Rügen Island (Rügen), Germany - Rügen Travel Guide

Rügen Island, Germany

Caspar David Friedrich's Chalk Cliffs on Rügen Island (1818)

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Rügen Travel Guide

Introduction

Rügen is Germany's largest island, famous for its sandy beaches, white chalk cliffs, and a string of historic seaside resorts and spas that are hugely popular among Germans. The island is actually 926 square kilometers (358 square miles) in area – that's if we don't include the sprinkling of littler islands – and has a 574-kilometer coastline, of which nearly 60 kilometers are lined with beaches. Bathing, swimming, windsurfing and kitesurfing are the main pursuits here, with no fewer than fifteen different spots for surfing alone.

Location

Rügen Island is situated on the Baltic Sea at the northeastern tip of Germany, just off the coast from Stralsund, in the northern German State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

How to Get There

Sightseeing

Neighborhoods

How to Get Around

Where to Stay

Where to Eat

Where to Party

Essential Information

Nearby Destinations

How to Get There

Rügen can be accessed from Stralsund via the rail-cum-road Rügendamm Bridge which connects the island to the mainland. Stralsund, in turn, can be reached from Rostock, some 69 miles (11 kilometers) to the west.

Sightseeing

Rügen's principal draws are the seaside resort town of Binz and the historic, Tudor-style hunting castle, Jagdschloss Granitz, just to its south; Sellin, another seaside resort with an amazingly long pier; Putbus, "the white town," filled almost entirely with white buildings; and the Koloss (colossus) of Prora, an oddity erected by the Nazis. Additionally, Jasmund National Park is worth visiting to see the famous "Chalk Cliffs of Rügen" and to also take in the view from Königstuhl.

Main Neighborhoods