Family vacation on the baltic sea: ahoy, landlubbers and leisure captains!

The next vacation is coming and you don’t know exactly where to go this year? How about the Baltic Sea? It not only has a lot to offer for bathing mermaids, but also for nature lovers, animal lovers and goofy animals!

The Baltic Sea is bordered by Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Kattegat and Skagerrak connect the inland sea to the North Sea. The westernmost point is at Flensburg, the easternmost at Sankt Peterburg. There are numerous islands here, 80,000 of them belong to Finland. You can find everything from small, rocky archipelago islands to cliffs and cliffs, long bays and lagoon waters.

Adventure search on a thousand small islands

Where the pirates we Störtebecker used to mischief, the Vikings moored and the merchants of the Hanseatic goods traded in bustling harbors, you can relax with your kids and experience adventures.

The Baltic Sea can be crossed over long bridges and by ferry. Ferries run from Rostock to Helsinki (Finland), Trelleborg (Sweden), Gedser (Denmark) and Ventspils (Latvia). From Kiel the ferries take you to Oslo (Norway), Gothenburg (Sweden), Klaipeda (Lithuania), Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg (Russia). Maybe you will find a headquarters and conquer the far north from there?

5 reasons for family vacation Baltic Sea

There is no doubt that there are enough reasons for a family vacation on the Baltic Sea. If your children are real water rats, you have already hit the mark with this choice. The Baltic Sea is not far away, not as crowded as the Italian Riviera and not as expensive as the south coast of France. You do not have to learn a new language (except perhaps that of coziness) and you are in a very family-friendly area with great bike paths, monitored beaches with fine sandy beaches, good infrastructure and often underestimated insider tips.

You can get to the Baltic Sea by bus, train, car, camper, plane (although Rostock-Laage airport is not entirely on the Baltic Sea) and, if necessary, by bike.

Family vacation Baltic Sea: swimming fun at the sea

Of course, what the region around the Baltic Sea (also called "the Baltic States") has to offer is obvious: sea, endlessly long beaches, old Hanseatic cities and vast landscapes. The last ice age rolled over the landscape like a rolling pin south of the Norwegian fjords. What is left is a sea with islands, strong forests, flat landscape, many lakes and sandy beaches.

The islands of Rügen, Usedom, Fischland-Darß-Zingst, Poel and Hiddensee are very busy in summer. Warnemünde is particularly popular with tourists in Rostock, because here the cruise ships and ferries land. On Udo’s fishing trawler there is backfish and matjes roll, you drink Mann un Fru, a misty schnapps, wear a wind and rain jacket in bright yellow and build spotty castles on the beach. The beach is sandy and white with a few exceptions.

Matjes, sailor knots and the sound of the sea

Lesser-known places such as Kühlungsborn and Heiligendamm, Markgrafenheide, Graal-Müritz and Bock also have wonderful beaches where you can swim, splash and sunbathe. The DLRG (Deutsche Lebensrettungsgesellschaft) is on most beaches on site. There are numerous water sports for sports fans: canoeing, swimming, sailing, kite and windsurfing, SUP paddling and diving are great here. There are also courses and camps for children, beginners and newcomers.

In bad weather you can learn to tie hammocks with your children, tie sailor knots and hear whales sing in the Ozeaneum and see the underwater world.

Family vacation Baltic Sea: Experience adventure in nature

There are numerous cycle paths in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that are well developed. Children can also go from lake to lake without much stress here. The Baltic Sea cycle path, for example, always leads along the Baltic coast through sleepy farming villages and over long dikes.

Families can also use the raft to sail across the Mecklenburg Lake District and look fish, otters, ducks and kingfishers in the eye. In the Feldberger Seenlandschaft you can find rare eagles, watch wolves and bears at Güstrow and there are bisons on Wolin, an island near the German border in Poland.

