Rostock’s city centre is awesome and very interesting, of course. You can see all those nice and old buildings and they look so huge. But if you’re standing in the middle of Kröpeliner Straße you can’t absorb Rostock’s complete beauty.
That’s the reason why I, if I travel to other cities, am very interested in seeing them from a distance. I love having a look at a city from a hill or a spot from somewhere further away – especially if the sun sets and all the lights start to shine. That way, you can imagine its nightlife and guess whether it’s a city with an active nightlife or one which calms down at dusk.
On that basis I would recommend Gehlsdorf. From there, you can easily absorb the beauty of Rostock – the nice river Warnow and all those colourful lights reflecting in it. It offers you a perfect overview of the town. And at night, you can see a myriad of colours and lights.
There are two ways to get there. One is the way already described in a ferrytale in the city via ferry.But for the other way, you need to be more proactive. You can take a walk along Rostock’s huge and at the same time lovely harbour until you get to the point where the tram crosses the bridge. From there on you’ll find a way which is perfect for cycling. Or even if you feel like jogging, this tour offers you an excellent mix of good and uncrowded paths, and nice views. After roundabout 8 min cycling (or half an hour on foot) through a more industrial area, you’ll come to the point where an unpaved path detours to the left. Following this you’ll come out straight looking on Rostock’s skyline. Now you can take an absolute romantic walk (or by bicycle) still on an unpaved track along the Warnow with a fantastic view on the city, wandering off Rostock’s beaten tracks.
Once reaching Gehlsdorf, turn to its harbour. From there, you’ll already get an awe-inspiring view of Rostock’s skyline from an other perspective. If you’d like to take more inspiring pictures and look for more foreground for your photo, you could walk east (when standing in Gehlsdorf facing Rostock, turn left) where you will find some reeds. But from the point where the ferry docks, turn right and you will have a wonderful view too.
The tour to Gehlsdorf offers you a few calm and beautiful places where to spend some time or to have a lovely picnic on this old jetty. Nevertheless you may find some more interesting perspectives from that side of the water looking upon Rostock, but you will have a nice view from everywhere in Gehlsdorf – that’s for sure.