Your next adventure doesn’t have to be that far away! A couple of days ago, Line and I went on a trip through Northern Germany and had some incredible experiences: from an epic paintball battle with friends in Hamburg to absolutely awesome kite surfing lessons on the Baltic Sea near Kiel. Every day a new adventure was waiting for us although we had just 5 days for our trip. Here are all our stops we made when traveling in our Porsche Panamera S!
5 days, 4 stops and 4 adventures: Northern Germany travel tips!
First stop: Hamburg
Going to the northern part of Germany always has to include a visit to Hamburg! Line and I have been to the city a couple of times already, but we enjoy it every time we go there and can even imagine living here one day. Let’s see what future has to offer!
After about a 3 hours’ drive in our Porsche from Berlin to Hamburg, we finally reached the city. Normally it does not take that long to go there but there was a jam, once again, and we had to leave the Autobahn, take the highway and drive through small villages.
Luckily, the Panamera S is extremely comfortable, offering leather seats. Line found some really cool seat features, such as a seat cooling (there is also a seat heating, of course). I tried all the buttons and found my favorite, the SportPlus button, enabling me to get the utmost from each gear. Super cool!
When we arrived in Hamburg, we immediately had to jump into some of our older clothing, because our first adventure was a paintball battle. I’ve always wanted to do it and was lucky to convince Line as well. But actually, I’m not that sure she will do it again…
City Paintball
City Paintball is centrally located in Hamburg and you can choose between three different battlefields: house camp, show, and bus battle. You mostly have the chance of changing the battlefield in the course of the battle and exchange with all of the others. You should really do so because the rooms are completely different and you will have more fun then!
Overall, we played for 2 hours and it got really sweaty. I could have continued forever but 2 hours are actually enough. After one hour, you are warmed up and then you can really start playing the game and get better and better. 3 hours might be a little exhausting.
We were seven and played together with our friends from Hamburg and some readers. The bigger the team, the more fun you will have, because you will be longer on the field and have to be more strategic. And, strategy is essential as such a hit hurts really badly. Line and the other girls were quite afraid while the boys had an awesome time!
During the week 2 hours cost 29 euros per person and on weekends it’s 33 euros. You have to add fees for protective clothes such as an overall, a protection vest, or gloves. You should book well in time! Especially on weekends the battlefields are very popular with bachelor parties!
Otto’s Burger
As you cannot go to the north of Germany without stopping in Hamburg, you simply cannot stay in Hamburg without a visit to Otto’s Burger! The burgers sold at Otto’s Burger are one of my favourites and since I love burgers, I had to go there. The smokey mayonnaise and their BBQ- sauce are super delicious as well! This time we did not go to their restaurant near the main station but visited the boys at home, so to speak. They have a restaurant in Grindelwald where they live directly above.
Hip-Hop boat at the port
After enjoying the burgers we went to the port. On weekends there are several party boats cruising through the harbor basin. After 10:30 pm, you get a one-hour harbor tour at 8 euros including old school hip-hop music!
Party boats sound like boring party places and people but not in Hamburg. There are young people aboard, a cool atmosphere and they don’t play German music or the latest pop songs.
You have to catch the right boat, though. We saw some boats that looked like boring party boats. Simply line ne up where all the young hip-hop people wait, take the same boat as them and you are on the safe side!
25hours Hotel HafenCity
We stayed at the 25hours Hotel HafenCity located directly at the ‘Speicherstadt’ with a view over the water and harbour. And we just loved it! It’s really greatly furnished, using elements from the port such as two large containers and some typical sailors’ stuff, a lobby that feels like your own living room including a cool shop, a really cozy chill area on the first floor, sauna viewing the port, great restaurant and, of course, amazing rooms!
A double room starts at 140 euros per night and there are different categories: from the cozy M-cabin to the large captain’s cabin. If you stay here, you should also book the breakfast at 18 euros because it is delicious, offering a great variety and you can even have it until midday. If you have a dog, it can stay for 15 euros a night as well!
