Sailing in Germany – Part 1: Schleswig

Since we got a lot of positive responds to our series “Sailing in Denmark” from our readers, we decided to continue the series with our favorite sailing destinations in Germany 🙂 Hopefully you will like it as much as the blog series about Denmark and you will get inspired.
We start off the series with a wonderful harbor city in Northern Germany. If you have been to Schleswig before, you probably agree on how idyllic and charming this little town is, with an interesting background story and a lot of personality. After all, Schleswig is one of the oldest cities in the Baltic region!

What can you do?

Let us tell you about the must-visits and activities in town. Schleswig is an idyllic city with an impressive and exciting history. You will have a lot of options for both a cultural and historical experiences. Or you can have a great shopping weekend with a lot of choices in restaurants and bars for a cozy night out. Either way, we are sure you will enjoy your stay in the city.
We will introduce you to the different sides and activities that Schleswig has to offer!

Viking Museum Haithabu

Schleswig has a long history with Vikings and it used to be a Danish town. The museum gives a fantastic insight about life in Haithabu (in Danish: Hedeby) back in the days and you will learn through the findings of the Viking Era about the Viking’s philosophy and their craftsmanship.

The museum itself is filled with Viking artifacts, including a part of a sunken Viking ship and a reconstructed Viking village. The Viking Museum is well structured and there are different parts with displays. The village staff is dressed in viking costumes and demonstrate to you the way of authentic bread making and archery.
If you want to experience the life of Vikings, you should definitely visit the museum in Hedeby.

Schloss Gottdorf

The castle of Gottorf shows a lot of interesting historical exhibitions. Within the castle, you can find 2 museums (we will go into one of them, the Schleswig State Museum, later in this blog post), the Nydamm boat, a globe where you can step inside to see the stars and last but not least a beautiful cathedral. Around the castle, you can take a long and relaxing walk around the wonderful park.

The Gottorf castle and the surrounding area are very big and there are different things to see and discover. Therefore you can spend hours in there and you won’t get bored. Plan in a bit of time and enjoy the overwhelming gathered and preserved exhibitions and collections, the impressive castle itself and no matter what time of the year, the wonderful garden is always worth a walk.

St. Peter’s Cathedral

St. Peter’s is a fascinating cathedral in Schleswig with a lot of interesting features, such as wood carvings and the carved altarpiece, showing the last days of Christ. If you are feeling energetic and want to enjoy a great view, you can walk up the bell tower. It’s free to enter the cathedral, but you can donate a bit if you wish to. The walk up the tower has a small extra cost but it is definitely worth for the view.

Schlewig Holstein State Museum

Located in the Gottorf castle, the State Museum is the perfect destination to see unique artifacts, an expanded group of galleries with state of the art displays from history to modern art. The famous Nydam boat (found in Denmark) is an exhibition in the museum and all around, you will have a variety of collections from different eras.

Schlei Segel Club

If you sail to Schleswig, one of our partner marinas Schlei Segel Club offers guest berths with clean facilities, free Wifi and free bike rental! For the children, there is a huge playground by the marina and a fantastic beach to go for a relaxing walk or swim. You can request a spot with our app and pay (without additional fee) when you have docked your boat in the marina as well.

The Schlei is the perfect location for some sport activities too. It is the most beautiful fjord in Schleswig-Holstein, a true picturesque setting for all kinds of water sports

With the HarbaApp you can request a booking before you set your sails or you can pay for the guest berth for free, after you have docked. Just download the app for free in your Google Play Store or App Store and get started 🙂

Engage with our global boaters’ community at Harba’s Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

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