Camping Ostsee - Campingpark Rerik

Proud home of one of the longest promenades in Germany, Rerik (10 minutes’ walk) is also known for its impressively vast sandy beach. You can hire boats from the marina for a sail along the Baltic Sea coastline, let the kids race around flying kites or take a cycle ride to Bastorf Lighthouse (20 minutes by bike). Head to the Salzhaff salt lagoon (half an hour’s walk) with binoculars for spotting migratory wading birds, or don a wetsuit to participate in windsurfing and kitesurfing adventures. If you’re got young kids in tow, the calm waters of the lagoon are also suitable for safe paddling and novice swimming. Well worth a day trip, historic Rostock (50 minutes’ drive) centres on Neuer Markt, a square lined with pastel-hued gabled townhouses (mostly restored after World War II). There are several striking Gothic churches to have a poke around (don’t miss the astronomical clock in St Mary’s Church) nearby, but if the kids are resistant to culture, divert to the seafront and have a snoop round the frigate ‘M/V Dresden’, or have a stroll past the fishing boats moored up along Alter Strom Canal.