© Marco Bottigelli/Getty
This spectacular stretch of the Baltic coast is certainly one of Europe's better-kept secrets. But Germans know better and flock in summer to its dazzling clean white sand and glittering seas.
Hot spots during the all-too-brief beach-going season include three leafy resort islands: sprawling, villa-lined Rügen; car-free Hiddensee; and Usedom (which Germany shares with Poland). Warnemünde, the seaside resort near Rostock, is another sandy hot spot – when it's hot. For natural drama, the cliffs of Jasmund National Park are stunning.
Stralsund is the prize town of the region, combining seaside charms with beautiful old architecture. Other highlights include the gracious university town of Greifswald, which retains some exquisite medieval architecture, as does Wismar.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania.
Church
Central Rostock’s pride and joy is the 13th-century Marienkirche, the only main Rostock church to survive WWII unscathed (although restorations are ongoing). Behind the main altar, the church’s 12m-high astrological clock was built in 1472 by Hans Düringer. At the very top of the clock is a series of doors. At noon and midnight the innermost right door opens and six of the 12 apostles march out to parade around Jesus (Judas is locked out).
Church
This masterpiece of medieval architecture dates to 1270 and is modelled on Lübeck's Marienkirche. Its interior is awash with colour and is filled with art treasures. The main altar (1708), designed by the baroque master Andreas Schlüter, shows the eye of God flanked by cherubs and capped by a depiction of the Last Supper. The main portal of is reached via an entrance off the Alter Markt.
Square
The centrepiece of Old Wismar, the Markt is an attractive square, dominated by the 1602-built Wasserkunst (waterworks), an ornate, 12-sided well that supplied Wismar’s drinking water until 1897 and is the town's landmark. Behind it stands the red-brick Alter Schwede, which dates from 1380 and features a striking step buttress gable facade. It houses a restaurant and guesthouse, as well as a copy of one of the so-called Swedish Heads.
Church
You'll need divine inspiration to guess the number of bricks used to build the massive 14th-century Marienkirche, a superb example of north German red-brick construction. We can however confirm that there are 206 stone or brick stairs and 143 wooden stairs up the tower for a sweeping view of the town, with its lovely red-tiled roofs, and Rügen Island. The ornate 17th-century organ is a stunner.
Square
The richly ornamented buildings ringing the Markt hint at Greifswald’s stature in the Middle Ages. The Rathaus, at the western end, started life as some 14th-century shops. Among the red-brick gabled houses on the eastern side, the Coffee House (No 11) is gorgeous and a good example of a combined living and storage house owned by Hanseatic merchants.
Aquarium
In an arctic-white wave-like building that leaps out from the surrounding red-brick warehouses, the state-of-the-art Ozeaneum takes you into an underwater world of creatures from the Baltic and North Seas and the Atlantic Ocean up to the polar latitudes. In a huge tank you can see what thousands of herring do before they end up dropping down northerner gullets. The Humboldt penguins are a highlight.
Church
Of the three great red-brick churches that once rose above the rooftops of Wismar before WWII, only the sober St-Nikolai-Kirche, the largest of its kind in Europe, was left intact. It has elaborate carvings and a font from its older sister church, the St-Marien-Kirche. The linden-tree-shaded churchyard is next to a small canal and is Wismar's loveliest spot.
Viewpoint
Northwest of Binz, in a lovely Rügen forest, the extraordinary spiral Aussichtsturm Adlerhorst rises 30m above the forest floor – the spiral ramp goes round and around for 600m. It's a wonderful experience and the views out over the treetops are stunning.