Trip to Berlin, Copenhagen, Bremen, Harz, …

Travel Diary

Between February 25 and March 18 I did a short road trip to Berlin and then towards the north of Germany and parts of Denmark. I used the opportunity also to spend a bit of time in the Harz region in the heart of Germany.

In this article I will try to summarize the main route taken and main sights seen. Shot about 4’800 photos of roughly 40 cities and sites.

Travel and accommodation was very similar to the Trip around the Western Coast of Europe last year. The main difference was of course that this trip was much shorter in duration and distance. Also I did not rent any apartments. Instead I relied completely on hotels. Travel between the cities and sights was by car.

Route taken

I had two main objectives during this trip:

  1. Spend time in Berlin and Potsdam to revisit many of the great sights there and explore new ones.
  2. Visit the city of Kopenhagen and try to also see some other parts of Denmark.

These objectives gave the overall direction. The rest was a combination of spontaneity and improvisation. For example I quickly realized that March is a bit too early to visit Denmark. The weather is still not brilliant and most tourist locations only open in April. So I decided to spend more time in the area around Bremen. I completely skipped the western regions of Denmark. Also I initially did not intend to spend more than one day in the Harz region. In the end I was there almost a week and could have spent at least another week full time to visit everything.

The following list shows all the main cities or sites visited during this travel. It is not really an exhaustive list and it mixes cities, regions, buildings, etc. All entries marked in bold where locations where I stayed over night. The links lead to my picture gallery where you can find snapshots taken at this respective location. Please note that I have not uploaded all pictures to the gallery.

  1. Dessau
  2. Wittenberg
  3. Potsdam
    1. Schloss Sanssoucci
    2. Neues Palais
    3. Park Sansscoucci
    4. Schloss Cecilienhof
    5. Alexandrowka
    6. Glienicker Brücke
  4. Berlin
    1. Berlin Brandenburg International
    2. Stasi Prison Hohenschönhausen
    3. Museum Island
      1. Altes Museum
      2. Neues Museum
      3. Alte Nationalgalerie
      4. Bode Museum
      5. Historisches Museum
      6. Pergamon Museum
  5. Spreewald
  6. Ludwigslust Palace
  7. Schwerin
  8. Wismar
  9. Lübeck
  10. Travemünde
  11. Timmendorfer Strand
  12. Plön
  13. Eutin
  14. Ratzeburg
  15. Møns Klint
  16. Roskilde
  17. Copenhagen
    1. Christiansborg
    2. Blue Planet
    3. Nyhavn
    4. Rosenborg
    5. Amalienborg
    6. Kastellet
    7. National museum
    8. Rundetaarn
  18. Frederiksborg Slot
  19. Kronborg Slot
  20. Northern coast of Zealand
  21. Malmö
  22. Lund
  23. Louisiana Museum
  24. Egeskov Slot (was closed)
  25. Koldinghus Castle
  26. Glücksburg Castle (was closed)
  27. Schleswig
  28. Stade
  29. Bremen
  30. Cloppenburg Museum Village
  31. Meyer Shipyards Papenburg
  32. Oldenburg
  33. German Oil Museum
  34. Celle
  35. Autostadt Wolfsburg
  36. Goslar
  37. Mines of Rammelsberg
  38. Teufelsmauer
  39. Wernigerode
  40. Quedlinburg
  41. Walkenried Abbey
  42. Kyffhäuser Memorial
  43. Barbarossa Cave

Personal Highlights

Many things happened during these three weeks. Because the number of sights was so high, it feels like several months of travel. But there are a few things I will especially remember.

Being happy to finally visit the Bauhaus in Dessau. Realizing then however quite quickly that there is not so much to see and that the city is not really pretty.
Being happy to finally visit the Bauhaus in Dessau. Realizing then however quite quickly that there is not so much to see and that the city is not really pretty.
Revisiting the palace gardens of Sanssouci in Potsdam after so many years. This is one of my favorite places in the world. I also need to thank the heavens for the brilliant weather.
Revisiting the palace gardens of Sanssouci in Potsdam after so many years. This is one of my favorite places in the world. I also need to thank the heavens for the brilliant weather.
Feeling the touch of history when visiting the rooms of the famous Potsdam Conference in Cecilienhof
Feeling a touch of history when visiting the rooms of the famous Potsdam Conference in Cecilienhof
Visit of the Stasi prison Höhenschönhausen is probably the opposite of light entertainment. One of the former prisoners led through the large remand center. He spent 18 months there and explained first hand how psychological torture was used in many ways to force inmates to testify anything.
Visiting of the Stasi prison Höhenschönhausen is probably the opposite of light entertainment. One of the former prisoners led through the large remand center. He spent 18 months there and explained first hand how psychological torture was used in many ways to force inmates to testify anything.
Neues Museum
Walking through the freshly renovated/rebuilt Neues Museum in Berlin

 

Seeing the white cliffs of Møns Klint in Denmark. They almost look like an aquarell painting.
Seeing the white cliffs of Møns Klint in Denmark. They almost look like an aquarell painting.
Enjoying Rosenborg Castle with beautiful sunshine. The palace seems to be the royal junk room. Everything that's sort of valuable (but too ugly) is moved there. In the basement you have also the state treasury.
Enjoying Rosenborg Castle in beautiful sunshine. The palace seems to be the royal junk room. Everything that’s sort of valuable (but too ugly) is moved there. In the basement you have also the state treasury.
Walking through the beautiful small city of Lund in Sweden.
Walking through the beautiful small city of Lund in Sweden.
Enjoying typical local food in the old town of Bremen
Enjoying typical local food in the old town of Bremen
Bremerhaven
Seeing the modern container terminal and enormous car shipping facilities of Bremerhaven. Unfortunately it was not allowed to leave the bus or take pictures. They have 100’000 (!!) parking spots for new cars. Half of them in endless parking garages. 2.2 million cars are shipped annually from there.
Visiting the largest roofed dry dock in the world where most of the biggest cruise ships were built. At the same time a bit sad that you cannot get very close to the ships and the actual construction.
Visiting the largest roofed dry dock in the world where most of the biggest cruise ships were built. At the same time a bit sad that you cannot get very close to the ships and the actual construction.
Spending almost a full day in the mines and museum of Rammelsberg while trying not to hit every rock with your head.
Spending almost a full day in the mines and museum of Rammelsberg while trying not to hit every rock with your head.