Ostsee - De lütte Tour & Mads Möve

This hike is the shortest of the three hikes created by the "Lübecker Bucht Wanderthlon" or, as I call it, the Trifecta of Schleswig Holstein. The trail is about 17km. While there are three official hikes you can do, they also have a kid's version. It is called "Mads Möve Tour" and is a 4km loop around the city, past the best ice cream store, fun little dog paw hunt and a playground. All in all, a fun activity if you just want to do a tour of the town or hike with your kids. As they both have the same starting point, we decided to do the kid's version first and then loop back to the beginning of the bigger tour.

So we started at the tourist information center, past the harbor and up into the little town. It wasn't real hot at this time, but I still made sure to give Sierra a chance to play and drink with the water fountain. We walked across the marketplace, past the city hall and through the little shopping street towards the old city gate. If you do the little tour with your kids you can look for the paw print that is imprinted in one of the brick stones.

We had soon collected all the stamps from Mads Möve tour and arrived at the "Binnenwasser". It is a protected open lake that is a mix of fresh and salt water. As it has a connecting part to the ocean. It is protected for all birds and wildlife, to have a secure area where they can rest and be at peace without being disturbed. The path follows the water through a small forest before reaching the road towards the community of "Altenkrempe" and an over 800-year-old Basilica. If you are not into road walking, then you are in for a ride. Road walking is all you are going to do from now on, until you have reached the town of "Stolpe" and are on your way back. This is the reason why this hike, out of all of them, was my least favorite. But before we had the luxury to walk on dirt again we passed "Gut Hasselburg" an old estate from the 18th century. This is where you can find the largest "Reetscheune" (thatched barn) in Germany.

Gut Sierhagen is a beautiful place for you to take a break before heading out back towards Neustadt. The walk back follows a beautiful path through some wooded areas before crossing a few fields before heading through wet fields and moorland back into town. Don't worry, you will follow a nice path so your shoes, unless it has rained a bit - will stay dry. Once you are back in town, you get a chance to grab one of the best Croques - the ultimate "Sandwich" and a nice cold drink before calling it a day. This day flew by. But with only 17km, this path is a relatively short one and is not named "De lütte Tour" - the small tour - for a reason.