Travel report: The Baltic Sea Cycle Path from Lübeck to Stralsund

...who did not shy away from the long journey from Mexico across the Atlantic in September 2024 to experience a great bike trip on the Baltic Sea Cycle Path between Lübeck and Stralsund.

Have a great bike trip?

...you bet, we want nothing more than to cycle.

As soon as we arrived in Lübeck, Waldhotel Twiehaus, we were put on our bikes by the friendly owners and sent into the center of Lübeck.

The next morning, in rainy weather and with detailed instructions, we set off. We took the first opportunity to get lost and turned right instead of left. A nice jogger put us back on the right track. The adventure began, the rain stopped, we started to follow the small green cycle path signs, enjoyed the wind and excitedly awaited our first view of the Baltic Sea. Later, the impressive view of Boltenhagen Bay from a cliff will also remain unforgettable.

Question: How do we find the way? We really wanted to cycle with a map without GPS. Will we manage the kilometers, was the answer on the first day.

In Boltenhagen, we ate our first fish and watched a beautiful sunset. At the hotel – all the hotels were very nice, by the way, but especially the Waldhotel Twiehaus in Lübeck, the Doberaner Hof and the Der Fischländer hotel in Ahrenshoop – we developed our rhythm: packing our bike bags for the next day and excitedly planning the route for the next day. The travel documents were perfect.

On the second day, we learned that the cycle path wasn't as flat as I thought, it was uphill and downhill. That and a strong headwind got us out of breath, but our spirits remained high. We took lots of breaks on every stage of our cycle tour. Whether it was to regain our strength after a mountain or headwind or simply to enjoy the many different landscapes, forests, fields, lakes, dunes, lagoons or the sea. A word of praise for the bikes, whether asphalt, sand and gravel paths or earthy forest soil, everything could be ridden without any problems.

Riding the Molli railway for part of the route was also a lot of fun.

Although it wasn't very late when we arrived at the hotel, museums, stores and galleries were often already closed, so if we did the tour again, we would book an extra day in some places, for example in Wismar because of the sights and Ahrenshoop because the beach there is sooo beautiful.

The first time we got lost wasn't the last, it wasn't always clear where we were going, a few more green bike signs would have been helpful. At one point, we suddenly found ourselves riding along a main road for a long time, when we should have been in a ghostly forest. Fortunately, nice people kept helping us to find the right way. On this day, we cycled a route several times in order to pass through the ghost forest after all, which was incredibly beautiful. The stage was exhausting and we only arrived at the hotel at night, but we will always remember this wonderful sunset along the coast, which we would not have experienced otherwise.

There was soooo much to see on the way, brick buildings, beautifully painted doors, many beach entrances that only revealed a view of the sea when you were standing on the dune – so you had to keep looking – lots of different birds in the Bodden or forests where there were pine trees on one side of the cycle path and birch trees on the other...

The closer we got to Stralsund, the end of our adventure, the slower we got. We would have liked to keep going, but it was with a heavy heart that we finally returned our bikes to the hotel.

We were proud to have made it, as we don't normally cycle such long distances or look for cycle route signs. We were happy about everything we had experienced. And we were sad, because we won't be going on another trip like this any time soon, even though we want to: After all, we are from Mexico.

Forever we will remember what it is like to sit on a bike and ride through the impressive natural surroundings. Feeling the sun and the rain and hearing the wind in the fields, forests and dunes.