WEUR

Located on Germany’s Baltic shore at the mouth of the Trave River, this seaside resort town feels charmingly nostalgic with rows of striped wicker beach chairs, wide sands, and a breezy promenade lined with ice cream stalls and cafés. Maritime history is close at hand; the Passat, a four-masted barque from 1911, is moored as a floating museum. Travemünde also serves as a gateway to Lübeck, just 30 minutes inland, whose red-brick Gothic gables and spires earned UNESCO World Heritage status.

This former European Capital of Culture’s waterfront entices with art galleries and a buzzing food market, while a short stroll inland brings you to cobbled streets, half-timbered houses, and cottages draped in bright hollyhocks. Pause for a plate of smørrebrød topped with herring or shrimp, then bite into a still-warm, crisp and buttery Danish pastry. Walk through ARoS’s rainbow-colored skywalk or explore Den Gamle By, where costumed residents go about 18th-century routines as if the present never arrived.

Life in La Rochelle overflows with energy as fishing boats unload their catch and cafés fill with the clatter of plates piled high with the area’s famed oysters and mussels. Order up your own plate and soak in the scene with a glass of pineau. Above it all rise the 14th-century Saint-Nicolas and Chain Towers, reminders of a city that once withstood the great siege of 1627. Climb the 147 steps of the 15th-century Lantern Tower for sweeping views over the city’s limestone roofs and the Atlantic beyond.

Perched on the northern edge of Normandy and bookended by history and sea, Cherbourg is a heritage port with a vast harbor that once sheltered Napoleon’s navy. This history is superbly detailed at the town’s museum, Cité de la Mer, where submarines, aquariums, and maritime galleries bring Cherbourg’s spirit to life. Spend the morning exploring, then wander cobbled lanes and markets alive with the scent of cheeses and cider before stopping for a lunch of freshly shucked oysters in a Belle Époque brasserie.