Warnemunde Rostock Review - Berlin

[robthens]

We opted not to take the train trip to Berlin.

 

We rented a car from Avis and drove to Bad Doberan, Wismar, Schwerin, Gustorw and back to Rostock & Warnemunde.

 

Our ship docked in Warnemunde. The Avis rent car agent is about a 5 minute walk from the pier and is located in the Rostock train station. Rostock has two Avis locations. You must specify the train station in order to be convient to the Warnemunde dock. The office opens at 8:00am.

 

You can also take the train from that station and it will take you to Rostock city center.

 

The road signs are extremely easy to follow in Germany and we had no problem navigating for city to city. The drive is picturesque and relaxing. In each city (except Gustrow), we parked and walked aroung the city center (Zentrum).

 

Public parking works two ways in Germany.

In garages, you get a ticket when you enter and when you leave you insert the ticket into a ticket machine located at all entrances. The machine shows you what you owe. After paying, your ticket is validated. This enable you to leave the garage.

The parking lots have ticket machines. You estimate the time you will be gone and purchase tickets form the machine. The ticke is placed on the dash.

 

Major attractions are as follows:

Bay Doberan -

Klosterkirche (Cloister Church)

Molli train (we didn't ride it)

 

Wismar-

Marktplatz (Market Square)

Marienkirche (St Mary's Church)

Geogendirche (St George Church)

St Nikolaikirche (St Nicholar Church)

One of the churches (can't remember which one) offered a 15 minute move about the original construction of the church. It was in German but the "3-D" pictures were self explanatory and we enjoyed it.

 

We ate lunch in Wismar at a side walk restraunt.

 

Schwerin -

Schweriner Schloss (castle)

The Schloss is closed on Mondays and of course were were there on Monday. It was worth the trip to walk around the grounds and view its unsual construction. You really have to see it to understand.

The gardens were beautiful

Schweriner Dom (Catherdral)

 

Gustrow - We drove around the city but did not stop because we could not find the public parking.

The Guestrow Chateau is also closed on Mondays.

 

Rostock -

Town Hall

Mariendirche (St May's Church)

Kropeliner Strasse (pedestrian area)

 

We returned the rent car around 7:00pm. Avis has provisions for late return.

 

We walked around Warnemunde.

 

There were 4 of us sharing the expense. We calculated the cost for the entire day at $35 per person including rent car, admission, gas & lunch.

[dbh62ark]

Thank you for your reviews. We plan to see Bad Doberan, Wismar, and Lubeck by train from our port stop in Rostock on the Constellation. I was very interested in your notes about the ease of driving in this area of Germany.

 

We plan to ride Molli in Bad Doberan but will have some time to walk around that village if we choose to. Would you describe it as being quaint but small? Any other descriptions that might help us to make a decision on time there?

 

We won't be visiting the area until early September, and the scaffolding situation might change between now and then, but how much of the Schwerin Schloss was covered in scaffolding? We were planning to go to Lubeck instead of Schwerin because of the scaffolding, but now I'm re-thinking that. Did you see the boat rides on the lake? Was that located near the castle?

 

I read another post indicating that the passenger wished she had more time in Wismar because it was her favorite. Do you have a favorite out of the villages that you visited? I have a web cam for the market area in Wismar, and it looks beautiful.

 

Do you have a time estimate for your driving? For example, I think the train ride from Wismar to Bad Doberan is about 47 minutes or so. Did it take you a long time to find a parking space, or were you able to coordinate all that in advance? It sounds like the parking garages were close to the city centers, is that correct? Did you do a lot of routing maps in advance, or did you just use the rental car agency maps? If you routed in advance, which web site did you use?

 

I hope that's not asking too much, so we would appreciate any info that you can offer. Kudos to you for seeing so much on your own.

 

Thanks in advance,

Donna

[aztex]

Originally posted by dbh62ark

 

I don't like to hijack active threads, so would you please, please, please stop by another thread to leave me more info about your day in Germany? It's http://boards.cruisecritic.com/show...735#post4331735.

 

 

Hi Donna,

 

Well, how can I refuse a triple please?

 

You will have to choose between Schwerin and Lubeck as it is too tight a tight frame to do both, unless that is all you want to do.

 

We toured Lubeck, Wismar, Bad Doberan and Warnemunde by car and it was a great day, which we really enjoyed. We had a car reserved at Avis and were on our way there when our taxi driver, an English speaking native of Warnemunde, offered to do the day for us at a good price. So, we cancelled our Avis and spent the day with a native who knew the roads and back roads, parking, attractions and culture of both the old West and East Germanies. Lubeck was West Germany and Warnemunde, Rostock and Bad Doberan were East Germany.

 

The main highways are well signed and it is not difficult to get from point A to point B on the main roads. We chose to start the day in Lubeck as that was the farthest from port and then work our way back as time permitted. Lubeck is a World Heritage site and has a lovely town center. It was a central site for the Hanseatic League. We arrived in town, parking in a central site reserved for taxies, and began a walking tour of the city. We also took a river boat tour around the city (only offered in German), took an elevator to the top of an church for an overview of town and walked the pedestrian only streets.

