Want to pass your summer holidays in Rostock? Think that the beach in Warnemünde is too overcrowded? What about spending your beach days in Markgrafenheide?
As I’ve already done with Graal-Müritz, I want to use this post to show you another beautiful beach near Rostock. Markgrafenheide is a part of Rostock which is about 20 kilometres from the centre of Rostock, and therefore you can easily get there with public transport within 45 minutes. Just take tram No. 4 towards “Haltepunkt Dierkow” and get off at the stop “Dierkower Kreuz”; then take bus No. 18 towards “Hohe Düne Fähre” 5 minutes later, and get off at the stop “Strand” and you’ll be near the beach. The “bus tour” takes about 35 minutes, but if you are not from Rostock it’s actually a great chance to see Rostock’s surrounding nature which looks quite rural – in summer it’s amazing. 
Markgrafenheide’s beach is much more private than Warnemünde, and in summer it’s only frequented by some tourists and by Markgrafenheide’s inhabitants. You should know that Markgrafenheide’s beach is divided into special areas – it has a “normal” beach, a section where you can bring your dogs, and a naturist area.
If the weather is not so nice or if you don’t like spending the whole day at the beach, you can also enjoy Markgrafenheide as a village. You can go for a walk and enjoy the silence of a village with 600 inhabitants, relax and have an ice-cream or a coffee in one of the cafés, or spend some hours in the Kletterwald (a forest where you can go climbing). This is relatively expensive for some (adults: 17 euros, students: 14 euros, children: 11 euros), but a lot of fun. For special prices for families look here.
If the hotels in Warnemünde are too expensive for you and if you like the idea of spending your holidays at the Baltic Sea in a small village in between Rostock and Graal-Müritz (both can easily be reached and offer plenty of free time activities), you can also book your room directly in Markgrafenheide. It offers hotel rooms, boarding-houses, bungalows and camping sites. Besides accommodation, there are restaurants and cafés, but not as many possibilities for shopping as in Rostock. If you spend your holidays in Markgrafenheide or stay there for a longer time and get bored unexpectedly, you can use the MV-ticket (link to my post exploring MV with the MV ticket) to see other cities. Just buy the ticket, jump into the bus towards Rostock’s main station, and from there on you can go almost everywhere. Have a lot of fun enjoying the Baltic Sea in many different places!
