Hamburg’s Elbe Beach is part of the city’s impressive coastline. Hamburg residents and their guests use the kilometre-long sandy beach in summer and winter to go for walks and watch the huge container ships in the harbour. Sports enthusiasts can be seen jogging and cycling, while sun-seekers enjoy a relaxing day on the Elbe beach. Beautiful captain’s cottages and elegant villas are lined up next to each other and offer views of beautiful country gardens. A visit to the picturesque district of Blankenese right on the Elbe is a must.
The Alster is located in the heart of the city and is a paradise for sailors, rowers and stand-up paddlers. The river with its lush meadows on the banks offers plenty of opportunities to relax or get active – in the public deckchairs, jogging, walking or in the many cafés around this incomparable natural beauty in the centre of the city. The white fleet of Alster boats also operates here, travelling from pier to pier every hour or on romantic tours through the cosy Alster canals.
Those who have had enough of wide sandy beaches, cliffs and piers will find variety in the gently undulating region between Kiel and Lübeck, the Holstein Switzerland Nature Park. However, you don’t have to miss out on water here, as more than 200 small and large lakes and the 55-kilometre-long Schwentine invite you to swim, sail, canoe and stand-up paddle. And there is also plenty to do on land: Hiking, cycling tours, visiting historic castles and estates or simply enjoying a delicious piece of cake in a cozy farm café – here the cake still tastes like grandma’s, here the vegetables are still fresh from the field.
In the Jasmund National Park on the island of Rügen, the famous chalk cliffs shine white down onto the Baltic Sea. The mighty cliffs with their bizarre formations inspired the famous Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. Today, holidaymakers on the island of Rügen can hike along the 12-kilometre-long high coastal path from Sassnitz to Lohme and enjoy the ancient beech forests, some of which are protected by UNESCO, and the impressive views of the chalk coast and the Baltic Sea. The National Park Centre on the famous chalk cliff “Königsstuhl” also tells the history and formation of the chalk coast in a lively and exciting way. The World Heritage Forum not far from the Wissower Klinken cliffs focuses on the UNESCO World Heritage Old Beech Forests.
The Mecklenburg Lake District is the largest contiguous lake district in Central Europe. The Müritz, Germany’s largest inland lake (112 km²), lies at the centre of this water paradise. Whether by houseboat or canoe through the unique lake landscape, by bike past yellow rapeseed fields or through the Müritz National Park or the nature parks – holidays in the Mecklenburg Lake District offer something for everyone. North German brick Gothic architecture, lovingly reconstructed town centres, baroque parks and beautiful churches invite you to linger.
Blue water, idyllic reed-lined shores, wide meadows and wild beaches – coastal landscapes of unique beauty and unspoilt nature characterise Germany’s largest national park on the Baltic Sea coast. The protected area includes the land areas of Darß, Zingst, Hiddensee, Westrügen and a number of smaller islands. The lagoons separated from the Baltic Sea, the so-called Bodden, are the hallmark of the national park, where tens of thousands of cranes rest every spring and autumn.
With a total area of 632 km², the Island Usedom encompasses a wide variety of habitats. Here you will find Baltic Sea beaches and inland coasts, cliffs and dunes, lakes and moors, alder swamps, dune pine and beech forests, meadows and fields, small villages and seaside resorts. You can enjoy the marvellous and varied nature, for example, on one of the many different guided adventure tours or an island safari on land and water.
