Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [630]
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Getting There & Away
AIR
The bus service Kielius ( 666 2222; www.kielius.de) shuttles 18 times in each direction between Hamburg airport and Kiel’s central bus station (one-way/return €17.50/30). Lübeck airport (Click here) is also convenient.
BOAT
Click here for details of ferry services between Kiel and Gothenburg, Oslo, and Klaipeda in Lithuania.
BUS
Interglobus Reisen ( 661 1576; Auguste-Viktoria-Strasse) operates buses to Poland. Many other services head from the central bus station to towns in Schleswig-Holstein, although the train is generally more convenient.
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
Kiel is connected with the rest of Germany via the A210 and A215, which merge with the A7 to Hamburg and beyond.
TRAIN
Numerous trains shuttle between Kiel and Hamburg (€27, 1¼ hours). Trains to Lübeck leave hourly (€15.20, 1¼ hours). There are regular local connections to Schleswig, Husum, Schwerin and Flensburg.
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Getting Around
Local bus trips cost from €1.50 one-way or €4.30 for a day card. To hire a taxi, call 680 101.
A ferry service along the firth runs daily until around 6pm (to 5pm on weekends) from the Bahnhofsbrücke pier behind the Hauptbahnhof. The trip to Laboe is €3.70.
Bikes can be rented from the Haupt-bahnhof.
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AROUND KIEL
Laboe
04343 / pop 5300
At the mouth of the Kiel firth, on its eastern bank, the village of Laboe is home to a WWII-serving U-Boot ( 427 00; adult/child €2.50/1.80; 9.30am-6pm Apr-Oct, 9.30am-4pm Nov-Mar) and associated Marine Ehrenmal (adult/child €4/2.50, combined admission with U-Boot adult/child €5/3.50). The sub is the kind featured in Wolfgang Petersen’s seminal film Das Boot (1981). It’s now a museum where you can climb through its claustrophobic interior. From Kiel, take the ferry (Click here) or bus 100 or 101.
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Schleswig-Holsteinisches Freilichtmuseum
South of Kiel, in Molfsee, is the excellent Schleswig-Holsteinisches Freilichtmuseum (Schleswig-Holstein Open-Air Museum; 0431-659 660; Alte Hamburger Landstrasse 97; adult/child/family €6/2/13 Apr-Oct, adult/child €3/1.50 Nov-Mar; 9am-6pm Apr-Oct, 11am-4pm Sun & holidays Nov-Mar), featuring some 70 traditional houses typical of the region, relocated from around the state, and providing a thorough introduction to the northern lifestyle. Take bus 501/502 from Kiel’s central bus station.
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SCHLESWIG
04621 / pop 24,036
Neat redbrick houses and manicured lawns give this ‘Viking town’ on the Baltic Sea’s longest fjord a Nordic look, while the tall cathedral spire rising proudly above the water hints that little Schleswig wasn’t always this sleepy.
This is certainly true. Founded in 804, after a major Viking community put down roots across the Schlei fjord, it was the continent’s economic hub for some 200 years.
The Dukes of Gottorf, who made Schleswig their power base from the 16th to 18th centuries, have also come and gone, as have generations of fishermen and their families. All have left distinctive reminders of their time here that add to the town’s charm.
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Information
There are late-opening internet cafes at the Bahnhof and bus station.
Post office (Poststrasse 1a)
Tourist office ( 850 056; www.schleswig.de, in German; Plessenstrasse 7; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat May-Sep, 10am-4pm Mon-Fri Oct-Apr) In the town centre. City maps and hotel brochures are available outside after hours.
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Sights & Activities
SCHLOSS GOTTORF
Wartime destruction of Kiel meant that the treasures from the Schleswig-Holstein Landesmuseum ( 8130; www.schloss-gottorf.de; adult/concession/family €8/5/17, audioguide €2; 10am-6pm Apr-Oct, 10am-4pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun Nov-Mar) were moved to the Dukes of Gottorf’s 12th-century castle in Schleswig. The collection fitted perfectly and the museum has been based here ever since.
A roomful of paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder and a wood-panelled 17th-century