Friends of Dave tour in Warnemunde for tweens?

[abbydabba]

We'll be in Warnemunde in August on NCL and we've already decided that Berlin is not for us on this trip, so we're trying to plan how to use our time in Warnemunde.  It will be our first full day of the trip and our first port, so we'd like to start the trip on a high note.  The Friends of Dave tour gets such rave reviews on this forum, but I'm wondering how appealing it will be for our 10- and 13-year-olds.  They're pretty well-traveled and have some reasonable intellectual curiosity for their age, but...you know.  

Would love insights from anyone who has done this tour with older kids - was it worth it?  We're worried we won't get much out of just wandering around Warnemunde and/or Rostock.  TIA!

[charlie murphy]

This area is not hard to tour Independently. The train service is good and just across the street from the ship. We traveled with kids from 17 to 11 the area is very interesting I think your kids will enjoy the area. We finished our day on the Beach in Warnemunde the town is fun sea side town ( cafes , ice cream , beer, beach shops )with or without a tour I would recommend finishing with a stroll thru the town to the beach. 

[dogs4fun]

16 hours ago, abbydabba said:

We'll be in Warnemunde in August on NCL and we've already decided that Berlin is not for us on this trip, so we're trying to plan how to use our time in Warnemunde.  It will be our first full day of the trip and our first port, so we'd like to start the trip on a high note.  The Friends of Dave tour gets such rave reviews on this forum, but I'm wondering how appealing it will be for our 10- and 13-year-olds.  They're pretty well-traveled and have some reasonable intellectual curiosity for their age, but...you know.  

Would love insights from anyone who has done this tour with older kids - was it worth it?  We're worried we won't get much out of just wandering around Warnemunde and/or Rostock.  TIA!

Dave's tour is fantastic and I can't imagine that it would not appeal to you children as they sound quite sophisticated for their age group. You might also consider the Molli Steam Train - it may appeal to your youngsters and you can DIY. http://www.molli-bahn.de/

Another option is Schwerin (again, can be DIY if desired) - the castle is a photographers dream & the town itself is interesting. https://www.schwerin.com/en/attractions-and-sights/schwerin-castle/

As previously noted, Rostock is easily reached via train from your docking location and can be done independently. Rostock features an interesting astronomical clock in St. Marien church.

I find the seaside town of Warnemunde lovely but quite a snooze fest for a history buff such as myself.

[charlie murphy]

Looked up our itinerary and can across Friends of Dave  tour reviews - sounds like you can't go wrong with them. We toured with a basic guild book and internet research. There use to be a person on this board, that was a vault of information and wonderful resource for the area.   In Warnemunde you have a lot of time so you have the opportunity to see a lot. We started early and went to the train station ( the office was not open but the e-ticket booths were ) We went Warnemunde to Rostock transfer to Schwerin ( went to the castle there) / had lunch at a farmer's market. Train to Wismer walked the medieval town and churches. Returned to Rostock ( at Bad Dob? train stopped and some passengers that went to the Molli train boarded for the return to the ship) we saw the Molli train and if we had been quick enough could have jumped off and back on the train to get a picture of this train . Arrived in Rostock , we walked to the square ( I would recommend the bus to trolley the walk was a bit long and not that interesting , however we stuck to the main road and probable would have seen more a block or two off the main street. ) We walked from one end of the pedestrian walk way to the other, did some shopping. trolley back to the train station (remember having to wait a while for this one)   and then the train back to Warnemunde.  With time available  we decided to go to the beach. ( it was 85+ F)  We had swim suits in out back packs / must have had towels too. We walked along the Promenade  til we reached the beach.  window shopped shopped on the way  and looked at the lighthouse. 1 to 2 hours at beach then back to ship walking back to ship, with Ice cream for the kids and a beer for the adults,  with a little time to spare and Berlin buses just arriving. I would have liked more time in Warnermude to stroll, could have done it if we weren't as concerned with time.  It is a full day , you need to be mindful of train schedules. We planned as we moved, planning our departure time before we arrived  and making sure we knew the train before and after. we did decide to take a later train from Schwerin because we enjoyed the time there so much. I also remember a lot of flexibility with the train from  from Warnemude to Rostock.  This area does not seem to get much love from the cruise community, too much focus on Berlin, but you can not go wrong touring here. remember this is were Berliners come to get out of the city! 

[FredZiffle]

Charlie, we did the same as you, but with even less planning.  We bought tickets for unlimited rides across the district and just hopped on the train to Rostock.  After wandering around there (agree with you that the walk into town was pretty dull), we took a train heading west and got off whenever a town sounded interesting.  Schwrein was fantastic as well a few other small towns (one might have been Wismer).  I don't recall ever looking at a train schedule since there always seemed to be a train arriving heading in the right direction.  When we thought time was starting to get tight, we headed back toward Rostock.  With a little research, there's no need for a guide for this trip.

[Sauer-kraut]

For ideas on how to get around on your own visit Travel Anni's website.  It is a fantastic compilation on all the towns in the area.

https://travelanni.webs.com/

[KittyloverCA]

Please see my review linked below. We did FoD with a 10 and 13 yo this summer. It’s definitely not a kid-oriented tour but they had a perfectly good time. They were the only kids on the tour. It’s a good tour for an area that isn’t super interesting. I think it could also be good to look at Rostock and warnemunde on your own too, as both a pleasant towns and bothars to get around it seemed