Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [633]
Senator-Kroog ( 222 90; Rathausmarkt 9-10; mains €7.90-18.50; 10am-midnight Mar-Dec, 5-10pm Mon-Fri, 10am-midnight Sat & Sun Jan & Feb) Angus beef and rump steak are among the hearty meat dishes at this local favourite, but there’s also a melange of regional specialities, such as its signature Labskaus (a minced dish of salt herring, corned beef, pig lard, potato and beetroot, topped with gherkins and a fried egg). Fronted by alfresco tables overlooking Schleswig’s market square, the 1884 property – one half painted white, the other red, both with duck-egg-blue window trim – is a picture.
Speicher ( 305 184; Am Hafen 5; mains €8.90-15.20; 11.30am-10pm; ) A converted grain silo now houses Schleswig’s newest restaurant. The sound of clinking masts from the boats bobbing out the front on the harbour provides a fitting backdrop for its extensive range of fish specialities.
Asgaard ( 292 06; Königstrasse 27; mains €8.90-16.90; from 5pm Tue-Fri, from 11am Sat, 1-10pm Sun; ) Tables in the split-level dining room overlook this contemporary brewery’s copper boilers. It’s inside an atmospheric 1880-built brick former freight-train station. In addition to its full-flavoured lager, Das Göttliche (‘the Divine’), and smooth Pils, try the fruity Kleiner Wikinger (‘Little Viking’) blending Das Göttliche and mead. Soak them up with its house speciality pork Schnitzel, or lighter meals such as salads or vegie gratin.
La Dom ( 276 09; Rathausmarkt 17; mains €9-15.50, tapas €1.90-7.50; 11am-10pm; ) Stretching from the Rathausmarkt to just behind the Dom St Petri, you’ll find a series of airy rooms (including a canopied winter garden) at this stylish yet relaxed cafe/restaurant, along with succulent steaks, lobster and a vast array of tapas dishes.
Café im Wikingturm ( 330 40; 26th fl, Wikingturm, Wikingeck 5; menus from €11; lunch & dinner, seasonal hours vary) Across the Schlei, Schleswig’s octagonal tower with garish bright-blue panels is an eyesore, but absolves its architectural sins with superb-value three-course menus and awesome views from the top-floor restaurant.
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Getting There & Away
Schleswig’s Bahnhof is 3km south of the centre and connected to it by buses and a long, well-signed footpath. In town, the central bus station is on the corner of Königstrasse and Plessenstrasse, just northeast of the Altstadt, although regional bus services are infrequent.
Direct trains to Hamburg (€21.20, 1½ hours) run every two hours, while trains to Flensburg (€6.80, 30 minutes), Kiel (€9.70, 40 minutes) and Husum (€6.80, 45 minutes) leave every 30 minutes.
If you’re driving, take the A7 (Hamburg–Flensburg) to the Schuby exit, then continue east on the B201.
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Getting Around
Tickets for Schleswig’s bus system cost €1.40 per trip, or €7.20 for a six-ticket strip. You’ll find taxis at the Bahnhof and the central bus station. A taxi from the Bahnhof to the town centre costs around €8.
Between May and September, ferries cross the Schlei from Schleswig Hafen (just south of the Dom) between 10.30am to 5pm daily (adult one-way/return €2.50/4).
Bike rental outlets include Fahrradverleigh Röhling ( 993 030; www.fahrradverleih-schleswig.de, in German; Knud-Laward-Strasse 30; per day €7.50; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-12.30pm Sat).
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FLENSBURG
0461 / pop 87,065
Flensburg might not be as stereotypically pretty as Schleswig, but this port city is certainly livelier. Situated on a busy industrial firth just a handful of kilometres south of the Danish border, it’s sometimes still dubbed ‘Rumstadt’ for its prosperous 18th-century trade in liquor with the Caribbean. The city was the Third Reich’s last seat of power, when shortly before VE Day in 1945 a cornered Hitler handed power to Flensburg-based Admiral Karl Dönitz. Little is made of this dark snippet, but reminders of its sea-faring, rum-trading days