hi wanderfrau, glad to see you posting, too! I was cut off from internet (and landline as well) for some weeks. Now I got landline back, but am still on 56k modem ... so you won't see me much around here. Especially since Fodor's takes an endless time for me now to download after the relaunch.

You're entitled to have your own opinion on Schwerin, you know, LOL ... and to be honest - I am not so much into porcelain at all ;-)

hsv

Agree about description of Schwerin. It is not classically Hanseatic in appearance if one associates that with gothic red brick buidlings. Probably this is not surprising as Schwerin as far as I am aware never was a member of the Hanse trade association. It's reasonably lively though, and easily reachable from Rostock.
If you are interested in red brick buildings in what I would assume is widely considered Hanseatic style, don't rule out a visit to the monastry in Bad Doberan. Not exactly lively, but quite an impressive building.
http://www.muenster-doberan.de/forei.../en_index.html

DAX

I'm disappointed to hear about Stralsund and even Schwerin old town. I sure hope Rostock is worth going, anyone care to share what their take on Rostock/Warnemunde? Perhaps even a restaurant tip. I've been to Luebeck a few years ago and

suspaul: Thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately Stade is just too far since I have to meet a colleague in Berlin afterwards.

hsv: Glad to know that you're still around, really appreciate your good input. Hopefully you have some good tip on Rostock.

Ingo: I'm travelling with a friend who's never been to East Germany, so we are considering Dresden or Goerlitz as an overnight trip. Is there anything new/exciting in Dresden in the last years? Any great tip about Goerlitz? Thanks.

DAX

I didn't mean to sound negative in my previous post. I was typing it in a hurry so didn't proof read it. I only meant to express that I was a bit surprised/disappointed that the Baltic cities are not ready for tourism yet, but I remain hopeful that Rostock is slightly better than the others.

Holly76

dax, the baltic cities are relatively small ones struggling with more or less tight budgets. these places don't attract as many visitors as large cities do, even their remote location is not helpful. so it is even harder for these towns to improve attractivity. anyway, i still believe stralsund is worth a trip (at least if you like and hanseatic style brick architecture). stralsund is not as lively as rostock (rostock is the state's largest city), but this is something i do like. since it is just one hour to go there, feel free to try and find out for yourself if you should be disappoined or not...

as for dresden, the rebuilt frauenkirche has been open since october 2005. as for görlitz, i've never been there, but i know that the city has one of europe's best preserved city centers. but it isn't as lively as dresden, of course.

in any event, you should keep in mind that east germany while under soviet occupation did a very poor job in preserving historic architecture. reminding that, no matter where you go you will be surprised of what east german cities can offer today.

hsv

Don't see what you mean by the Baltic cities not being ready for tourism. Overall the whole Baltic coast offers quite a couple of very attractive seaside towns that in the Eastern part have been very carefully (and with heaps of transfer money) developed after the unification.

I like Schwerin, it's just not Hanseatic since that appeared what you were looking for initially. It could be combined with a quick detour to Ludwigslust and its palace and park, for instance.

Rostock is quite nice with a reasonably attractive old town. Rostock and Warnemuende compare in their combination a bit to Luebeck and Travemuende although Rostock's old town doesn't have as many famous sights as Luebeck with its Holstentor Gate, big churches and City Hall. But then Luebeck was the center of Hanse activities and Rostock of much less significance.

Not being based in Germany any longer I haven't been in a few years, so I cannot be too specific. More or less what I found most impressive was the monastery in nearby Bad Doberan which I already mentioned - and, although it's not a lively city, I do like the Darss and Fischland peninsula to the East of Rostock. Ahrenshoop is quite a nice seaside town with a bit of artsy flair about it apart from being a classic fisherman's town.

Ingo

DAX,

No exciting major news from Dresden. The construction of the ugly bridge progresses (unfortunately), and the new huge shopping mall at the upper end of Prager Strasse is almost completed (opens in fall). The State Art Collections opened their new foyer in the Royal Palace recently: the glass-dome covered smaller of the courtyards. Nicely restored Renaissance architecture with loggia there, but I personally don't like the glass roof. Later this year we'll have a superb exhibit with ancient sculptures from the Prado and Dresden (currently in Madrid). Don't know exactly when the so called 'Turkish Chamber' is going to open in the Royal Palace, I heard of fall this year, but it might take longer. That would be exciting ...

As for Görlitz - what are you looking for? What I love about this town is the wonderfully preserved old town ensemble, but it's mostly the overall ambience that makes it worth visiting, not the single highlights. Ok, they do have these amazing Gothic townhouses, the interesting Schlesisches Museum, the Holy Sepulchre, the so called Bible House, some nice churches ... and very reasonably priced hotels/B&Bs with a lot of charm. If you're interested you could check my Virtualtourist pages.

I.

DAX

Thanks all, what I mean by ready for tourism is: old town renovation to its heyday glory, good restaurants, media shops, and all the good stuffs that suck the tourists money. I'm used to the grand magic in german cities/towns, where everything is restored to gleaming perfection plus massive neighborhood refurbishments. I just can't find that anywhere else in Europe.

I don't really enjoy visiting castles and palaces unless I'm with my family. I'm looking more for comfortable restored old towns (Goerlitz sounds great by the way) where I can just enjoy the restored old world atmosphere injected into modern day life. I hope Schwerin has recreated some of their old town, otherwise Stralsund or just head back to Berlin after Rostock/Warnemunde.

I really appreciate everybody's input. Please add more if you think of anything else.

holly: I've been to Dresden a couple of times after the Frauenkirche has reopened. Ingo's hometown is definitely a jewel.

hsv: Thanks for your tip to check out Ahrenshoop. I've heard about it along with Kuehlingsborn. The thing is I'll be alone in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern part of the trip so I don't know about hitting the beachtowns alone. There is actually a conference in Sylt that I can go to after Rostock but I don't know how much I'll enjoy it solo. I prefer big cities when travelling solo. Maybe you can elaborate on what can be fun in Sylt for a solo traveller without a porsche.

Ingo: I'll check out your VT pages thanks. I always enjoy Dresden for the friendly residents even just going to a playhouse or the food market.

wanderfrau

For some more info on Rostock try www.historicgermany.com

Ingo's VT pages are very helpful for visiting Goerlitz. I used them to build a very interesting walking tour. The town is nicely renovated (for the most part) and you'll find history mixed with the tourist stuff. Just don't go on Sunday!

In Goerlitz, I highly recommend Gasthof Dreibeiniger Hund for the restaurant, the ability to taste the local brews, the comfortable rooms and accommodating staff.

Ingo

DAX,

two well restored, almost picture perfect (very) small hanseatic towns came to my mind: Havelberg and Tangermünde, both located on the Elbe river and probably too far south from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for you to visit on this trip. Ditto Salzwedel. All of them have brickstone architecture mixed up with timber-framed houses. Picturesque, but not very lively.

Btw, if not Görlitz then what about Freiberg? Also a very well preserved and restored old town, amazing cathedral (interior) and one of the best mineral exhibits world-wide that just recently opened (Schloss Freudenstein).

Ingo