Lovely day trips from Hamburg

Northern Germany is home to trading cities, belonging to a network called the Hanseatic league. Although Hamburg is what comes to mind when we think about North Germany, there are other smaller cities that have lot of history in trade, culture and architecture. We were lucky to be hosted by Karthik (my wife’s cousin) and his wife in Hamburg, who brought us to three such beautiful cities in the vicinity. First, it was Stade, a picturesque little town, around 60kms from Hamburg. Next, we went to Schwerin, a town known for a majestic castle. Finally, it was Lübeck, called the “Queen of the Hanse”, important trading city back in the 15th century, with its well-preserved ancient gates and churches. Every day we took the regional Bahns (trains) from Hamburg, explored the lovely towns by foot, and returned back to Hamburg. Our experience over these three days was quite memorable.

Day 1: Northern Germany is different from the south, and this became more evident when we visited Stade, a beautiful city heavily influenced by Swedish and Danish building architectures. A short 1-hour regional Bahn brought us to Stade train station, where we met Karthik’s friend Klaas. He was to be our local guide, a very excited and friendly German. The walk from train station to city center takes you past footpaths flanked by gentle streams of water and greenery. Klaas was excited to share the rich history and geography of this quintessential ancient town. After a brief walk, we arrived at the tourist info office where Klaas bought some tickets, while the rest of us glanced through the souvenirs. We picked some complimentary postcards, and then our tour commenced.

Stunning red-brick walled (and floored) buildings welcomed us on a bright sunny day! The north doesn’t have the natural construction materials like stones, so they had to bake bricks for the building construction. The red color is due to the high iron content in the local clay and the firing process used in the production. Bricks generally are durable and weather resistant, and the red bricks gives North German buildings a distinct character. Although the brick factories have greatly reduced, Klaas mentioned there were still a few family-run enterprises that were actively churning out bricks, albeit in smaller quantities.

We soon arrived at the main market area, now this was truly stunning. Hosting an array of beautiful red-brick themed vibrant buildings, a small little stream, few boats that seemed to have been docked for ages, neatly maintained though. We were mesmerized and didn’t know what all to click. Each and every building, every angle seemed picturesque!

Walking around the lovely city, with great company is always a delight. We took short breaks to soak in the vibes of the city and enjoy some ice-creams and Kunafa along the way. Everything was so neat and orderly.

Klaas then brought us to the local church where he had booked tickets for a tour with a guide to the spire section. The main hall of the church hosts a huge organ, so typical of churches in this part of the world.

The tour started at 1:30pm, and we had to climb some steep stairs, around 3 storeys to reach the top. At every floor, we took a break, and the host explained a lot about the history, architecture and culture. He told stories about the 5 big bells, how they were managed, the mandatory fire exit rooms, where folks could safely wait until the fire engine came to help them. We soon reached the top, it was quite windy here, we took out our jackets to keep ourselves warm. The view at the top overlooking the entire town was fantastic.

After the tour, we walked around the city, passing by local museum and some interesting waterfront restaurants. Really beautiful!

Klaas was kind enough to host us at his home for some Kuchen and Kaffe (Cake and Coffee), which we thoroughly enjoyed. We loved the cake, the coffee and surely the lovely hospitality by this wonderful German family. We had some great conversations with his wife & his 17-year-old son. Klaas then walked us back to the train station around 6pm, again passing by some beautiful greenery (apparently, it’s a local forest). It was without a doubt one of the best days of our lives, with a fantastic visit to one of the most beautiful cities on the Hanseatic map. I found this website that provides some stunning pictures and history of this lovely city. This should definitely encourage one and everyone to make a trip to this fantastic Hanseatic city. If you are in Germany and somehow cannot visit Denmark, this city has got you covered.

Day.2: Next day it was the city of Schwerin, famous for its castle, that we set our sights on. Located on the southwestern shores of Lake Schwerin, this is a popular daytrip from Hamburg. A 1.5-hour ride on the regional Bahn brought us to this place. We walked towards the castle, enroute deciding to have some lunch as it was already well past lunch time. After enjoying a delicious Turkish meal, we walked to the castle. The entrance was very welcoming and grand! Again, a bright sunny day.

We walked around the castle, surrounded three-fourths by lake, which probably worked as a defense mechanism. Again, a lot of pictures as we sighted some beautiful swans and ducks, amazing greenery all around.

We can enter one section of the castle to get a sense of how the royal folks lived here.

There were lots of people walking their dogs, picnic with family, enjoying their time. People hired boats to enjoy some time on the lake. We walked around to see the castle from all angles possible. It does resemble the Disney castle to certain extent, I must say!

After walking around for a while, we moved away from the castle area, towards a huge garden space, probably for royalty, which still looked well maintained.

The garden area was huge and very serene. However, the sun was scorching too. We frequently took shelter amongst the tall trees and shaded areas of the garden. I noticed folks doing their runs in this amazing space; it was quite envious!

After we got kind of tired walking around, we started walking back to the train station, to take our train back to Hamburg. Another wonderful day, spent in a wonderful city, with family!

Day 3: For the last day of our stay in Hamburg area, we took a 1-hour train ride, again in the eastern direction to Lübeck. This was an important trading city in the erstwhile Hanseatic trade route. The picturesque emblem of the city, Holsten gate looked stunning. The bright sunny day helped to get some nice shots of this majestic structure, but then it was quite hot, temperatures have soared in this part of the world too!

Walking from this gate towards the city center area passed us by some nice streets.

We had food at a nice Vietnamese restaurant, to enjoy some pho and salads. Walking around the town, we visited some local churches, built in grand gothic architecture.

The town does have lot of stuff to do. We went to the local museum but didn’t enter as folks had done enough walking and observing, we preferred outdoor. We enjoyed its park and kids play area. The streets anywhere and everywhere looked so beautiful.

Karthik recommended a local cafe called the Niederegger cafe, apparently quite popular here. The town is famous for Marzipan, a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal, and this cafe served it in different formats. We ventured into this huge building hosting some of delectable cakes and cookies.

We bought couple of cakes which we enjoyed very much. It was so tasty, although we had to sit outside, there was no service inside at this time. It was already past 6:30pm, we walked back to the train station to return back to Hamburg. The final day was again very well spent, beautiful architecture, greenery and great food to remember!

Overall, it was fantastic three days in the Hamburg vicinity for me and family. One that we will cherish forever and highly recommend tourists in Hamburg should they find some spare time. Northern Germany is truly quite different compared to the south, with its stunning architecture, culture and scenic spots. Welcome to the North!