Why this ride
636 km round from Barsbüttel - plan on about 9 h 32 of riding. It goes by way of Ratzeburg road, Travemünde ferry view, Timmendorfer beach road and Lübeck.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Baltic Bay and Lübeck Old Roads + Mecklenburg Lakes and Schwerin Arc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 636 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 32
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Baltic Coast Scenic Road
43 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 43 km
- Named road
- Baltic Coast Scenic Road
Baltic Coast Scenic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 10 km this is Baltic Coast Scenic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 9 km
- Named road
- Baltic Coast Scenic Road
Schwerin castle sight → Plauer See water stop
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 86 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go — slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 86 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hamburg east edge
Nobody writes songs about the east side of Hamburg, and that is part of its charm as a starting point. Out here the city thins into Stormarn, a district of hedgerows, low brick villages and big sky, and the places on the map, Stapelfeld, Barsbüttel and Glinde, are the sort of towns that exist mainly so that people have somewhere to sleep within reach of the harbour. Glinde has about sixteen thousand people and a good supply of supermarkets and petrol stations, and Barsbüttel is not far behind, so there is no need to worry about fuel before you leave.
Read the complete Hamburg east edge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hamburg east edge is where the day begins. Next is Ratzeburg return road.
2. Ratzeburg return road
The old town of Ratzeburg sits on an island in the middle of a lake, joined to the land by three causeways, and the best way to photograph it is from the road that heads back out. As you leave the town and climb the gentle slope toward the east shore, the island appears across the water: the red-brick cathedral with its twin towers, the roofs of the old houses, the line of trees along the shore, and the long, calm surface of the lake in front. It is a view that has not changed greatly in centuries, and it is at its best in the low light of late afternoon.
Read the complete Ratzeburg return road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ratzeburg return road comes up 51 km in. Next is Travemünde ferry view.
3. Travemünde ferry view
Travemünde is where the Trave river reaches the sea, and the ferry view is the best way to take in that moment. A small passenger and vehicle ferry crosses the river mouth to the Priwall peninsula, and from the quay on the town side you can watch it go back and forth, with the lighthouse, the harbour mouth and the open Baltic framing the scene. Across the water lies the Priwall, a long spit of dunes, holiday homes and a small marina, and moored there is the Passat, a steel four-masted barque built in 1911 that once carried grain from Australia and now serves as a museum ship.
Read the complete Travemünde ferry view write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
102 km in you reach Travemünde ferry view. Next is Timmendorfer beach road.
4. Timmendorfer beach road
The coast of the Bay of Lübeck is the closest thing northern Germany has to a riviera, and the road that links Travemünde, Niendorf, Timmendorfer Strand, Scharbeutz and Haffkrug is its promenade. It runs a little inland from the sea, through a string of resort towns that merge into one another, with villas, hotels and shops on either side, and gaps between them that show the beach, the sea and the long wooden piers. This is a landscape of holiday, and it has been since the late nineteenth century, when the first bathing guests arrived by train from Lübeck and Hamburg.
Read the complete Timmendorfer beach road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Timmendorfer beach road, early in the day. Next is Lübeck.
5. Lübeck fuel gate
At the northern edge of the city, in the district around Stockelsdorf, the road leads to the Baltic coast, and the ride begins here, heading north-east through the forests and fields of Ostholstein towards Travemünde, Timmendorfer Strand and the sea.
Read the complete Lübeck write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Next is Ahrensburg coffee stop.
6. Ahrensburg coffee stop
Ahrensburg owes its character to a single building, the castle. Schloss Ahrensburg is a Renaissance moated residence of pale rose-pink stucco, built in the late sixteenth century by the Rantzau family, one of the great noble houses of Holstein, and it stands in a green park beside a mirror-like pond. The house has a fairytale shape, with gables, turrets and a drawbridge, and it is now a museum. Behind it stretch lawns and an avenue of ancient limes, and the town's coffee houses and bakeries cluster nearby.
Read the complete Ahrensburg coffee stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ahrensburg coffee stop comes up 255 km in. Next is back to Hamburg east edge.
7. back to Hamburg east edge
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hamburg east edge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back to Hamburg east edge closes the day. Next is Hamburg east.
8. Hamburg east gate
This one is a boundary rather than a destination: the place where Hamburg stops being a city and the roads become something a rider might enjoy. The east side of the metropolis frays out through Stormarn district, with Stapelfeld just a few kilometres away, and the motorway and the main roads funnel in toward the centre. For a returning rider, it is a moment to take stock, check the fuel and slow down after a long day of countryside.