Second stop: Timmendorfer Strand
The next morning we drove from Hamburg to Timmendorfer Strand, one of the most famous beaches in Germany. Timmendorfer Strand is a white sandy beach, stretching over many kilometers along the Baltic Sea and very popular with the people from Hamburg. Definitely one of the best northern Germany travel tips that you shouldn’t miss!
And it’s amazing how many activities you can experience here: sailing, kite surfing, stand-up paddling, beach volleyball and so much more. Of course you can also just go for a relaxed walk at the beach or on the promenade, or simply chill in one of the numerous beach chairs which, by the way, make a perfect photo scene!
Water ski Süsel
We decided not to jump into the sea but into a lake. About 20 minutes from Timmendorfer Strand you can find the Wasserski- und Wakeboardpark Süsel where Line and I went waterskiing for 2 hours. Line had not done waterskiing before, fell directly into the water the first two times but from the third time on, she stood perfectly.
If you are completely inexperienced, you can practice a little and then waterski without taking a lesson. And if you are a pro, you can use the big course and jump or, alternatively you go wakeboarding. 2 hours cost 24.50 Euros per person and the one-day ticket is 36 euros. If it is not that warm, you can borrow a wetsuit. We had a lot of fun!
Seehuus Lifestyle Hotel
After our waterskiing adventure, we went to our hotel, the Seehuus Lifestyle Hotel, directly located at Timmendorfer Strand. The hotel is at the southern side of the beach and only dunes separate it from the sea. The rooms are quite long, really bright, with a big bathroom und modern furniture. With a little luck, you get a room with sea view. The hotel has a restaurant with a deck, where we put ourselves into a beach chair and had coffee and cake.
The hotel also offers a SPA area and sauna, vapor bath and a pool as well as some sofas in the lobby. The breakfast buffet is very nice and you get everything you want. A double room starts at 59 euros per person and night. You can also book a parking space for 8 euros.
Third stop: Kiel
From Timmendorfer Strand we moved further north to Kiel. Neither Line nor I have ever been there and therefore we asked our readers and fans on Facebook, Instragram & Co. for advice and tips. Actually, we wanted to sail in Kiel, after all, it is called the ‘sailing city’. But we couldn’t organize everything at short notice.
From Kiel there are also ferries going to Oslo in Norway, Gothenburg in Western Sweden and Helsinki, the Finnish capital, or Copenhagen, Denmark.
Lopokaffeeexpress
Besides burgers and steaks, I am totally into coffee but I’m sure you know this already. That’s why Line and I were really pleased when Juanito told us about Lopokaffeeexpress. Right after driving into Kiel, we went there.
The café including the roast house is located in a small industrial area in the north-west of the city.
And the coffee is really delicious! As usual, we ordered two flat whites and started working there. The café is bright and open and next to it is a small but cool design studio.
Every Wednesday and Saturday between 8 am and 1 pm, you can find the mobile Lopokaffeeexpress on Exerzierplatz and on Mondays and Thursdays it is on Bücherplatz, same times.
While we had our coffee, the Porsche was parked in a quite tiny parking space. When I reversed into the parking space I saw the cool camera of the Panamera S. It does not only show you whether you are too close to other cars in the front or back but it also shows you the car from above. So you can see whether there is enough room on the right and left as well, and whether you have parked the car straight. So awesome!
Kite surfing at the beach of Laboe
In the afternoon we drove to the other side of Kiel, to Laboe, to take some kite surfing lessons. While we were in South Tyrol, Line and I already had a two-day kite surfing course and since then we have really been into it.
This time we went straight into the water and practiced having the kite pulling us to the right or the left. We actually jumped on the board and even moved a couple of meters – that was such a cool thing!
Laboe is perfect for beginners as you only have shallow water and the Baltic Sea is not that salty. And believe me…at the beginning you swallow gallons of water!
Our instructor Nico gave us some good tips and since his watch broke, we had 4 hours instead of two. We were happy that our kite surfing still went smoothly and that Christian of Kiteschule Kiel could arrange for the lessons at such short notice. If you intend to learn kite surfing I can really recommend the school and Laboe to you!
