A Four-Week Fix Of Dane Relief

Having been Denmark-curious for a while, Andrew and May Clark decided to get up to speed with a 30-day tour of this fascinating country.

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DO YOU KNOW much about Denmark? We certainly didn’t, and that was the appeal. All May and I knew about the country was gleaned from brochures.

We decided to break our journey to Denmark with a stopover at Camping Ostseestrand on the Baltic Sea in northern Germany, around 80 miles from the Danish border. This allowed us to explore en route some of the historic nautical villages along that coastline. The campsite is 22 miles east of Kiel, the gateway to the Baltic region and, for one week in June, home to one of the largest sailing events in the world, the annual Kiel Week. The regatta attracts more than three million visitors.

The medieval city of Lubeck is just over an hour’s drive away. In medieval times you could enter this fortified town via four town gates, but only two remain. The most famous and the symbol of Lubeck is the Holsten Gate dating back to 1464. Built in the Brick Gothic style of architecture this impressive twin tower structure also doubles as a museum.

This charming old city is one of the best preserved medieval cities on the Continent. The best way to explore its beautiful old buildings is on foot, along the narrow cobbled streets and alleyways.

We visited the seaside village of Laboe, where the last surviving V11c-type U-boat or Unterseeboot (submarine) U995 is on display. This standard typeU-boat was the backbone of the German submarine force that caused havoc to merchant shipping in the Battle of the Atlantic between 1939-45. Just across the road is the Naval Memorial – you can buy multi-card tickets for both attractions.

For our last night in Germany we couldn’t resist a barbeque the campsite had organised. The chef ’s special was roast pig cooked on a spit. The event attracted a large crowd and everyone enjoyed dinner and drinks in the marquee ona dry, sunny evening, with stunning views across the Baltic as an added bonus.