What travel time should we allow to get from Warnemunde (Cruise Ship Terminal) to the S-Bahn station at Warnemunde, and then the train from Rostock to Berlin? We will be making this leg in the morning and returning in the evening to be back at the ship by 9:00 pm.
Will we spend most of the day on trains, or should we go to the beach and relax?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Rick's Northern Europe Cruise Ports book says, "By train, by tour bus, or by Porsche on the Autobahn, plan on at least 3 hours of travel time each way..." between Warnemunde and Berlin. See also this previous forum discussion.
How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it.
Posted by
Germany
868 posts
Don't go to Berlin! It takes forever (3+ hours), the city wasn't built to impress at first sight like Paris, and the Baltic coast is a wonderful region to explore. It's actually Germanys most popular holiday destination.
There is much more to see and to do than just the beach. Several Hanseatic towns are (almost) completely preserved and World Heritage Sites (Wismar, Stralsund, Lübeck), the capital of the region, Schwerin, is a very pleasant mix of half-timbered houses, Brick Gothic, 19th century government building + a fairytale castle surrounded by lakes, nearby Bad Doberan offers one of the best Brick Gothic churches of the Baltics, and from there you can take a nostalgic steam train to the oldest seaside spa in continental Europe. Warnemünde itself is also very pleasant and offers more than just a beach.
You can easily visit some of these places on your own, with a cheap Mecklenburg-Vorpommern-Ticket, or do a guided tour with Friends of Dave Tours.
Posted by
OP
Cincinnati, OH, USA
768 posts
Thanks, you've told me what I needed to know.