Making the most of Travemunde
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
Ships dock at Skandinavienkai cruise terminal; buses reach Travemunde town in 10 minutes, running every 20 minutes.
Most smaller ships use pleasant, convenient Ostpreussenkai, near the bus station and within walking distance of the main town and beach.
Take a printable map along.
A Lübeck borough and family-favourite sea resort, Travemünde is a harbour town with daily passenger and cargo ferries to Scandinavia & the Baltic states. Once a small fishing village, its river Trave position and closeness to Lübeck enabled growth into a smaller harbour town. Tourism now drives employment and income, while the old town keeps its sleepy character despite weekend tourists.
Lübeck’s Altstadt is a living city center, not an open-air museum, so it is not a complete medieval site. Modern buildings and infrastructure mix with beautiful old ones. The well-preserved 13th c. Koberg area is at the island’s northern end; also seek the Gänge, small streets off larger roads with small houses and a peculiar atmosphere.
Getting around
Bus nr. 30 reaches Lubeck in about 25 minutes (2.50 Euro).
Food and shopping
Lübeck has a great variety of shops and relaxed, unlimited shopping possibilities. Stroll Hüxstraße, its first address for selected offers, Breite Straße, the lively pedestrian street, or shops on Königstraße, Holstenstraße, Sandstraße and Mühlenstraße. For something different, explore romantic side streets such as Fleischhauerstraße and Wahmstraße. The Königpassage and CITTI-PARK malls offer more than 50 attractive shops.
Money
Euro is used, and ATM machines are plentiful.
Ask smaller establishments first whether they take Credit Cards.
Staying connected
German is spoken. Germans are regarded as punctual, disciplined and, last but not least, a little formal. In German, the two forms of you are less-formal "Du" and more-formal "Sie." With people you do not know, almost always use "Sie" and someone’s last name.
Police Emergency: 110; Fire Emergency or Ambulance Call: 112.
An Internet-Café is two blocks from the top of the Ostpreussenkai cruise-terminal building. German keyboards can make the @-sign hard to find: use Ctrl and Alt, with Q (use Ctrl and Alt, with Q).
Opening Hours and
Stores must close by 8 p.m., though some close at 6:30 p.m. Saturday closures are 1 or 2 p.m.; in big city centers most stay open until 2 or 4 p.m.
On Sundays, stores are closed; only some bakeries open in the morning.