Nature lovers will find their personal highlights just as much as culture lovers or sports enthusiasts. However, there are a few attractions that everyone agrees on. One of them is certainly the Sellin pier. At a glance, it embodies cultural history, seaside life, wanderlust and enjoyment – the anchor points of Baltic Sea holidays since time immemorial.
On Rügen, families will find a new excursion destination for every day. The landscape with the Bodden, beach and beech forest is made accessible in an entertaining way with numerous events for families with children. „Gustav“, the crowned fish is the certificate for family-friendly holidays – and widely used on Rügen. Families will find holiday flats with friendly conditions, but also hotels and private rooms that have adapted to families with children.
On Rügen, it is very easy to get children to go on an excursion! Because there are real adventures waiting for the little ones. In the Baltic resort of Sellin, they can visit the bats with a torch, climb over tree trunks on the stone beach, take a close look at fossils on beach walks or dive down into the Baltic Sea with the diving gondola. Under the guidance of the rangers with their classic green uniforms and big hats, a walk in the Granitz is even more fun.
The painting by Caspar David Friedrich hangs in the Reinhart Collection in Winterthur. But we have the original – even though experts argue about which chalk cliffs it really shows and whether they are still preserved at all. Rügen’s coastal landscape is in a constant state of flux, and the Romantic painter from Greifswald is known for often assembling his pictures from various landscape studies in his studio. In Jasmund National Park, you can trace his enthusiasm.
At the KÖNIGSSTUHL National Park Centre you can learn a lot about the connection between nature conservation and natural beauty and the UNESCO World Heritage Site „Ancient Beech Forests“. A 10-kilometre hike from Sassnitz to the Königsstuhl offers magnificent views of the Baltic Sea coloured turquoise by the chalk. The landscape is characterised by rare plants, springs, moors and high banks with beech forest. Along the way, the World Heritage Forum provides information about the special features of the national park.
One attraction is the treetop path of the Rügen Natural Heritage Centre in Prora. The barrier-free path leads over 1250 metres up into the mighty crowns of the trees and offers a magnificent and thus completely different perspective on protected nature. In the eagle’s nest, visitors are at eye level with the sea eagles. The guided tours are particularly engaging and rich in information about nature and culture on Rügen. Healthy food is served in the modern Boomhus restaurant.
The former royal residence Putbus is one of the most important sights on Rügen. In the first half of the 19th century, Prince Wilhelm Malte I built the place in the classicist style, with a theatre, orangery and park. A built-up circular square with a central obelisk, a lively historical theatre and several art galleries are inviting. A detour to the harbour town of Lauterbach with its floating houses and the Goor bathhouse is also worthwhile.
The island of Hiddensee has a charm all of its own. Since the 1920s it has attracted artists, actors and writers. And various houses from that time still characterise the island today. There are always corners here where the charm of the „söten Länneken“ comes to the fore. And that is also because motorised vehicles are taboo here. We cross over by ferry or water taxi, and bicycles can be rented at the harbour.
The Baltic resort of Binz is the queen of Binz Bay. Here you’ll find lots of historic seaside resort architecture in the front row with the fine sandy beach on the doorstep, a magnificent Kurhaus, numerous boutiques, an art mile and a promenade that leads all the way to Prora. But Binz also has some particularly interesting restaurants, including a starred restaurant, a restaurant in the former beach hall and a charming bistro selling wine and delicacies.
At Cape Arkona, spectacular nature meets a millennia-old history of the former Slavic temple castle. The square red brick lighthouse designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel stands side by side with the so-called New Lighthouse. The latter is still active today and also offers a magnificent view over the area monument of Cape Arkona. The direction finder tower dates from 1927. Ferries on the Baltic Sea could take bearings on it and navigate better due to the radio waves emitted.
The Störtebeker Festival on the open-air stage in Ralswiek already existed in GDR times. After reunification, the Hick family not only modernised it, but also made it a real success. Thousands visit the dramaturgically perfectly staged festival with lots of action, pyrotechnics and live music – and are rightly thrilled. Anyone who has been here once will want to come back next year to find out what happens next with Klaus Störtebeker and his companions.
Not only the white-tailed eagle, but also the grey seals have returned to the Baltic Sea coast. You can visit them on an excursion from Lauterbach harbour. The seal expedition to the Greifswald Bodden is definitely an experience. Also from Lauterbach, a guided tour takes you to the island of Vilm. The island is under strict protection. There is no interference at all with the processes of change in nature. That is why a wild and romantic primeval forest has developed here.
Like the real thing, but only as a model, Dinosaurland in Sagard shows the giant animals of prehistoric times on a 1.1 km long adventure trail. Some of them even move and make prehistoric sounds. You can also touch the animals in the Sassnitz Zoo. The Ozeaneum in Stralsund is a really great place to visit. Here, giant aquariums and stunning models await visitors young and old in a shiny silver modern architecture right by the harbour. There are petting zoos at many of the excursion destinations.
In the old Hanseatic city of Stralsund, which is a UNSECO World Heritage Site, visitors walk in the footsteps of brick Gothic, visit magnificent churches or go shopping along Ossenreyer Straße. They visit the tradition-steeped Oceanographic Museum or the OZEANEUM, which sits like a silvery whale on the harbour and promises unforgettable experiences with giant aquariums and an innovative exhibition. Not far away, the playing card factory links history with modernity.