Our final day in Sweden and first back in Germany was one of the best so far on this trip. We had a relaxed morning in our airbnb having breakfast in the sunny greenhouse before setting out for a morning of driving along the southern Swedish coastline. Our first stop was at a beach in Vittemola- lushious white sands, cute beach village. We stopped to admire the beach before hitting the small country lanes following the coastline. This then turned to driving through lots of fields and beautiful countryside with the sea in the distance.
Photos: first beach in vittemola
Eventually we made our way back to the coast.
We stopped briefly at Hundbad Varhallen. From the carpark we trekked down through the picnic area and over the styles to get to the beach. This long stretch of yellow sand is a playground for the dogs but it was still gorgeous. We even had a very excitable dog bring us sticks several times to throw. We ate some snacks at the picnic area before heading through beach towns like simrishamn. From here we journeyed in the sunshine to ales stenar. Parking in the small harbour car park we climbed up the stairs and pathway a few hundred metres giving excellent sea views before finding the ancient stone monuments standing proudly on the hill.
From here it was only a short 20 minute journey to Ystad, where we were due to get the FRS Baltic ferry to Sassnitz in Germany. However first we needed lunch and we treated ourselves to a burger from the Max chain as we had seen them everywhere in Sweden and they looked great. It was not disappointing either, thick patties and easily customizable. It was only a short 5 minute journey to the ferry check in and we only had to wait a few minutes before being let through and being first on the boat. Once on we had a minor panic as the straps were different and we weren’t sure how to put them on. So we asked one of the ferry staff who kindly said to leave it and he would do it. Having everything crossed that it would actually get strapped up we headed upstairs to find our seats ready for the 2 hour crossing. We were then leaving Sweden and heading back to Germany! It was a calm day so the journey was plain sailing although at points hot in all our layers and the motion of the boat was making us both sleepy. Luckily there was a coffee shop on board to help perk us up.
As we got closer to Germany we got a nice view of the chalk white cliffs and forests of the famous UNESCO world heritage Jasmund national park. A beautiful introduction to this part of the world. We were told to head down to transport before the boat docked and the doors were opened a good few minutes too before the ferry actually docked. Thankfully we found the bike strapped so we quickly managed to take those off even- a little too soon as we realised the doors were opened but the boat hadn’t stopped so we had to hold the bike for a minute to make sure it was secure! But it meant that it was a quick and efficient offload and we were in Germany again. It was only a 20 minute drive to our accomodation in the seaside town of Binz. We ended up having to pay to park our motorcycle in the accomodation’s underground parking lot as there was nowhere to put it above ground and then we found our hotel room/ apartment for the night which was swanky.
We found a lovely viewpoint of a lake with the sun shining over it before grabbing items for dinner from the closest Lidl. Then we were able to walk through the town and to the beach. The place had a completely different feel to where we had just been. Very fancy in places, high class shops and restaurants. Grand big hotels that had lovely old architecture. We found ourselves at the pier which stretched out over the sea and gave fantastic views of the beach. It was made better by the fact that the sun was setting, casting lovely light over miles of white sand stretching as far as you could see. Not something I had ever expected of Germany but definitely a holiday location. The whole place had that vibe too and was buzzing with life. We spent a while watching a guy hydrofoil surfing before walking down the cobbled seafront promenade. There were lots of rabbits hopping about in the grassland between that and the beach enjoying dusk.
In the evening we made the most of having a kitchen and cooked up a simple filled pasta meal and having a beer. It was nice to be back in Germany where beer is cheap and we also treated ourselves to discount easter chocolate. A very good day all around with great weather and some surprisingly gorgeous beaches in both Southern Sweden and Northern Germany.
Tomorrow onwards to explore more of Northern Germany.
Thanks
Alex
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