 

We had lunch in the central square at a wonderful Rathskeller, all the time in the company of the taxi driver who served as our guide around the cities.

 

After Lubeck we went to Wismar and then Bad Doberan and toured both towns. Both are lovely towns and with interesting features. There were markets at both as well. We also saw the remnants of the old no-man's land between East and West Germany and had one insight into how the transition is going currently.

 

Then, for the finale we took back roads into Warnemunde and found it to be a lovely town fully developed for tourism and Baltic tourists from within Germany.

 

Our driver was excellent and he got to practice his English while I got to practice my German.

 

I think we left port at about 9AM and returned at about 5:30 after a very full day. We sat on our balcony later that evening and watched the train with the Berlin travellers pull in, some 1,200 plus strong. Watching them get off and walk to the ship -- well, we felt we had had a very rewarding day.

 

Let me know if you have other questions.

[dbh62ark]

Thanks so much for the great information. It sounds like you really lucked out by bumping into that taxi driver. Did you feel like you spent a lot of the day in the car? Do you remember how long you stayed in each village? I think Bad Doberan is small. We're planning about 3 hours for Lubeck, so does that sound about right?

 

:)

Donna

[robthens]

We did plan our route prior to the cruise. After looking @ the ship shore excursions, we decided on our itenarary. We arrived at Avis shortly after they opened @ 8am and we returned the car around 7pm. We have traveled on our own in Germany many times. It is extremely easy to navigate. The road markers and signs are great!

 

This was our first time in this area. It is beautiful; however, the towns pale in comparison to German towns in other parts (ex: along the Rhine, Black Forest, etc) The cities and houses lack the charm you see in the other parts. That said, I think you will tremendously enjoy your Germany visit.

 

I strongly feel this option far exceeds the trip to Berlin. Like Frankfurt, it is just a modernized city

 

Our day was quite leisurly. We took as much time as we wanted in each city.

They are really quite close together. The drive time is quite short. We took a nice break for lunch (I had to have a "real" German food break).

 

Parking is in the city center and clearly marked. Forget trying to park on the streets.

 

Regarding the Schwerin Schloss, scaffolding is every where in Europe. Don't let it stop you.

 

Hope this helps.

[aztex]

Donna,

 

We probably spent about 4 hours in the car all told, which included some slower back roads in the country and a leisurely drive around Warnemunde and the other cities.

 

Yes, about three hours on the ground, including lunch, in Lubeck. About an hour, on the ground, in Wismar and about 30 minutes, on the ground, in Bad Doberan (it is contained).

 

I think that's about right. The ship leaves late because of the Berlin trip, so extra time could be spent in Wismar and another location. If we had tried to do Schwerin in the same day it would have been a forced march and not a fun trip.

[dbh62ark]

Thank so much for the great information that you left for us. This will give me some guidance and a few ideas for additional options. It sounds like you both had a great time in the area, so I'm looking forward to seeing it more than ever.

 

Donna

[dbh62ark]

I hope you can help me with some information that you may have gathered for your trip. I am looking for street maps of Lubeck and Wismar. Mainly, I'm trying to find out where the train stations are in relation to the Alstadt for Lubeck and the market square for Wismar. Lubeck has several train stations, so I'm trying to locate the one closest to the Alstadt. I found German tourist web sites with interactive maps of Lubeck and Wismar, but they haven't been much help. If you have links to maps for these two or for Bad Doberan, I would appreciate that information.

 

Thanks,

Donna

[aztex]

Donna,

 

This site may not be the best one, but it does provide locations for train stations and detailed maps. Hope it helps.

 

 

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

[dbh62ark]

Thanks, Aztex! :)

 

Donna

[grogers11]

We are cruising in 3 weeks with HAL. We dock in Warnemunde. Which Avis location is the one we want to get a car?

 

Avis - R9S

Grubenstrasse 29, Rostock, 18055 , Germany

(49) 0381-2021180

Sun Closed; Mon-Fri 07:30AM-06:00PM; Sat 08:00AM-11:00AM

 

OR

 

Rostock Airport - RLG

Am Flughafen Rostock, Rostock-Weit, 18195 , Germany

(49) 0381-2021170

Sun Closed; Mon-Fri 07:30AM-06:00PM; Sat 08:00AM-11:00AM

 

I'm guessing it's the first one. As they close at 6PM (and surely we will return the car after that), anyone know how that works?

[aztex]

Grubenstrasse is closer to Warnemunde and less of a cab fare. If you do take a taxi to this location your cab driver, if he speaks English, may offer to drive you for the day at a negotiated rate. We did this and enjoyed our day, perhaps by the luck of the draw. Fee was as good as what we would have paid for the car, taxi fares, gas and we saved time at the locations by not having to search for parking or find our way.

 

Just another option that might or might not pop up. Hope you enjoy that area as much as we did. Not sure about the after 6 PM process.