Ideas for stop offs in Northern Germany

[Merseysider]

In Autumn/Winter I'll be going back to Germany for a few days, more specifically to visit Berlin and Sylt. Whilst train tickets aren't on sale yet, plane tickets are, so I'll be looking to book by next month.

Is there anywhere near/inbetween the aforementioned cities that anyone would recommend for a day visit? Bonus points if the rail line to/from it is particularly scenic

TIA

 

[30907]

Lübeck would be the major historic city en route.

Thence the line through the Holstein Lakes to Kiel, and on via the Rendsburg High Bridge.

Schleswig is a nice little town, but the station is rather out of town, same goes for Flensburg on its fjord.

If you take a more southerly route via Hamburg, stop off briefly at Uelzen where the station buildings were remodelled by Hundertwasser.

At Niebüll, you've got the car trains, some of which now run with a 628 dmu on the rear, and the through coaches to Dagebüll which make for some fun shunting (until the end of October).

And if you've not been to Miniaturewunderland in Hamburg, then add that to the list.

 

[Groningen]

There 3 bridges across the Nordostseekanal. 1 as mentioned near Rendsburg, a second at 54.016321, 9.297221 and 1 north of Kiel.

That second bridge is described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hochdonn_High_Bridge

Both first 2 bridges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd49fp5Uu00

 

[davetheguard]

I've always fancied a trip to the German island of Heligoland/Helgoland in the North Sea; I think there are ferries from a couple of places on the mainland including Bremerhaven. I don't think you go there for the beauty of the place; just for its unusual status and unique history.

I don't think its in the EU (like the Channel Islands) so people go there for the day to stock up on duty free. And it used to be a British possession until we swapped it with the German government in the 19th Century for Zanzibar off the east coast of Africa. Yes, honestly!

 

[30907]

There 3 bridges across the Nordostseekanal. 1 as mentioned near Rendsburg, a second at 54.016321, 9.297221 and 1 north of Kiel.

That second bridge is described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hochdonn_High_Bridge

Both first 2 bridges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd49fp5Uu00

The Hochdonn bridge is on the main line to Sylt, so out by one and back by the other.

The Kiel one is on the secondary line to Flensburg and is rail and road. There's yet another on the minor line from Neumünster to Heide.

 

[Merseysider]

Thanks for all the answers - I'll certainly look into them all. DB tend to do a €19 flat fare special offer around that time of the year so I'm hopeful of fitting many of them in.

 

[coppercapped]

Lübeck would be the major historic city en route.

If you are in Lübeck, do visit the Schiffergesellschaft. It was a place for ships' captains and traders to meet and make deals on the Baltic and Scandinavian trades in the Middle Ages. It's served food and drink since then in the same building:

http://www.schiffergesellschaft.com/19-1-Startseite.htm

The English is a bit wonky! You don't need to make a reservation, except possibly for some evenings. Just walk in and look at the front room - it really is magnificent.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Uelzen Bahnhof was redesigned by Austrian architect Hundertwasser, it is between Hamburg and Hannover and you can also get a train to Stendahl (direction Berlin) from there:

http://www.hundertwasserbahnhof.de/