Rostock is the largest city in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, located in north-east Germany. With its 200.000 inhabitants the city is both an administrative and business centre and as well the centre of the holiday area among the German coastline of the Baltic Sea. The historical city centre of the former member of the Hanseatic League is dominated by old towers and fortifications, gabled houses and warehouse buildings and lovely churches and abbeys, most of them Gothic. Despite its nearly 800-year-old history the old university city of Rostock on the Baltic coast is a very modern town. The attractive seaside resort of Warnemunde also belongs to Rostock. With a lovely broad white sandy beach and everything else you need for an unforgetable holiday.

Among the sights of Rostock the St. Marien Church (Gothic basilica with some fine works of art) should not be missed. If you have some time left, have a look at the Holy Cross Abbey (Gothic Cistercian nunnery, est. 1270, now houses the Cultural History Museum), the St. Petri Church (Gothic basilica, 13th century, with 117m spire) and the Town Hall, with a magnificent Gothic facade and 7 towers.

Daytrips can be made to Bad Kreuznach, 15km west of Rostock. Worth seeing is also the magnificent cathedral and "Molli" narrow-gauge railway to Heiligendamm, Germany's oldest seaside resort. The city of Güstrow, 50km south of Rostock, houses a Renaissance palace, a cathedral and the studio of the sculptor Ernst Barlach.