Coffee in Ratzeburg is a small expedition, because the old town is an island. You cross one of three causeways, park near the cathedral and walk the cobbled lanes, with the lake glinting at the end of every street. The island is only a few hundred metres across, and it takes less than half an hour to walk around, but it is packed with history and has a number of cafés where you can sit with a pot of coffee and a slice of cake.
The cathedral dominates the island. Begun in the 1160s by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, it is among the oldest large brick churches in northern Germany, a plain and sturdy building of dark red brick with a tall nave and heavy towers. Inside, the stone is austere, and the light is soft. The duke built it as a statement of Christian rule over the Slavic lands he had just conquered, and when you stand in front of it you can feel the intention.
Another figure is tied to the town. The sculptor and writer Ernst Barlach spent part of his youth here, and the town has a museum dedicated to his work, in a pair of buildings on the island, with his brooding wooden and bronze figures, including a number of drawings and plays. Barlach is best known for the floating angel in Güstrow and for his war memorials, which the Nazis later removed as degenerate. Even if sculpture is not your thing, the museum is quiet and compact and well worth half an hour.
For riders the island is easy to reach. The approach from Hamburg is a straightforward run through farmland and lakes, and the roads near the town are scenic and gentle. Cobbles on the island are rough and slippery after rain, so park at the edge and walk. The town has about fourteen thousand people, with fuel stations and supermarkets on the mainland side, and plenty of cafés on the island. Weekends in summer are busy, with tourists and rowers, so the best time is a weekday morning, when the light on the water is silver and the cathedral bell rings the hour. Take your coffee outside, if you can, and look at the water.