Island Rügen, Germany — Travel Guide

Rügen, Germany, in a nutshell

The most popular seaside resorts are the Schaabe beaches between Altenkirchen and Juliusruh, including Drewoldke, Glowe and Breege, and the eastern beaches between Sassnitz and Göhren, including Neu Mukran, Prora, Binz, Sellin, and Baabe.
The latter are accessible via a historic narrow gauge railway employing steam locomotives, called ‘Rügensche Bäderbahn’.

Tourist destinations apart from seaside resorts are Cape Arkona, the wood covered Stubbenkammer hills on Jasmund with interesting chalk cliff formations, the wood covered Granitz hills with the Jagdschloß palace, and the inland places of Bergen auf Rügen, Ralswiek and Gingst.

The island also offers a huge variety of different beach and shore areas. Rügen is often visited by Wind- and Kite surfers and offers more than fifteen different locations for surfing. The most popular locations are Dranske, Rosengarten, Wiek, Suhrendorf and Neu Mukran.

Map: Island of Rügen, Germany

‘Must-see’, top attractions

Cape-Arkona Bunker Museum

Experience Cold War history at the northern tip of the Island of Rügen. See our article: Cape Arkona Bunker Museum Rügen (Kap Arkona Bunker Rügen)

Hunting Lodge Granitz

Address: Jagdschloss Granitz, 18609 Ostseebad Binz, Tel Admin: (03 83 93) 66 38 14, Tel Museums shop: (03 83 93) 22 63

Website: www.jagdschlossgranitz.de

Seaside resort Binz

Beautiful white mansions along the ‘Strandpromenade’. Ask the staff in the ‘Kurverwaltung’ (=kind of visitor center) where the best sights are. They are located at: Heinrich-Heine-Straße 7, 18609 Ostseebad Binz

Website: www.ruegenbinz.de

Jasmund National Park

A chalky landscape with marshes, wetlands and dry grassland, the park’s most dramatic feature are the chalk cliffs at the Königsstuhl, immortalised by the painter Caspar David Friedrich.

Pomeranian State Museum (Pommersches Landesmuseum) in Greifswald

Where: Rakower Str. 9, 17489 Greifswald.
Experience 12,000 years of Pomeranian history in exhibitions and interactive displays. The museum consists of six buildings and four themed exterior areas. The Picture Gallery displays paintings of Caspar Friedrich and van Gogh.

Website: pommersches-landesmuseum.de/

Further sights and activities:

– Selliner Seebrücke
– Bernsteinpromenade Göhren
– KdF Bad Prora
– Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Turm Bergen
– Schloß Ralswiek
– Insel Hiddensee
– Schloß Spyker
– Stadt Putbus (Website: www.putbus-info.de )
– Kleinbahn “Rasender Roland”
– Rügenpark Gingst
– Boddenküste

Museums

Cape-Arkona Bunker Museum

Experience Cold War history at the northern tip of the Island of Rügen. See our article: Cape Arkona Bunker Museum Rügen (Kap Arkona Bunker Rügen)

Pomeranian State Museum (Pommersches Landesmuseum) in Greifswald

Where: Rakower Str. 9, 17489 Greifswald.
Experience 12,000 years of Pomeranian history in exhibitions and interactive displays. The museum consists of six buildings and four themed exterior areas. The Picture Gallery displays paintings of Caspar Friedrich and van Gogh.

Website: www.pommersches-landesmuseum.de

Oldtimer Museum (formerly Rügen Railway and Technology Museum)

Website: oldtimer-museum-ruegen.de

Rügen, Germany, Visitor Info & Getting Around

Population

Altogether approx. 70,000+ people are living on Rügen and approx. 15,000 in Bergen, the largest town on the island.

Getting there

Island Rügen can be reached by car, boat, or train.
By car: From Stralsund over the bridge ‘Rügenbrücke’ to the Island Rügen.
By train: Stralsund can be reached from major cities like Hamburg, Berlin, etc. and from Stralsund you can go via local trains to many towns on Rügen.
By boat / ferry: The ‘Weisse Flotte’ Ferry services operates passenger and car ferries.

Public Transportation

Verkehrsgesellschaft Vorpommern-Rügen mbH operates the public bus system on Rügen. Website: www.vvr-bus.de

Newspaper

www.ostsee-zeitung.de

Location

Located in north-eastern Germany in the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.

Tourism Office (in German: ‘Fremdenverkehrsamt’)

Tourismuszentrale Rügen

Website: www.ruegen.de