What’s one thing that doesn’t come to mind when planning a summer holiday to Germany? Beaches! But in fact the north of Germany has the lovely Baltic coastline, called Ostsee by the Germans, and you’d be missing out if you didn’t go there. My first experience of the Ostsee was on the lovely isle of Rügen, north of Berlin; home to seaside towns, countryside, beautiful beech forests and white chalk cliffs. Next I visited the Darss peninsula, where the waves were wilder. Last summer we went to Boltenhagen, a lovely seaside spot with long beaches and great cycling routes. And more recently, last week, we spent some time after a work trip to the north around the lighthouse at Bülk Strand near Kiel, and at Haffkrug Strand and Timmersdorferstrand towards Lubeck. It’s still a bit early for swimming, but it’s always good to see the sea! We”ll be back in summer!

Bülk Strand

 The waters were amazingly clear, and standing on piers we could even see jellyfish swimming below in the water.

Walking on the cliffs above the beach was a great way to get a view of the surroundings.

“Moin” is the typical greeting used in the north of Germany.

Haffkrug Strand

Those are “Strandkörbe” in the photo, basket shelters that you can rent to sit in at the beach. They provide some shelter from the wind (in case of bad weather) and some shade from the sun (in case it’s too hot) and are a cosy little place to read a book.

Possibly a sanddorn tree, as the area is known for them (in English: buckthorn). They have orange berries with a distinctive sweet and sour taste, good as juice or jam.

A bonus of being on the Baltic coast is that you can get some good, fresh seafood. A must-try is a Fischbrötchen: fish in a roll, which comes in different varieties (smoked fish, baked/fried fish, pickled fish, etc).

Timmersdorferstrand

All boarded up now, but wait till summer comes!