The pearls of the Baltic Sea: Baltic Coast Cycle Route

Your journey of discovery along the Baltic coast begins in Flensburg. From here to the island of Usedom, the sea will be your faithful companion. A tour that bears the promise of sandy beaches, rugged cliffs and the maritime bustle of coastal towns.

As you head along the Kiel Fjord towards Fehmarn Island, you'll see many of the seaside resorts in the Bay of Lübeck have been restored to their former splendour. In Travemünde, you can watch the ferries heading out to sea, and the old quarters in the Hanseatic, UNESCO-listed towns of Wismar and Stralsund are a delight to explore. The elegant resort of Heiligendamm, famed for its seafront buildings with their white facades, presents an ideal opportunity to relax. After the Fischland-Darss-Zingst peninsula, the cycle route crosses over to Germany's largest island – Rügen – which is blessed by a remarkable range of chalk cliffs. Back on the mainland, it's just a short distance to another island, Usedom. Terrain: predominantly flat coastal area. Only in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are there occasional hills, with steep gradients along some short sections. Route runs mainly on asphalt, but some stretches are paved, made of concrete or surfaced with sand/gravel. Signposting is not standardised. Scenery: the coastal landscape boasts various features and formations, including steep cliffs, flat white sandy beaches, dykes, firths, Bodden (shallow bays), forests, islands and peninsulas.

• Length: 1,095 kilometres
• Starts: Flensburg
• Ends: Ahlbeck/Usedom
• Route info: mainly flat terrain, hilly in parts, easily managed with children