Lüneburg, Germany: The Ilmenau was historically used to transport salt from Lüneburg’s saltworks to other cities in the Hanseatic League. The crane in the distance is a salt crane used for loading onto ships. 
Lüneburg, Germany: This town is situated on the Ilmenau River, a tributary of the Elbe River. 
Lüneburg, Germany: The city is both a sinking and rising up city. In this area, it is rising up as shown by bricked up windows at ground level. This used to be the ground floor but the street has risen almost 2 meters making the ground floor more like the basement. This occurred when layer after layer of horse poop was covered with sand and eventually paved over as it was too expensive to remove during Medieval times. Wild! P.S. Those 2 white stones? They were originally 3 meters high but not only 1 meter shows above ground due to this phenomenon. 
Lüneburg, Germany: This is evidence of this part of the city is sinking as evidenced by the red bricks. The city estimates in 100-200 years all of these buildings will have collapsed or have to be torn down for instability. What a shame as it is a beautiful part of the city! 
Lüneburg, Germany: This is easily one of our favorite German cities visited to date. Cobbled streets, colorful houses, flowers everywhere, river, interesting town squares and few other tourists! 
Lüneburg, Germany: What is this? Anybody know? It was attached to the base of a stoop. Boot scraper? Horse hitch? Something else? 
Lüneburg, Germany: We love Fahrradstraßes which are bike only roads (except for limited local use for parking). Germany has a lot of these plus a plethora of dedicated bike lanes. It is biking paradise. 
Lüneburg, Germany: The is called “bridging”. It is where all of the university students sit on the edges of this bridge to catch up with friends. It looked like this both times we visited. 
Lüneburg, Germany: The Baroque style Rathaus (Town Hall) and Luna Statue sans her arrows which are continually stolen. 
Lüneburg, Germany: Tracey caught this hot air balloon floating near the Old Town. 
Lüneburg, Germany: Almost the entire city is cobbled so we explored on foot rather than bike but there were many local bikes so they must get used to the jarring. 
Lüneburg, Germany: A photo from one of Tony’s (doctor unauthorized) road bike rides into the countryside. At least he is on dedicated bike path. 
Hamburg, Germany: It was a Sunday and a bit overcast which made it a perfect time to visit with less people around. 
Hamburg, Germany: The fountain at Inner Alster Lake shoots water 60 m in the air. This was a popular area for people to relax and meet up with friends while we were there. 
Hamburg, Germany: Wasserträger Statue depicting the water carrying profession from the 1840’s. If you say the phrase ‘Hummel, Hummel!’ the proper response is, ‘Mors, Mors!’ (Kiss My Ass). The whole story can be found here: https://www.hamburg.com/visitors/sights/memorials/wassertraeger-23578. 
Hamburg, Germany: The interior was stark white with gold accents everywhere leading us to ask each other, “Has DJT’s interior designer been here?”. LOL 
Lübeck, Germany: This is not our favorite type of overnight parking situation but we appreciated there was a free legal spot to stay for the night that was quiet and located right on the bus line. 
Lübeck, Germany: Inside the mall near our campsite there were dozens of Lego displays including this one. We saw the real thing the next day. 
Lübeck, Germany: This is part of the original gate from the times when this city was fortified. This is the structure we saw in the Lego display near our campsite. 
Lübeck, Germany: The town is known as the “City of Seven Spires” and this is 2 of them. 
Lübeck, Germany: The Rathaus (Town Hall) 
Lübeck, Germany: We did not have a VoiceMap audio tour for this city so we just strolled around and found numerous adorable streets just like this. Tony especially liked the yellow house. 
Lübeck, Germany: Tracey checking out one of the many narrow and limited height “gangs” (alleys) this town is known for. 
Lübeck, Germany: Since there was no VoiceMaps audio tour and Rick Steve’s does not cover this city, we aren’t sure what this was, but we liked it nonetheless. 
Lübeck, Germany: The “gangs” (alleys) were tiny, but led to beautiful “hofs” (courtyards) where 3-12 houses shared this private highly manicured space. 
Lübeck, Germany: Once through the “gang” this is what we found. Lovely houses clustered together with flowers and trees. It was a lovely space. 
Lübeck, Germany: Another “hof” we found after going through one of the smallest “gangs”. 
Lübeck, Germany: Tracey grew a bit obsessed going down every gang she could find and there were alot. She loved these peaceful communal spaces (hofs). 
Lübeck, Germany: This street should have been called “Rose Way” as almost every house had some type of roses growing in the front yard. 
Lübeck, Germany: Another hof we probably should not have gone into except the painter had propped open the gate on the private gang leading into this space. 
Lübeck, Germany: So many different types of architecture and these buildings are original and were not destroyed during WWII. 
Lübeck, Germany: Did we mention how much Tracey liked the “gangs” and “hofs”? lol. It is so interesting that these areas are often located right off the main street, down long small ugly “gangs” and open to this. 