You can camp on the Baltic Sea on wonderful campsites, stand free in Scandinavia, but also stay in pensions, hostels and hotels. Depending on what you are after, you will find accommodations. But be careful – word is slowly getting around – the best accommodations are gladly booked. If possible, plan in advance for booking the overnight stay.

Family vacation Baltic Sea – your children can do that

In addition to building clay and sand castles, swimming and playing water polo, digging mom and dad in the sand and eating fish sandwiches, the Baltic Sea region offers a lot more. You can go fishing on a fishing trawler or rent canoes and see gray seals. And where is it better to learn to swim than by the sea? The Baltic Sea is not particularly salty, so it may not scare your children too much.

Learn more about coastal shapes and water rescue with your older kids, collect the various shells and make souvenirs from washed-up wood. You could practice the figure of eight knot and the palsteg and make up pirate stories together. Eye patch and bandana make a great costume!

Hot spots on the Baltic Sea

Fehmarn

Most holidaymakers have concerns about the Baltic Sea, because you cannot be sure about the weather. Fehmarn has over 2,200 hours of sunshine a year! Here you can swim and sunbathe, but also surf, because there is always some wind. Long, white Sandy beaches (especially at the Wulfener Hals and Burgtiefe), several offshore mini islands, weekly market and children’s creative courses make Fehmarn a real family island. Fehmarn is also only an hour away from Lübeck. Useless knowledge: even Jimmi Hendrix was here: 1970 at the Love and Peace Festival.

Darss-Zingst

The Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula lies between Rostock and Stralsund. The island separates the Baltic Sea and the Bodden, a lagoon-like coastal water that is very flat and almost salt-free. Numerous windsurfers and kitesurfers are on the way here and great bike paths are built between the towns of Ahrenshoop, Prerow and Zingst through the forest and the national park. Ahrenshoop is now a real artist colony. Thatched fisherman’s houses, sailor stories and wild blueberries invite you to stay. Collect shells and maybe even amber here, fly kites or build sand castles.

Lubeck

Lübeck is not only known for its marzipan, but also because the small town between Kiel and Rostock, as a well-preserved, medieval Hanseatic city, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Lübeck is considered the "mother of the Hanseatic League" and has beautiful brick Gothic architecture to offer. You can visit the Buddenbrookhaus here, look at grave diggers or explore the Trave by canoe.

Kuehlungsborn

If you can hear a loud whine from afar and then see the Molli driving around the curve, you are probably in Kühlungsborn. The historic narrow-gauge railway with the black locomotive and the red-beige wagons takes people from Bad Doberan to Kühlungsborn. The place has been heavily restored in recent decades and is now one of the most beautiful on the Baltic Sea. Turquoise sea, white villas from the Belle Epoque and lots of activities for Children and families make Kühlungsborn a worthwhile stop.

Warnemünde

Warnemünde is a district of Rostock, which is located directly on the sea. The ferries to Scandinavia depart from here. Udo´s fishing trawler has the best fish rolls in the world and if you are not careful, the circling gulls will snap it out of your hand. The small, colorful fishing trawlers lie on the old stream, bringing fish from the Baltic Sea very early in the morning. The beach chair was invented here in 1882 and you can still enjoy the sun on the fine, white beach.

Family vacation Baltic Sea – how about camping?

Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania are great for camping. In the former GDR, camping was a popular form of vacation – that’s why there have been many places there for a long time. But Schleswig-Holstein is not inferior to that either. The Inselcamp campsite on Fehmarn, for example, has great reviews and is right on the Baltic Sea.

The Regenbogen Ferienanlage in Prerow is located directly on the beach, here you can with the Campers even stand in the dunes. You can’t get any closer to the sea.

The camping and holiday park Wulfener Hals on Fehmarn is also in a great location. You have a children’s playground, a baby changing room, you can rent boats and bicycles or take part in sports courses.

On the Stubbenfelde campsite near Loddin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, you camp between trees with a sea view. The course is natural and offers, for example, children’s entertainment and an adventure playground. The same applies to the Karlshagen dune camp.