Today the town is a very popular bathing resort, thanks to Heiligendamm, a district of Bad Doberan situated directly at the cliff line of the Baltic.

The status of Doberan was considerably enhanced the 18th century when the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick Francis I chose it for the recreation and entertainment of the ducal family, the Mecklenburg nobility and, later, some of the wealthy bourgeoisie too.

As a result, in 1793, the duke bathed on the advice of his Rostock physician, Samuel Gottlieb Vogel, at the Heiliger Damm in the Baltic Sea, marking the birth of the first German seaside resort, Heiligendamm.

Renowned architects, such as Carl Theodor Severin, students of the two old masters of Classicist architecture, Carl Gotthard Langhans and Friedrich Gilly, and Johann Christoph von Seydewitz built in rapid succession in the pure Classicist style: the guest house (Logierhaus), the parlour building (Salongebäude) with its prestigious ballroom in the Empire style, the Prince's Palace (Prinzenpalais), the Stahlbad bathing house, several town houses and the critically acclaimed Chinese-style pavilions, including the gem of garden architecture, the so-called Kamp.

However, in Spring 1932 the Nazi Party had an absolute majority in the town council assembly, and published articles still exist from that time, so it was generally accepted that Hitler was really honoured in this way.

[2] On June 12, 2011, a document surfaced that most likely points to Rosenkopf as the first German town to grant Adolf Hitler honorary citizenship (July 22, 1932), not Bad Doberan.

After the end of the GDR in 1990, the historic town centre and the monastery of Bad Doberan were thoroughly renovated as part of its urban development.

[3] From 6 to 8 June 2007, the G8 Summit took place in Heiligendamm, which included participation by Stephen Harper (Canada), Nicolas Sarkozy (France), Angela Merkel (Germany), Romano Prodi (Italy), Shinzō Abe (Japan), Vladimir Putin (Russia), George W. Bush (USA), Tony Blair (UK) and José Manuel Durão Barroso (EU).

The classicist buildings characterizing the centres of Bad Doberan and Heiligendamm were all built between 1801 and 1836 by the architect, Carl Theodor Severin.

Bad Doberan is also home to the "Molli", a historic 19th century steam railway that is a tourist attraction as well as a daily commuter service in the town and to the nearby beach village.

The town hosts an annual festival celebrating the music of Frank Zappa, the Zappanale, and also displays a bust of the artist.