U-995 in Laboe, Germany sidetrip

[Onkel Neal]

This thread for questions and planning of the sidetrip to see U-995, on Sept 16, the day before the Subsim meet in Copenhagen.

[nikimcbee]

What other (additional) things are there to see in that area?

[Lurchi]

U-995 in Laboe is really on the way to Denmark. If i drive to Copenhagen then it wouldn't be a problem to drive there after picking some guys up at the airport.

U-995 is just 50 meters away from the Naval Monument at Laboe which contains a historical museum so it is just logical to visit it too as you can buy a combined ticket for both the sub and the museum. The view from the top of the monument over the Kiel Bay is pretty nice.

Visitors to Hamburg also should consider to visit U-434, a soviet cold war "Tango" -class Diesel submarine: http://www.u-434.de/

[Onkel Neal]

Thanks for the info Lurchi!

And for the offer to ferry some of us. What kind of car do you own? One of these?






Wouldn't that be nice

Looking like Plan B and Hamburg is shaping up nicely. You cannot imagine how long I've wanted to travel to Laboe...

[Kpt. Lehmann]

U-995 doesn't have any sliding glass doors does it?

[nikimcbee]

Whoa, is there a ferry that travels between the 2 cities? Now that would be cool! just an Idea.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Whoa, is there a ferry that travels between the 2 cities? Now that would be cool! just an Idea.

That would be the Rodby ferry. If we go by car, this will save about 2 hours travel time over train.

[Lurchi]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Thanks for the info Lurchi!

And for the offer to ferry some of us. What kind of car do you own? One of these?






Wouldn't that be nice

Looking like Plan B and Hamburg is shaping up nicely. You cannot imagine how long I've wanted to travel to Laboe...

LOL! Naaaa, this isn't Texas you know - where everyone has two of those for their weekly shopping tour .
Three additional persons should be possible i would say, as long as they don't take half of their household with them. I am not sure what car i will have by then as i am planning to get a new one next week and haven't decided between the larger and smaller yet . A trip to Copenhagen would make a nice Autobahn test for it so you may check your insurances and make your testaments.

U-996 is free of any glass doors if i remember correctly and i am unsure if it is allowed to go up to the conning tower. The whole sub looks "friendlier" in comparison to the one in "Das Boot" because of the fresh painting and the better lighting. There is also a possibility that it will be somewhat crowded as it will be summer with lots of tourists. But the sub is certainly worth a visit!

The shortest trip from Laboe to Copenhagen contains a ~ 1 hour ferry tour between Puttgarden and Rödby. I am not aware of a direct ferry to Copenhagen - the ones i know go to Sweden and Norway.

[Carotio]

The ferry Rødby-Puttgarten carries both the cars and train passengers, and it's about 1 hour.

The only ferry travelling to and from Kiel to a Danish port was to Bagenkop on the island of Langeland, but the route has been closed down AFAIR, besides it would not be a convenient route.

So as I see it, there are three choices for Kiel-Copenhagen:

1) by car, over the Rødby-Puttgarten ferry

2) by train, also over Rødby-Puttgarten

3) by train up through Jutland, over Funen, across the Great Belt Bridge and tunnel and over Sealand ending up in Copenhagen. It's a longer route, but you'll see more.

With few members, the car option may be good, but with a larger number, I would suggest the train option as the most cosy way to travel for a group. Besides, there MAY be group discounts, but I don't know it for sure.

[Hitman]

The main problem to visit U-995, as I see it, is that we would need the full day to go there and back from Copenhagen. That means that we should be in our hotel at Copenhagen the night of the 15th, then spend the whole 16th going to Laboe, visit the museum and back. We could rent one or several cars for this.

The other alternative is flying to Hamburg, then going to Copenhagen and visit U-995 on the way, as Neal suggests. The problem for this alternative is that you would either need to go back to Hamburg to pick your flight when the meeting is over, or have your return flight start from Copenhagen, which is usually more expensive.

