We are arriving to the port of Kiel for a day in mid July. Opinion, poke around Kiel or train it to Hamburg for the day? If Hamburg, is it easy to get from the port to the train station? We are my 50 yr old self and 22 yr old daughter, we love walking tours,biking,horseback riding. Not huge museum fans. Any input is appreciated!
Kathi
Posted by
Germany
868 posts
Kiel ist just a unremarkable port town. The only interesting sites I remember are the Naval Memorial and the Nazi U-boat. So, Hamburg is much better. But what about Lübeck? It's one of the biggest preserved towns of Germany and a World Heritage Site, and once it was the most important city of the Baltics and the head of the Hanseatic League:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187413-d286350-Reviews-Lubeck_Altstadt_Lubeck_Oldtown-Lubeck_Schleswig_Holstein.html
Decide what you like more: a modern metropolis or a preserved old town.
Posted by
Central Florida Coast. (Melbourne)
73 posts
There really isn't much in Kiel, but if you can taxi or drive around to Laboe which is probably about 10 miles from Keil (I go through keil when I drive to Laboe from hamburg. I found it to be a nice little seaside village. There is a WW1 memorial there and if you go to the top you have a nice view of the area. I find it a nice place to spend a couple of hours.. the town reminds me of some place like the coast of maine or New jersy. I drive up from Hamburg to Laboe when I am there in the summer time. But Keil, no there is nothing remarkable there.
I don't know about picking up the train in Keil.. I assume you can, but If you can make it down to hamburg I think you will enjoy the city. I go there for work 4 or 5 times a year and in the summary it is absolutely beautiful. Hamburg never rates in the travel logs, but I just love walking the city... Spending a day or two there near the Alsters is always nice.. In the neustad/alstadt area there are several canals and it is nice to sit outside and have a beer
Posted by
San Francisco
14499 posts
Hi,
You're arriving in Kiel by ship? Is that correct? At what time? If you go Laboe to see the Marine Ehrenmal, you can take the ferry not far trom the train station in Kiel to Laboe, then you transfer a bus, or you go from the Kiel Hbf. I have been to Laboe only once (in 1977) to see that Naval Memorial and Museum as a day trip from Kiel. Climb the tower to see this impressive panoramic view of Schleswig-Holstein. The U-boat is one you can walk through. Kiel was among the very first cities bombed and repeatedly so in the war by the British, basically plastered by 1945.
Getting from the port to Kiel Hbf is ca 20 mins walk or so, you'll see it. I like the ferry area to Kiel Hbf....interesting. If you were going there the last week of June, it's pretty active since it is Kieler Woche (the week with all the regatta ) In 2009 I went back to Kiel, this time as a day trip, during this Kieler Woche with all its activity...interesting.
"...is it easy to get from the port to the train station?" If I understand your question correctly: If you are getting off the ship in Hamburg, it's most likely at Bridge (Brücke) 3 or 4., which is across the street from S-Bahn station Landungsbrücken. Brücke 3 is much closer, almost diagonally from Landungsbrücken, from which the HI hostel is ca 3 min walk. Another 2-3 mins down the path literally is the huge Bismarck statue. From Landungsbrücken it's one or two stops to Hamburg Hbf.
To get to Hamburg Hbf fro Kiel, take the Regional Bahn train. Hamburg Hbf is the Knotenpunkt (junction point) for trains going east, north, west, south of Hamburg.