Lübeck, Germany: Lisa von Lübeck, a wooden reconstruction of a 15th-century Hanseatic cog which is similar to what Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas in. 
Lübeck, Germany: The town center was a bit crowded but still a lovely place to visit. 
Fehmarn Sound Bridge: Germany has great roads, bridges and signage. 
Fehmarn Sound Bridge: Tracey driving and crossing the Fehmarn Sound Bridge on our way to pick up our ferry to Denmark. Yes, she is still doing all of the driving but Tony might just be healed enough to start driving again although he is liking being chauffeured around. 
Puttgarden, Germany: Our Scandlines Hybrid ferry leaving on the evening crossing the day before we left for Denmark. 
Puttgarden, Germany: A nice stroll along the sea wall of the Baltic Sea. 
Puttgarden, Germany: We arrived at the ferry port the nigh before our ferry to Denmark and we were treated to this spectacular sunset. 
Puttgarden, Germany: We had a visitor on the morning of our departure. This is looking up through our skylight in our campervan. 
Nykøbing Falster, Denmark: This town was a pleasant surprise for our first night in Denmark. 
Nykøbing Falster, Denmark: A charming small town that was easy biking distance from our campsite. 
Nykøbing Falster, Denmark: The lovely town square. The Town has a population of 17,000 people and is the largest town on the island of Falster. 
Nykøbing Falster, Denmark: This is the new section of town with glass and steel condos and houseboats. 
Nykøbing Falster, Denmark: Tony found a wonderful free sculpture walking tour developed by the Fuglsang Art Museum. It might be one of Tracey’s favorite activities on this trip so far. Tour at: https://fuglsangkunstmuseum.dk/udstillinger-og-oplevelser/kunstgaatur/ 
Nykøbing Falster: Tracey would officially like to go on record and say that she is suing this sculpture for using her likeness without her consent. 😂 Sculpted by Lisa Ring in 1976 this is called Girl on a Boom. It was designed to evoke thought in how women’s body are perceived and about women’s roles as seen through the second wave of feminism of this time. 
Nykøbing Falster, Denmark: Another sculpture that Tony particularly enjoyed. It is by Hein Heinsen and called Treenigheden (Trinity) from 2014. Each face of the pyramid is supposed to provoke thought about Father, Son and Holy Spirit with this face shows a chaotic portrayal of the Holy Spirit. 
Marielyst Bøtø Strand, Denmark: We walked this beach for 2 hours and only saw 4 other people. A beautiful place! 
Marielyst Bøtø Strand: We saw a sign that there were wild horses here and then we found them. There were about 20 of them in total in this field. 
Marielyst Bøtø Strand, Denmark: While out for a forest walk we came across these mushrooms in several places. 
Marielyst Bøtø Strand, Denmark: The only negative of our forest walk were all of the spider webs. Tony started waving a branch in front of our path and called this his “Spider Abatement” technique. 
Stege, Denmark: Not every day is rainbows and unicorns 🦄. After a multi-week stretch of beautiful weather, we woke up to a heavy rainstorm. The day will be spent watching movies, cleaning, route planning and maybe even a nap.
Day #: 126 – 132
Date(s): 30AUG – 05SEP2025
Location(s) Visited: Lüneburg, Lübeck, Hamburg, Puttgarden, Germany & Rødby, Nykøbing Falster, Marielyst Bøtø Strand, Stege, Denmark
Overall Impression of Location(s): Lüneburg = 4, Lübeck = 4, Hamburg = 3, Puttgarden = 2, Rødby = 2, Nykøbing Falster = 3, Marielyst Bøtø Strand = 3, Stege = 3
4 -added to our favorite list and we would return again
3 – a great place to visit
2 – OK for one visit, but we would not return again
1 – we wish we hadn’t wasted our time here
Distance Driven on Leg/Trip (km): 343
Weather/Temperature (°F): Pretty gosh darn fantastic! We continue to be lucky with our weather with mild temperatures both day and night. We are noticing the days are getting a bit shorter especially as we are now in Denmark. We had one major rainstorm but it only last 15 hours, mostly overnight. We are still in the “hot-cold” cycle of being too hot in the sun and too cold in the shade. We are regularly using our heat at night to keep the chill at bay, but windows are wide open during the day.
Road Conditions: Denmark has some of the easiest driving roads we have been on to date. Big, beautiful roads with good signage and medians/shoulders. There are smaller 1.5 width 2-way roads in Denmark as we saw in Ireland and the UK, the difference being there are shoulders and the speed limit drops down to either 40 or 50 kph during these sections in Denmark. Also as Denmark is very flat, driving is almost boring (in a good way) as there are long straight sections at relatively lower speeds. Also in Denmark we have seen many modified roundabouts where the first “exit” has a dedicated ramp bypass just before the round-about which allows the traffic to flow very smoothly. We are being extra vigilant in Denmark as there are so many more cyclists here and although the bicycle infrastructure is top notch, there are still places where bicycle paths and car roads intersect.
