Schwerin – a serene place! – Got the Fridge Magnet

From our base in Hamburg, my partner and I took a day trip to Schwerin in May 2018

Day trips from Hamburg

For day trips at leisure from Hamburg, there’s no need to join guided tours. What is needed is to:

1. stay near the central station or somewhere with easy access to the metro,

2. plan ahead which desired destination is accessible by train and

3. get the regional day tickets (regional day ticket) which are such great value for money for 2 to 5 persons travelling together. They are valid for travelling after 9.00 a.m.

Be organised to be stress free !

The Tourist Information office in the central station is the best place to start.

I had prepared a list of the destinations that I wanted for the days ahead and asked for the regional day tickets. The very efficient lady behind the counter sorted it all out in a few minutes.

It’s advisable to buy all the tickets at one go in advance to save the hassle of queuing up on the day of travel and risk missing the trains (some routes are not very frequent)

For a return trip to Schwerin it cost €23 per person, but €29 for two persons, so there’s an instant saving of €8.50 each!

Although the time of the return journey is printed on the schedule that accompanies the ticket, it is possible to get an earlier or later train, so long as they are regional trains, which are clean and comfortable double-deckers with toilets onboard.

The first available train for Schwerin with the regional day ticket was at 10.21. It took about 90 minutes so it was nearly noon when we got there.

From Schwerin central station to the heart of Schwerin

The photographic journey started as soon as a short walk from the imposing central station took us to the promenade along the banks of the Pfaffenteich pond on Alexandrinenstraße.

Schwerin Cathedral could be seen at the far end of the pond on the left. The rather grand building on the right at the end of street is Ministerium für Inneres und Europa (Ministry of the Interior and Europe) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen.

There’s cafés at the end of the pond at the corner of Arsenalstraße which seemed a nice place to relax.

I particularly liked the large statute of the dragon at the left facing the pond and the very cute sculpture of 2 children with water dripping from the umbrella!!

Market Square

Schwerin Cathedral looms over the Square which is the very heart of old Schwerin, surrounded by impressive buildings and cafés,

Views from Schwerin Cathedral

The cathedral is the tallest church in Mecklenburg and the oldest surviving building in the old town of Schwerin. As the cathedral is surrounded by buildings, but a full view of it can be seen from the large model inside it.

As the tower is open from 11.00 to 14.00 only, we postponed our lunch to climb the 220 narrow winding steps up the tower. The entrance fee of only €2 per person

The views were from up there were well worth the efforts. The 360-degree views of Schwerin were splendid from every corner – the magnificent Castle, the Museum, the market square and the lake

View of Schwerin castle and Museum from the cathedral tower

Schwerin Castle

We found out from the Tourist Information Office at the Square that Schwerin Castle was closed on Mondays. However the grounds were open and free to enter

So after a late lunch at the Square we spent a very pleasant couple of hours walking around the castle grounds and across the bridge for a lovely view of the castle from the other side of the lake