Bad Doberan has one of the finest brick Gothic churches in Europe, and it was built by monks. The minster, the Doberaner Münster, was the church of a Cistercian abbey founded in the twelfth century, and the present building, finished in the fourteenth century, is a tall, plain, pale-red brick basilica whose clear lines and soaring interior are the essence of the Baltic Gothic style. The abbey was dissolved at the Reformation, but the church survived, and the dukes of Mecklenburg were buried inside. Its stained glass, carved altars and a huge cross from the Middle Ages are still there.
The town around it is a curious mix. Bad Doberan, with about eleven and a half thousand people, was the summer seat of the Mecklenburg dukes, who in 1793 founded Heiligendamm, the first seaside resort in Germany, a few kilometres up the coast. The resort grew into a collection of white neoclassical villas along the shore, called the white town by the sea, and the dukes' love of the water shaped the area. Germany's oldest racecourse is here, too, dating from the early nineteenth century.
What makes the trip a pleasure is the Molli, a narrow-gauge steam railway that has run between Bad Doberan, Heiligendamm and the seaside town of Kühlungsborn since 1886. The little train, with its tall chimney and its whistle, runs straight through the streets of the town, and it is a sight you remember. For a rider, it also marks the start of the Kühlung hills, a low wooded ridge along the Baltic coast with narrow, curving roads through beech forest, with views over the sea from the top. Surfaces are generally good, and traffic is light except on summer weekends.
Fuel and food are easy in Bad Doberan, with several stations and bakeries, and the seaside towns have smoked fish stalls, serving herring in a roll with onions. Summer brings crowds to the coast, and the sea breeze keeps temperatures mild, though the water is cold, and September is a good month, with fewer people. Wind off the Baltic can be strong, so wear a good jacket, and take care on the coast road where cyclists and holidaymakers are numerous.