A guide to some of the country’s best coastal and lakeside beaches…
Better known for its dense, mysterious forests, romantic hilltop castles and quaint mediaeval villages brimming with cobbled lanes and picturesque timber-framed houses, it can be a shock for visitors to learn that Germany has a long, sweeping coastline as well as more than 12,000 scenic lakes.
The northern coast alone, which extends some 2,400 kilometres along the Baltic and North Seas, offers non-stop sweeping beaches, rugged cliffs and fabulous coastal scenery, as well as a number of diverse islands. True, it’s not the Mediterranean and you’ll have to make do with pine trees rather than palms, but with temperatures pushing over 20 degrees (celsius) during summer you’ll still need to pack plenty of sunscreen and your trunks/bikini—unless you’re okay with Germany’s famous penchant for nudist beaches, in which case maybe not…
If you’re not visiting during summer or the weather isn’t playing ball, there are also wild and windy coastlines ideal for surfers and water-sport aficionados, dedicated spa retreats and cultural offerings, plus scenic nature reserves with oodles of marine and bird life and trails for hikers and bikers…
North Sea Coast
The North Sea, located in the northwest of the country, is perhaps best known for the Unesco World Cultural Heritage Wadden Sea, a coastal system of intertidal sand and mudflats that stretches all the way west to the Netherlands, as well as the East Frisian and North Frisian islands, but it also has a string of harbour towns and attractive resorts, many of which have the kinds of beaches that could make you Instagram-famous.
The big hitter is Sylt, nicknamed the “Queen of the North Sea” (Königin der Nordsee) by Germans. Located just west of the Germany-Denmark border, it’s officially one of the North Frisian islands and has around 40 kilometres of beaches, many of them linked via walking trails and dotted with rugged cliffs, picturesque lighthouses, golf courses and health resorts. There are many great towns and villages that can serve as a base, from Wenningstedt-Braderup, whose calm and shallow waters make it great for families, to the wilder beaches along Westerland, which hosts the annual Windsurf World Cup and is ideal for watersports enthusiasts. While here, you might want to try the local oysters, which come from Dittmeyer, Germany’s only oyster farm (located on the Wadden Sea mudflats).
Though you won’t find many non-Germans on Sylt, it can nonetheless get very busy in summer. For something a little quieter, try one of the smaller North Frisian islands, such as the 20-square-kilometre Amrum, which is characterised by picturesque fishing villages, striking white sand dunes, and one of Europe’s widest beaches. The East Frisians are also notable for their low-key tranquillity, which can border on splendid isolation. Langeoog is particularly scenic: it has no inhabitants and no cars, just a stunning coastline featuring imposing dunes that can reach up to 20-metres high, plus mudflats, salt marshes, and dedicated nature trails. Your only companions here might well be the abundant herring gulls on the island or the seals that hang out on the eastern shore.
Not that you need to visit a North Sea island to find good beaches. Just below Sylt, on the mainland, lies St-Peter-Ording (SPO), which has a stunning 10-kilometre stretch of sandy beach that’s popular with watersports enthusiasts and families alike. In fact it’s a great spot if you’re with kids thanks to a nearby zoo and seawater aquarium plus cycling and hiking trails.
East Sea (Baltic Coast)
The equivalents to Sylt over on the East Sea, are the islands of Rügen and Usedom. Rügen is one of the most popular coastal destinations in Germany, renowned especially for upscale beach resorts such as Binz and Sellin. Both situated on the island’s east coast, they date back to the nineteenth century and offer elegant Bäderarchitektur (‘resort architecture’) in the shape of attractive hotels, restaurants, piers and promenades.
While these are inevitably buzzy and crowded in summer, there are also quieter options such as Schaabe and the Wittow Peninsula in the north, or the family-friendly Baabe and Göhren in the south. One of the most scenic stretches of the island, which shouldn’t be missed, is the UNESCO-heritage Jasmund National Park, whose stunning white chalk cliffs were made famous by Romantic painter David Caspar Friedrich. Another popular excursion from Rügen is to catch the ferry (from Schaprode) to the car-free island of Hiddensee.
Usedom, divided between Germany and Poland, is a bit more rugged than Rügen, but still boasts generous amounts of sandy coastline—up to 70 metres wide in some places—and happens to be one of the sunniest places in Germany, blessed by an average of 1,000 hours of sun each year. The entire northern coast of the island is more or less one long beach, stretching for almost 50 kilometres between Peenemünde in the northwest down to Swinemünde (Świnoujście in Polish) in the east, with popular resorts including the spa towns of Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf and Bansin; these spots also offer plenty of cultural and historic distractions, hiking and biking trails and even horse riding.
Once again though, you don’t have to go to an island to enjoy an East Sea beach experience. Timmendorfer Strand, set in the Bay of Lübeck (Schleswig-Holstein), offers over six golden kilometres of sand alongside a slew of attractions that include a marina, volleyball area and sports club, outdoor concerts at the Strand Arena, a Sea Life aquarium, plus an attractively long pier with panoramic views. Thrill seekers can get stuck into paddle boarding, surfing and windsurfing, with local rentals and lessons available, while a quieter experience can be had at the Niendorf end, which has a bird park.
