At any time of year - Baltic Sea vacation with children

When the Molli-Bäderbahn takes a curve, passengers can clearly see how it strolls through the colorful autumn landscape on the Mecklenburg Baltic coast. Ten-year-old Yannik even has a clear view of the track today – he rides in the front of the locomotive and watches in amazement as the engine is fired up in the driver's cab and how the old technology works. „Phew, it's really hot here“, he says with a laugh and his eyes light up. And little sister Line, who has taken a seat with her mother in the carriage directly behind the locomotive, is also excited. Sitting still is difficult for her today, so instead she runs back and forth and draws her mother's attention to everything she discovers: the old wooden sliding windows, the cows outside on the meadow and how beautiful the bright cloud of steam shines in the sun. The Molli, which connects Kühlungsborn with Bad Doberan, is the älst narrow-gauge railroad on the Baltic coast. The train can reach speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour, runs daily and covers 15.4 kilometers each way. It jerks loudly at walking pace through the Bad Doberan pedestrian zone, smoking and hissing through small forests and sometimes almost touching the sea. The railroad has been in operation since the summer of 1886, and the passenger carriages are correspondingly nostalgic - with lots of wood and open platforms between the carriages. A journey through time as if in slow motion.

Today the family has booked their first trial lesson at the Boltenhagen riding stables. Little Matilda is already very excited. The family chose the Baltic seaside resort between Lübeck and Wismar for the fall vacations for good reason. Matilda has been looking forward to it for weeks and has taken her riding clothes with her on vacation. Eleven horses live at the riding stables and riding instructor Victoria Süß quickly finds the right horse. Matilda can already ride, and Victoria explains to her how she can improve her posture in the saddle. “That's good: now you need a lot of patience and spit,“ she calls out to Matilda cheerfully. And the girl has it. After a short time, she gallops over to the training ground in the middle of the autumnal meadows. A few Shetland ponies graze in the sun, the mood is relaxed. Matilda's dream is to ride by the sea. „That's only for riders with a good saddle“, expert Victoria points out. The ambitious rider looks hopefully at her parents. They discuss it briefly and then spontaneously decide to book a vacation apartment directly at the riding stables for their next fall vacation. Not only can you learn to ride at the Baltic Sea, but you can also play by the sea or collect shells on beach walks in the fall. In the evening, little Pferdenärrin writes happily in her diary: "Today was my best day on vacation.