Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [620]
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HIGHLIGHTS
Wave Riding Windsurf off Sylt’s North Sea coast
Planet Watching See the 17th-century night sky spin at Schleswig’s Schloss Gottorf
Puppet Watching Catch a show at Lübeck’s endearing puppet theatre Click here, and visit its puppet museum Click here
Border Crossing Hike across the Schusterkate bridge connecting Germany and Denmark just north of Flensburg
Halligen Hopping Sail to Schleswig-Holstein’s tiny Halligen (islets) from Nordstrand, near historic Husum
POPULATION: 2.37 MILLION
AREA: 15,729 sq km
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Getting There & Around
Lübeck has an airport serving low-cost airlines, as well as international ferries – Click here. Nearby Travemünde also has international ferry services Click here, as does Kiel. Rail links with Denmark include a direct Lübeck–Copenhagen service.
Within northern Germany, up to five people travelling together can make enormous savings with a Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein-Ticket (€30), which is good for rail journeys from 9am until 3am the following day (from midnight on weekends) anywhere in the states of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania on all regional trains. There are no single rates, but it still often works out cheaper than a regular ticket, even for solo travellers.
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LÜBECK
0451 / pop 212,207
A 12th-century gem boasting more than 1000 historical buildings, Lübeck’s picture-book appearance is an enduring reminder of its role as one of the founding cities of the mighty Hanseatic League (see boxed text, Click here) and its moniker of the ‘Queen of the Hanse’. Behind its landmark Holstentor (gate), you’ll find streets lined with medieval merchants’ homes and spired churches forming Lübeck’s ‘crown’.
Recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage Site in 1987, today this thriving provincial city retains many enchanting corners to explore.
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Orientation
Lübeck’s Altstadt (old town) is on an island encircled by the canalised Trave River. The Holstentor forms the western gateway to the Altstadt; the Hauptbahnhof (central train station) and central bus station are several hundred metres west.
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Information
Ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst ( 710 81; An der Untertrave 98) Medical services.
Buchhaus Weiland ( 160 060; Königstrasse 67a) Good selection of foreign-language books.
Lübeck & Travemünde tourist office ( 01805-882 233; www.lubeck-tourism.de; Holstentorplatz 1; 9.30am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat, 10am-2pm Sun Jun-Sep, 9.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat Oct-May) Sells the Happy Day Card (per 1/3 days €7/14) offering free public transport and museum discounts. Also has a cafe and internet terminals.
Netzwerk ( 409 5552; Wahmstrasse 58; per hr €2; 10am-10pm Mon-Sat) Internet access.
Post office (Königstrasse 46)
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Sights & Activities
HOLSTENTOR & AROUND
Built in 1464 and looking so settled-in that it appears to sag, Lübeck’s charming redbrick Holstentor city gate is a national icon. Its twin pointed cylindrical towers, leaning together across the stepped gable that joins them, captivated Andy Warhol (his print is in the St Annen Museum; Click here), and have graced postcards, paintings, posters, marzipan souvenirs and even the old DM50 note, as you’ll discover inside its Museum Holstentor ( 122 4129; adult/concession/child under 18yr €5/2.50/2; 10am-6pm Apr-Dec, 11am-5pm Tue-Sun Jan-Mar).
Just behind the Holstentor (to the east) stand the Salzspeicher: six gabled brick buildings once used to store salt transported from Lüneburg. It was then bartered for furs from Scandinavia and used to preserve the herrings that formed a substantial chunk