Earlier I posted about a cruise ship stop in Germany asking for an itinerary for the day in port. I received great responses, so here goes again.
This time the ship will be in Kiel the end of May 2017. We dock at 11:00 am and depart at 9:00 pm—a somewhat unusual schedule. From what I’ve read about Kiel, it is not a stand-out destination. My wife and I would like to use the 10 hours (minus time to disembark, and re-embark the ship and travel to and from a destination) as effectively as possible. We would like to visit either Lübek or Schleswig. We will be using public transportation so I have several questions about travel time vis-à-vis time at the destination. My questions are these: 1) would the train from Kiel to either city have to go through Hamburg, with, I would presume, a change of train? 2) If the train from Kiel to either city does or does not go through Hamburg, which destination requires less travel time, and how much less? 3) If the travel time is similar for both, would Lübek or Schleswig be the better place to spend the time we have? In addition to the number of places to visit in each city, the logistics of getting from the train station to the historic area of the town is a consideration and the operating hours of attractions is an important consideration as most of our visit will be in the late afternoon and evening. Thanks for any thoughts.