Two days, three with the coast. Start at the Holstentor, cross to the Salzspeicher and climb St. Peter's lift for the view over the island. Give St. Mary's and the Town Hall a morning, the European Hansemuseum an afternoon, and stop at Niederegger for marzipan. Walk the courtyards off Glockengießerstraße, then take the 20-minute train to Travemünde's beach.
Lübeck was the capital of the Hanseatic League, and its old town still sits on an island ringed by the Trave. Seven church spires mark the skyline, the Holstentor guards the western bridge, and some 80 alleys and courtyards hide behind the merchant houses.
Lübeck's leaning brick gate, finished in the 1470s and the city's emblem ever since. Inside, the Museum Holstentor tells the story of Hanseatic trade, and from April to December it opens daily from 10:00 to 18:00.
The mother church of brick Gothic, its nave vault rising 38.5 metres between twin spires 125 metres high. In the south tower the bells that crashed down in the 1942 raid still lie where they fell.
The largest museum in the world on the Hanseatic League, opened in 2015 beside the medieval Burgkloster friary. Staged rooms from Novgorod to Bruges explain how a merchant network ran northern Europe.
A Gothic town hall begun around 1230 and still the seat of the city government, rebuilt after the 1942 raid. The interiors, including the Audienzsaal, are seen only on a guided tour.
The house that made Lübeck marzipan famous, facing the Town Hall. Buy in the shop, eat cake in the café, then go up to the free marzipan salon, where twelve life-size figures are modelled in marzipan.
Of 180 inhabited alleys and courtyards behind the merchant houses, about 80 survive. The Füchtingshof, endowed in 1640 for merchants' and sailors' widows, is the largest and grandest of them.
A charitable hospital founded in the 13th century, with its church hall and the wooden cabins of the old long hall still intact. In Advent it hosts one of the city's best craft markets.
Founded by Henry the Lion in 1173 at the quiet southern end of the island. The draw is Bernt Notke's 17-metre triumphal cross of 1477, which survived the 1942 raid.
A former priory of 1502 holding the city's medieval altars, led by Hans Memling's Passion altarpiece of 1491. The Kunsthalle St. Annen next door adds art from after 1945.
Lübeck's own Baltic resort, at the mouth of the Trave. Walk the promenade beach, then take the ferry over to the Priwall for the four-masted barque Passat. Direct trains from Lübeck Hbf take about 22 minutes.
A lift climbs to a viewing platform 50 metres up, the best view of the island.
Franciscan church with Barlach and Marcks figures on its facade.
Two merchant houses hung with art from Caspar David Friedrich to Munch.
Art after 1945, built on the footprint of a church that burned in 1843.
The natural history museum beside the cathedral, first opened in 1893.
The seafarers' guildhall of 1535, all dark panelling and ship models. Book ahead.
Potato dishes in the Gothic cellar under the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital.
The seafarers' quarter at the north end, round the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital.
The state's classical summer festival, with concerts in Lübeck's churches and halls.
One of the world's big sailing regattas, with a ten-day fair on the promenade.
World music in the festival's summer venue at the Kulturwerft Gollan.
The 68th edition of the festival of films from Scandinavia and the Baltic.
The main market, round the Rathaus and the Markt; closed on 25 and 26 December.
A medieval-style market in the Marienkirchhof, beside St. Mary's.
Handicrafts sold among the cabins of the medieval hospital hall.
The seafarers' quarter on the Koberg, with a Ferris wheel over the old town.
Trains reach Hamburg in about 40 minutes, with some 44 connections a day. Direct trains run hourly to Travemünde in about 22 minutes.
Most visitors fly into Hamburg and finish by train. Lübeck Airport (LBC), about 8 km south, has a short list of mainly leisure routes.
Stadtverkehr Lübeck runs the city network from the bus station by the Hauptbahnhof; lines 30, 31 and 40 reach Travemünde.
Skandinavienkai in Travemünde is a major ferry port: TT-Line sails to Trelleborg, Finnlines to Helsinki and Malmö.
Protected by the EU since 1996; Niederegger is the name to buy.
French red wine shipped in cask and aged and bottled in Lübeck.
Sailors' hash of corned beef, potato and beetroot, topped with an egg.
Pan-fried fish with fried potatoes and mustard sauce.
Young salted herring, often with apple, onion and soured cream.
A bread roll stuffed with herring or smoked fish, eaten by the harbour.
Red berry compote, served with vanilla sauce or cream.
Winter kale stewed with sausage and smoked pork.
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