If you happen to find yourself in Warnemünde with no plans for the evening, and you don’t want to spend a lot of money, this is what I would do…
Want to break out of the troublesome and overcrowded places in the city or Warnemünde? Let me show you my favorite spot at the beach, which is somewhat off the beaten path. But before you settle down in the warm and soft sand to hand yourself over to the sunset, you may need some food…
Get yourself a cheap traditional meal at Edeka (Kirchenplatz 3) near the church in Warnemünde. Since most stores and shops are even open on Sundays from May till October (which is otherwise uncommon in Germany), it is the cheapest way to buy some food. Here are the business hours.
I usually get some potato salad, a pack of sausages, and some beer. This all probably seems like a cliché, but yeah, potato salad, beer, and sausages always do best for a German picnic at the beach. There is always a variety of potato salads: with or without eggs, with pickles or other vegetables. If you want to go for the north-version, choose potato salad with mayonnaise and pickles. You can’t do much wrong when choosing sausages, but take care not to buy “Bratwurst” or “Bockwurst”, as the first needs to be roasted, the second to be boiled – wieners can be eaten right away. If in Rostock, choose one of the two ‘home’-brewed beers. I prefer “Rostocker Pils”, which is a bit tarter than the “Mahn & Ohlerich” (normally referred to as “M&O”).
Tip: Most of the time, you might not happen to have a set of forks to eat a salad. You will normally, however, find some free plastic forks at the salad station at Edeka (nearby the freezing section).
With your rucksack crammed with food, have a nice walk down the beach. It is usually really crowded near the “Teepott” and the lighthouse so go in the other direction. Walk past the houses and villas (and if you’re like me, be entertained by imagining yourself owning one of them). Some way down the beach you might see a strange tower with a huge “golfball” on top. This is where you should be heading to. When you see some circular rusty metal things in the sand, you have found the right place. (You can also take the Bus 36 till the stop “Warnemünde Strand” and find the place between beach ways 25 and 26.)
Get comfortable, have a nice dinner and watch the sun disappear into the Baltic Sea, along the red and pink sky. In the summertime there are usually some people having barbeques or making bonfires after sunset. That is because these things are only permitted at this part of the beach. Sometimes there are even some musicians playing some songs or dancing.
Oh, I forgot the most important thing, something not strange for me, but something you might not expect: the beach at this area is an FKK beach, which means you will find a lot of skinny dippers and people who show the sky (and everything underneath it) their unclothed/breechless truth. This may seem shocking for some of you, but that is the best way to get an authentic (not to mention GDR) feeling in Rostock. If you want to avoid all that frightful nudity, just stop your walk near the Neptun-Hotel.