Strandhotel Seeblick
4 hours of kite surfing are amazing but also exhausting and we drove directly to our hotel. That was only 10 minutes away since our hotel, Standhotel Seeblick, was located nearby in a village called Heikendorf. The rooms are cozy and we even had one with sea view. For me, there is nothing more exciting than waking up and looking at either the sea or the mountains.
We had dinner at the hotel, I had a delicious steak and Line had a tarte flambée. The meals and the wine were very good and the restaurant was comfy and with sea view as well. A double room starts at 150 euros and there are plenty of parking spaces. You can reach the beach directly to go swimming or to chill in a comfy beach chair.
Fourth stop: St. Peter-Ording
Our last stop during our #PanameraAdventure was the famous town of St. Peter-Ording. This place is known for its exceptionally wide and long beach as well as the almost never ending salt meadows and dunes. This view and wideness will leave you speechless! Line and I were here for the first time and really impressed. I think I haven’t seen such a long beach before!
The small town of St. Peter-Ording is very nice and especially popular with kite surfers and windsurfers. Those who like kite buggying and land sailing love this place as well. For people who are less into sports it is great to swim in the sea or to sunbathe. And if the weather is sunny or windy it gets pretty crowded here!
Galloping at the beach with 1 HP!
Unfortunately, we did not have such a good weather and could neither do some kite surfing nor swim in the sea. But we did something else instead: we changed our 420 horsepower for one horsepower and went horseback riding. There are several riding stables in St. Peter-Ording that almost all offer rides down the beach. And galloping down this broad beach is amazing!
We opted for a two-hours ride, taking horses from the riding stable called Reiterhof Immensee and left at
1:30 pm. The horses were really kind and easy to control whether we galloped or trotted down the beach.
They are perfect for beginners but for advanced riders like Line or adrenaline junkies like me they were too slow. Something else we did not like, was the fact that they left us alone and kind of ignored us after returning to the stable because the girls had to take care of new customers. That’s absolutely not cool!
A 2-hours ride on the beach is 38 euros per person and you can also borrow a helmet.
Beach Motel SPO
We spent the last night directly at the sea and rented a room at the Beach Motel SPO. We had heart a lot of the hotel, or better say motel, and were quite curious. The furniture reminds of surfers and is absolutely great, the rooms are bright, the lobby cozy. In addition, the hotel has a nice SPA area, 2 saunas und a vapor bath and even a small private cinema.
Furthermore, there is a big shop offering surfer clothes and brands such as Quicksilver, Billabong & Co. Next to it is a kite surfing school and the walls of the restaurant are decorated with flip-flops and surfboards and depending on where you sit, you can even dig your feet in the sand. That seems to be really cool but somehow it is not. We had the impression that they try too hard to appear ‘cool’. The employees wear street wear so it is hard to recognize them as employees.
That would not be bad if the guests in this hotel were also cool and fit into the concept but they don’t. On the contrary: you see families and their children. No young people or surfers, just families and kids everywhere. Not that I am down on families but that does not fit from start to finish and we expected something different. If you want to stay at a hotel together with young people and surfers, I cannot recommend the Beach Motel to you.
The prices depend on demand and availability, nothing firm. But I can tell you that our room was 109 euros and a bottle of water is 5.50 euros, every day. You have to pay extra for the sauna (6 euros) and parking space (4 euros a day).
Back to Berlin
We spent some time in St. Peter-Ording the last day and drove back to Berlin later. 430 kilometers lay ahead of us, 5 hours in the car. Enough time to discover some features of the Panamera S. I was glad I found the cruise control and spacers: You can adjust the maximum speed and a minimum distance and the Panamera S slows down automatically if it gets too close to a slower car in front of you and speeds up for you if the road is free.
Perfect if you have to go 120 kph for a longer period, you just have to steer and can relax. Line made use of the seat features and settled down to sleep. It was a relaxed return journey and an amazing end of our tour through Northern Germany!
Conclusion
Our jaunt through Northern Germany in the Porsche Panamera S was really fun! Actually, you don’t have to go very far or fly some place to experience something great. Especially if you are into water sports, Northern Germany is perfect. And driving a Porsche is an adventure itself and so much fun. I would definitely do it again!
Have you ever been to Northern Germany? What are your favorite places in Germany? Leave them in the comments!
