Custom loop per custom post type with permalinks

I’ve been recently using the following code in order to retrive contets from a custom post type:

<?php 

    $data = get_post_data(28);
    echo $data->post_date;     // post date
    echo '<h2>'. $data->post_title .'</h2>';    // post title
    echo $data->post_excerpt;  // post excerpt
    echo $data->post_content;  // post content

?>

I lack the required skills to write a loop of my own, so I’ve been using this short code over and over again. But now I require to use a more complex loop, which would allow me more customization, such as displaying a permalink, including a post_thumbnail.
So I was wondering if is there any way to include those fields or if is there a different and better custom loop to use.

Thanks in advance!