September 2026
This trip was undertaken as part of a holiday trip around Italy hastily planned expedition through northern Germany with the aim of finding out what they’re like over there when it comes to beer and fish:
Wismar – Poel – Lübeck – Schwerin
We chose this trip because it’s off-season in that area and booking prices are a bit more reasonable. We travelled by car, mainly because we needed to do it the traditional way and return a load of crates of German bottles
Once the bottles were returned, we decided to treat ourselves to a proper German snack: breaded tinned herring (sic)
There’s a car park right by the hotel, which is handy (I reckon people in Germany would rofl at our stupidity if they saw this photo)
The view from the window is lovely
The town itself doesn’t start straight away; first, there are three circles of hell
And then, bang, the red town
Not a soul on the street after 7 pm
What a coincidence – I’d just been to Calais recently. I suppose I’m going through a "northern phase" at the moment
It gets dark early
There are hardly any people about, and of those who are, the average age is around 70
The town centre is a charming brown area; you can walk straight through it in about 10 minutes
There’s parking absolutely everywhere
History shines through in places
Here’s a challenge: imagine you’re in Wismar. Try picking a little restaurant serving draught beer from the map. The funny thing is that they all have ratings of around 4 – where have you ever seen that?
The beer’s average, the prices are high, and the young waitress even spoke English and smiled (spoiler alert: in this part of Germany, that’s a rarity)
This part of Germany is also known for its fish. It looks delicious in the photo, but it doesn’t taste quite as good
And what’s more – there are seascapes everywhere here
There’s something to it, but I haven’t missed the darkness and the cold for about 15 years now
