Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [627]
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Information
Callshop & Internet Café ( 248 5099; Sophienblatt 42a; per hr €1.60; 9am-11pm Mon-Fri, 10am-11pm Sat & Sun) Cheap internet access just across from the Hauptbahnhof.
Kiel tourist office ( 679 100; www.kiel-tourist.de; main office Neues Rathaus Andreas-Gayk-Strasse 31; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat; Hauptbahnhof 8am-8pm) Both branches have free city maps and sell the FördeCard (bus/bus and ferry €9.40/12), including free public transport and museum discounts.
Post office (Stresemannplatz 5; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-2pm Sat)
University Medical Clinic (Universitäts-Klinikum; 5970; Brunswiker Strasse 10)
Wasch-Treff (cnr Exerzierplatz & Kronshagener Weg; per load €3.50; 6am-10pm) Laundry.
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Sights & Activities
DIE KIELLINIE & FERRY RIDES
The waterfront promenade known as the Kiellinie begins north of the pedestrian zone, past the Schloss (castle) and through the Schlossgarten (behind the overpass crossing Düsternbrooker Weg).
Sailing clubs and restaurants line the way, but the only real attraction is the aquarium ( 600 1637; Düsternbrooker Weg 20; admission free). It has seals in an outside tank, where public feedings take place at 10am and 2.30pm Saturday to Thursday.
From the Revenloubrücke, ferries will take you back into town or on to Laboe. If you continue along the Kiellinie past Blücherbrücke, you’ll come to the sailing harbour used during the 1936 Olympics, now full of yachts.
PARKS
Peaceful expanses of greenery include the Schrevenpark and Old Botanical Gardens. One of the few postcard views of Kiel city (as opposed to Kiel firth) can be enjoyed from the intersection of Lorenzdamm and Legienstrasse, situated between the two Kleiner Kiel lakes. Children will love the playful Jeppe Hein Fountain in the Hiroshimapark next to the westerly lake and behind the Opera House.
CITY CENTRE
The pedestrian zone is unattractive but usually unavoidable (you have to traverse it to get to the much more appealing waterfront Kiellinie). As you wander from the Sophienhof, through Holstenplatz and along Holstenstrasse, you’ll pass the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) to your left down Fleethörn, with its 106m tower.
Outside the Nikolaikirche (Church of St Nicholas) on the Alter Markt (Old Square) stands a striking Ernst Barlach statue. Der Geistkämpfer (Ghost Fighter) was removed during the Third Reich as ‘degenerate art’, but was later found buried in the Lüneburg Heath.
Dänische Strasse, at the far left corner of the Alter Markt, is one of the more successfully restored sections of old Kiel. The Schloss (closed to the public) isn’t so exciting: the west wing is the only original section still surviving.
GALLERIES & MUSEUMS
Next to the main tourist office, Kiel’s Stadtgalerie ( 901 3400; Andreas-Gayk-Strasse 31; adult/concession €3/1.50; 10am-5pm Tue-Wed & Fri, to 7pm Thu, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun) features attention-grabbing displays of contemporary art.
The Kunsthalle ( 880 5756; www.kunsthalle-kiel.de; Düsternbrooker Weg; adult/concession €6/3; 10am-6pm Tue & Thu-Sun, 10am-8pm Wed), near the start of the Kiellinie, is also impressive. Individual sections are dedicated to Emil Nolde, Antony Gormley and Bridget Riley, and it hosts frequently changing temporary exhibitions (charging extra admission).
The Schiffahrtsmuseum (Maritime Museum; 901 3425; Am Wall 65; adult/concession €3/1.50; 10am-6pm Apr-Oct, 10am-5pm Nov-Mar), atmospherically located in a former fish market, has its own pier, where three historic ships are moored from April to October.
NORD-OSTSEE-KANAL
Kiel lies at the point at which the 99km-long Nord-Ostsee-Kanal enters the Baltic Sea from the North Sea. Inaugurated in 1895, the canal is now the third-most trafficked in the world, after the Suez and Panama Canals, with some 60,000 ships passing through every year.
The best way to appreciate this marvel of engineering