Last but not least, Hamburg has many less combinations as it is a smaller Airport than Copenhagen, and for example there are no direct flights from Madrid or Barcelona to Hamburg, so I would need to pick at least 3 flights to arrive there

I'm inclined to think that the best alternative is therefore making a full day trip and back from Copenhagen. Only that way we will have a relaxed visit and be able to enjoy everything plus then start the meeting the 17th perfectly on schedule

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

What other (additional) things are there to see in that area?

As I said, Kiel itself is not a touristic hotspot. It is an administrative center, and many people say you see that. But in the vicinity of it is this:

http://www.freilichtmuseum-sh.de/

Maybe not too interesting for international subsimmer's meetings, but just because you asked, Nik.

We visited that place twice when I was at elementary school in the late 70s, and I liked to be there. If I still would like it today, I honestly cannot say.

It is an open air museum of ancient farms and the way they used to run a village in the old days.



Attractive places in that northern part of Germany are the old town of Lübeck, of course, then the old town of Wismar (a mini-version of Lübeck), and Hamburg itself, although I did not spend too much time there to say that I really know it, I always was in a hurry. Flensburg also gets mentioned, but I don't know that, too. My urgent recommendation would be Lübeck. Those of you travelling by car should consider to take their time travelling the countryside - Schleswig-Holstein is not the most ugly part of Germany, especially the landscape along the coasts can be very idyllic. But the Hanseatic flair you maybe only get when taking some more time than just rushing in and out in one or two days.

Running to Kiel from Kopenhagen and back in one day, or moving from Hamburg to Kopenhagen and drop into Kiel while enroute, sounds like typical travelling stress to me. Take the possibility into account to reconsider those plans. Maybe that day moving around is better spend stationary - to discover the place of your ultimate destination more indepth - or is Kopenhagen and surrounding that unattractive? That's what I would do when being in your place. But maybe that's just me.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Hitman

I'm inclined to think that the best alternative is therefore making a full day trip and back from Copenhagen. Only that way we will have a relaxed visit and be able to enjoy everything plus then start the meeting the 17th perfectly on schedule

That works fine for me. I can see the total time in the car would be less for us Americans if we land in Copenhagen the morning of the 16th and take a trip to Laboe by car, meet up with the German and Euro members who are driving in and then return to Cop.

[nikimcbee]

Nix the ferry idea, it dawned on me you can't see the country from the ferry.

[Skybird]

Your Hamburg plan might be better, Neal.

I just checked with Google Earth.

Kobenhavn - Laboe, if taking the trip by car via Fehmarn ferry, would be around 260 km road-distance, 18-20 of it would be passing the Fehmarn belt by ferry, which consumes a lot of time for those 20 km: waiting for ferry, get on ferry, ferry travels, get off ferry. Leaves you with 240 km on land. Of these, practically all distance you have to do on German soil would NOT be the Autobahn, but smaller (and slower) Land- and Bundesstrassen. I do not know the Danish road indices, whether they are highways or not. But in germany it is not a 130+ km/h flight you would do. I would estimate the total time you spend for one trip 3-5 hours, if you do not have to wait for the ferry, do not lose orientation, always pick the right road. Multiply by two, for you want to drive back to Kobenhavn, too.

The road-distance airport Hamburg - Laboe is close to 100 km, almost all of it Autobahn. If all goes well and traffic plays ball, 1 hour.

Does not compare!


Edit:
And on the idea of a train travel, I checked German railway information. The train goes from Kiel down to Lübeck, from there to Fehmarn island, then the ferry, and Denmark. Time: 5:20 and more, 2-4 changes, there is no highspeedtrain available.

Train from Hamburg Central station to Kiel Central station: 1,5 hours railtime. The rail station in Hamburg is 8 km from the airport, direct line. The station in Kiel is at the southern dead end of the bay, Laboe is on the bay's northern opening to the sea. All in all from Hamburg airport to Laboe probably 2,5-3 hours, waiting times not included.

[Onkel Neal]

So, you're saying land in Hamburg, drive autobahn to Laboe, about an hour, then drive to Copenhagen via the ferry or the long way?

We would still have to factor in the return to Hamburg at the end of the trip.