Despite being a cruise ship destination, the Baltic port town of Warnemünde also offers some exceptional maritime charm. A former fishing village, its historic centre dates back to the thirteenth century and has the requisite cobbled lanes and cutesy half-timbered houses, plus seafood restaurants and fish-and-chip shacks. The town’s three-kilometre white sand beach is exceptionally broad at 150 metres, extending out from the buzzy marina and handsome nineteenth-century lighthouse and backed by a pleasant promenade. For those who don’t want to be too far from urban conveniences, Rostock is a bigger city, just a quick (30-minute) train ride away, and also makes a great base to explore the area.
Lakes
Away from the coast, Germany still offers plenty of beach action thanks to its abundance of beautiful lakes. In fact it even has its own “lake district” in the shape of the Mecklenburg Lake Plateau or Mecklenburg Lakeland, an ensemble of over 600 interconnected lakes located around 150 kilometres north of Berlin. Although there’s no mountain scenery this far north, the area has nature parks to explore as well as cultural sights dotted around the charming towns and cities of the region. Convenient bases with access to great beaches nearby include Waren, which is close to Lake Müritz, the second largest lake in the country, Neustrelitz and Plau am See; despite it being a popular summer destination for Germans, there are enough beaches here to make sure you’ll find a decent spot.
Closer to Berlin, the rural state of Brandenburg (which surrounds the capital) also offers thousands of lakes—not to mention 19,000 miles of rivers and waterways, 4,500 miles of cycle paths and 1,250 miles of walking trails. As with Mecklenberg, many of these lakes offer a range of beaches from official lidos with facilities that necessitate a small fee to enter, to natural beaches that anyone can use for sunbathing or swimming free of charge. Just be warned that skinny-dippers do tend to also frequent the latter.
It might come as a surprise to learn that Berlin itself has some sandy stretches too. Strandbad Wannsee, in the leafy southwest of the city, is one of the country’s oldest lidos, dating back to 1907. It has a kilometre-long beach lined with traditional kiosks selling sausages, ice cream, beer and soft drinks, and besides swimming you can also rent paddle boats or play volleyball, basketball or table tennis. In the northeastern district of Wedding, Strandbad Plötzensee also has a sandy beach and formal facilities, though you can expect to queue for both places in summer if you don’t wake up early—hence most locals ride out to the surrounding lakes.
There are plenty more lake beaches around the rest of Germany too. The Big Daddy, with a whopping total area of 536 square kilometres, is Lake Constance, known in Germany as Bodensee. The lake is so big it spans three different countries—Germany, Austria and Switzerland—and is the third largest lake in Central Europe. Although it doesn’t have so many traditional sand beaches (due to its rocky shores), it does have some, as well as plenty of pebble beaches where visitors can enjoy the crystal-clear water and, in some locations, stunning Alpine scenery.
Popular resorts here include Konstanz, which offers the Horn lido, known locally as Hörnle, which has beach volleyball, grassy sunbathing areas, and a designated swimming section. Strandbad Friedrichshafen also has grassy and sandy areas for sunbathing, as well as a playground, beach volleyball courts, and a snack bar. Überlingen, Langenargen and Gohren all offer beaches, as does Lindau, which has a generous twelve kilometres of shoreline, a picturesque old town and harbour, and a pretty island of the same name. For a more natural experience, try the Mettnau peninsula on the northern coast. This nature reserve has hiking and cycling trails as well as several beaches and swimming areas along the shoreline, including the sandy Mettnau beach located on the eastern side of the peninsula.
Chiemsee, Germany’s third largest lake at 80-square-kilometres, draws locals and tourists alike for its shimmering waters and sandy shoreline, as well as major sights such as the stunning Schloss Herrenchiemsee, set on an island in the middle of the lake. The picturesque towns of Prien am Chiemsee and Bernau am Chiemsee are great places to be based, while the beaches at Chieming and Gstadt (both free), on the lake’s eastern and northern shores respectively, are easiest to reach. Parents with small children might enjoy the Chiemseepark Seebrücke, which has shallow water, playgrounds and sandpits, while the Chieming Lido has around five kilometres of sandy beaches, volleyball courts and a wind- and kite-surfing school.
And there are more—lots more. To give just a few examples of notable lakes, there’s the Langener Waldsee just 20 kilometres south of Frankfurt, whose 900-metre-long beach attracts swimmers, surfers and sailors alike, and serves as one of the locations for the annual Ironman European Championship. In the Black Forest, near Freiburg im Breisgau, lies the beautiful Schluchsee, surrounded by dense woods and offering swimming and windsurfing as well as hiking and cycling.
Bavaria has not only the Königsee, the Tegernsee but also the Walchensee, an alpine lake 80 kilometres from Munich with lots of secluded bathing spots. Cologne has the Fühlinger See with its famous Blackfoot beach. Hamburg has the lovely Elbstrand, where you can get a suntan while admiring the harbour views.