Read the complete Hamburg east gate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
You start here, at road level. Next is Lauenburg.
9. Lauenburg fuel gate
Lauenburg is where the Elbe stops being a big river and starts being a working waterway with serious ambitions. The town stretches along a steep bank, with the old town clinging to the hill and the lower town, the Elbstrasse, running along the water's edge, and the river below is wide, brown and busy with barges. For centuries this was a toll town, collecting dues from the traffic that moved between Hamburg and the Baltic, and the Elbe-Lübeck canal begins nearby, which once carried salt from Lüneburg to the sea.
Read the complete Lauenburg fuel gate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Next is Schwerin castle sight.
10. Schwerin castle sight
Schwerin castle is a fairy tale in brick and gilt, and it is built on an island. The palace of the Mecklenburg dukes stands on a small island in the Schweriner See, linked to the town by a bridge, with turrets, towers and a golden dome reflected in the water. The present building, a romantic mix of Renaissance and Gothic styles, was built in the middle of the nineteenth century to a design that drew on the French chateaux of the Loire, and it is now the seat of the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. UNESCO listed the castle and its gardens in 2020.
Read the complete Schwerin castle sight write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Schwerin castle sight comes up 458 km in. Next is Plauer See water stop.
11. Plauer See water stop
Plau am See sits at the western end of the Plauer See, the third-largest lake in Mecklenburg after the Müritz and the Schweriner See, in the heart of the lake district that stretches across the north-east of Germany. The town of nearly six thousand has a small old centre, a harbour, and a lift bridge over the river Elde that is a local landmark, and it is a sensible stop for fuel, ice cream and a swim. Malchow, about fifteen kilometres to the east, has seven thousand people and sits on an island between two lakes, joined to the shore by an old swing bridge.
Read the complete Plauer See water stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
509 km in you reach Plauer See water stop. Next is Wismar harbour food.
12. Wismar harbour food
Wismar is the Baltic port that spent a century and a half as a piece of Sweden, and it still shows. Between 1648, when the Peace of Westphalia handed it to the Swedish crown, and 1803, when it was pledged to Mecklenburg, the town was a fortified Swedish outpost, and two stone heads at the harbour entrance, the so-called Swedish Heads, are a reminder of the time.
Read the complete Wismar harbour food write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Somewhere to get off the bike, 560 km in. Next is Lübeck return road.
13. Lübeck return road
Lübeck made its fortune from salt and herring. In the Middle Ages, the city on the Trave was the head of the Hanseatic League, the great trading association of North German towns, and its merchants controlled trade across the Baltic and the North Sea. The Holstentor, the brick gate with two round towers that leans slightly under its own weight, was built in the fifteenth century and is the symbol of the city, and the old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Gothic churches, merchants' houses and narrow lanes.
Read the complete Lübeck return road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food at 611 km, roughly 11 hours into the riding. Next is Back to Hamburg east.
14. Back to Hamburg east gate
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hamburg east gate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Back to Hamburg east. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hamburg east edge to Ratzeburg return road
Hamburg east edge → Ratzeburg return road is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ratzeburg return road to Travemünde ferry view
Ratzeburg return road → Travemünde ferry view is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Travemünde ferry view to Timmendorfer beach road
Travemünde ferry view → Timmendorfer beach road is 9 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Timmendorfer beach road to Lübeck fuel gate
Timmendorfer beach road → Lübeck fuel gate is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lübeck fuel gate to Ahrensburg coffee stop
Lübeck fuel gate → Ahrensburg coffee stop is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ahrensburg coffee stop to back to Hamburg east edge
Ahrensburg coffee stop → back to Hamburg east edge is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back to Hamburg east edge to Hamburg east gate
back to Hamburg east edge → Hamburg east gate is 4 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hamburg east gate to Lauenburg fuel gate
Hamburg east gate → Lauenburg fuel gate is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lauenburg fuel gate to Schwerin castle sight
Lauenburg fuel gate → Schwerin castle sight is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Schwerin castle sight to Plauer See water stop
Schwerin castle sight → Plauer See water stop is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Plauer See water stop to Wismar harbour food
Plauer See water stop → Wismar harbour food is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Wismar harbour food to Lübeck return road
Wismar harbour food → Lübeck return road is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Lübeck return road to Back to Hamburg east gate
Lübeck return road → Back to Hamburg east gate is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.