Zarrentin is the kind of lake town where you finish a ride sooner than planned because a bench by the water makes a better argument than the map does. It sits at the southern tip of the Schaalsee, on the Mecklenburg side of a line that for four decades was the most heavily guarded boundary in Europe. Riders coming from Hamburg cross it without noticing, apart from a subtle shift in the roads, which are a little rougher, a little emptier and lined with the tall avenue trees that Mecklenburg does so well.
The swimming spot is the town's own beach and landing stage, on a lake that is clean, cold and extremely deep by northern standards. You walk in over firm sand and within a few strides the bottom drops away, so it suits a quick dip better than a long paddle. Locals bring their children in July and August, and the water, helped by a protected lake status that keeps motorboats away, stays clear. Out of season the water is for looking at, and the reed margins fill with coots and great crested grebes.
What to eat is simple. Fish from the lake, usually smoked whitefish, is sold by small producers in the area, and a bread roll with it, eaten on the shore, is the right lunch. Cake and coffee are never hard to find in the village, and an ice-cream window does a roaring trade on warm days. Do not expect a big choice, but do not expect to go hungry either.
The ride in from the west threads through the Lauenburg lakes and past the old Elbe-Lübeck canal, on gently undulating lanes with good tarmac and the occasional wet leaf-fall patch under the trees. Farm tractors are the main obstacles. In the late afternoon the low sun comes through the avenue trunks in flickering bars, which can be disorienting at speed, so ease off.
Zarrentin is small, with around three thousand people. It has a baker, a shop or two and a few places to sit, but if you need a proper fuel station and supermarkets, Wittenburg is the answer, twelve kilometres away, with just over five thousand inhabitants. Fill up before you come, and keep a dry towel in the pannier. It is easy to forget one, and the sun does not always last.