Chickpea Mechanical Status: Our “pre-approval” warranty claim still remains “pending” after almost 4 weeks with the German Hymer dealership. This is a bit baffling to us as none of the issues are major, just some rust on the stovetop hinges, rust on the bolt holding the sink in place and some missing rubber bumpers for the glass cover of the same stovetop. Easy peasy issues, yet we continue to wait. What they don’t know is Tony is a bulldog and won’t let this go as we need to have the work done before we leave in order for it to be covered under the 2 year warranty. Luckily, we still have over a month left before we fly home.
Health Updates: Tony continues to gain range of motion and strength, although daily progress is so small it is hard to see any actual change day-to-day. He continues to be faithful with exercise so he will get there eventually. He is back to riding both the Brompton and his road bike. Tracey’s leg is feeling OK, but her wasp/hornet stings continue to still plague her. It has been weeks since she was stung, but Tony is still digging stingers out of her every few days. We are up to stinger #7!
Highlights:
- Lüneburg, Germany was wonderful and it was probably one of our favorite places we visited in Germany. This place is what we imagined small German villages would look like. Again, Rick Steves let us down as this city is a mere footnote in his guide. He really just gets Northern Germany all wrong, in our opinion. We did a Voicemaps GPS Audio tour around the city and saw all of the highlights. Being a smaller town, they only get a fraction of the tourists the nearby bigger cities get so it felt very open and laid back, just our style. We stayed at a low-amenity Stellplatz at the edge of town that was very convenient for walking. Tony was able to get in his first real road bike ride in the countryside and went 14 miles on this excursion. He said he felt good and plans to continue to increase his distance until he is back to his normal 25-30 mile daily rides.
- Lübeck, Germany was another one of Tracey’s favorite places in Germany. It is known for its “gangs” (passages/alleys) and “hofs” (courtyards) which are present in the residential areas and lead to secret gardens. We spent considerable time exploring these areas while meandering around the town and the harbor. Tracey courageously ate at a restaurant after having a food-borne sickness a few days before at a Hamburg restaurant (see lowlights below) and proclaimed this meal delicious!
- Even traveling in the busy August vacation season, we have not had any trouble getting our first choice of campsite locations each night. We have not made any reservations ahead of time. We were very concerned that August travel would be very hard as so many Europeans are off and also traveling, but it has unexpectedly been much easier than we thought it would be. Yes, some spots are quite busy but we have found many locations that were not. We would certainly consider travel again in August in our campervan as with some route planning and early arrivals, it hasn’t been hard at all.
- Denmark! Overall our initial impression of Denmark is very positive. What a beautiful country. Everywhere we have gone feels very relaxed and laid back, people are smiling and friendly (and also speak English), roads are clean and the bicycle infrastructure, even in the countryside, is the best we have ever seen. Some general observations about Denmark: terrain is very flat, much more wind than on continental Europe, large solar panel arrays and wind turbines are everywhere, many many tall, lean, blond people, many houses with black roofs and painted black in color, lots of bridges as Denmark has 450 islands, grocery stores are considerably more expensive than in Germany (we stocked up big at a grocery store in Lübeck, Germany and we have just stopped looking at prices at the Denmark grocery stores as it is what it is and we need to eat).
- Nykobing Falster, Denmark was supposed to be just a stopping point for our first night in Denmark but what we found was a lovely town and an empty marina Stellplatz for the night. Tony located a city sculpture walk (which we did as a bike ride) organized by the local art museum. Tracey has said this sculpture walk is one of the top 3 activities we have done on this entire trip and that is saying a lot as we have been to Germany, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, N. Ireland, Wales, England, Belgium and Denmark on this trip and seen some amazing places!
Lowlights:
- We took a train from Lüneburg to Hamburg so we would not have to drive in big city traffic. It was a great idea on paper, but in reality we were met with delayed trains, fully cancelled trains (announcement telling us to get off the train we were already on) and trains packed with so many people we had to stand the entire journey. We miss the clean, uncrowded and efficient Swiss trains.
- We will need to explore Hamburg further during another visit. We had lunch in Hamburg and Tracey experienced stomach issues 30 minutes later causing us to have to abort the rest of our planned itinerary and return back to our campervan, via the delayed trains. Her issues only lasted about 12 hours, but it was obvious that she had some type of food borne sickness from lunch which she said was tasty while eating it, but not so much later. 🙁
Up Next: We will continue to make a slow counterclockwise loop around Denmark while hugging the coast with our next major city being Copenhagen. This city has been on Tony’s bucket list for years so we plan to spend a week there, while doing some train day trips, too. We don’t have any concrete route plans as we are just going with the flow on a day-by-day basis.
Onwards! Vorwärts immer, rückwärts nimmer! Allez on y va! Fremad!
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