Rügen Travel Guide

The best time to visit

The island has its charm in summer months from June to September when the temperatures range between 17 ℃ and 21 ℃. However, you should book your accommodation in advance since Rügen is an attractive destination and more than one million people arrange their trips there every year.

Interactive Map of Rügen

Top sights

Sellin

The seaside resort Sellin is due to the Seebrücke, which is considered the symbol of the island, one of the main Baltic seaside highlights. 394 m long wooden construction on the long beach tempts lots of tourists for relaxing, enjoying maritime cuisine, and even celebrating a wedding.

Putbus

Putbus, the youngest city on the island, is called “the white town” thanks to the white houses in Classicism style that dominate the city landscape. Putbus is especially marked by the seaside architecture and fascinates the visitors with gorgeous buildings, such as das Schloss Putbus, die Orangerie, das Residenztheater. Another attraction is der Rasende Roland (the raging Roland) namely a steam locomotive narrow-gauge railway which goes from Putbus, through Binz, Sellin, and Baabe to Göhren. Der Rasende Roland connects the most significant Baltic seaside resorts and provides a breathtaking view on his way. It’s definitely worth a ride.

Mönchgut

The peninsula Mönchgut is an epitome for idyllic landscapes of green meadows, pastures, and hills. The seaside resorts Baabe, Göhren, and Thiessow offer plenty of opportunities for the active pastime as well as relaxing on the beach.

Binz

Binz, a trendy vacation spot, offers various leisure and events possibilities. You can admire Seebrücke during the beach promenade, stroll through the art mile, Margaretenstrasse, discover magnificent villas, and Jagdschloss Granitz. Besides, the unique Baumwipfelpfad provides the opportunity to gather information about nature, national park, and Wipfelweg. You can climb up to the wooden construction - a nature heritage center - with a total length of 1 250 m and enjoy fascinating views from the observation platform.

National Park Jasmund

A further symbol of Rügen, the chalk cliffs with Königsstuhl are located in national park Jasmund, near the city of Sassnitz. Jasmund is the smallest national park in Germany and enchants tourists with splendid beech forest and chalk cliff coast. Especially recommended is a ship tour with a magnificent view on the towering rocks.

Vitt

A fishing village Vitt is a perfect place to load your inner battery. Small but nice - the visitors describe it in such way. You can enjoy smoked fish and other delicacies right on the beach with the enchanting view of Cape Arkona.

Hiddensee

The main feature of the island of Hiddensee is that it is completely car-free. Either horse-drawn carriages or bicycles are preferable means of transport here. Nature lovers can experience the authentic atmosphere up close and admire nice buildings, such as the lighthouse on the Dornbusch, the Gellen beacon in Neuendorf, and the long, fine sandy beach.

Cuisine and specialties

The Rügen kitchen is characterized by simple and hearty dishes. Potatoes, beets, pork, cabbage, and of course fish, which has always been abundant on Rügen, are the basis for the local ration.

A specialty here is the Fischbrötchen (fish bun), which is prepared in a variety of ways - fried fish buns, fish and chips, matjes buns, fishballs in a bun, bismark buns or bearded herring buns.

Sea buckthorn is very popular on Rügen, namely sea buckthorn lemonade, sea buckthorn schnapps, sea buckthorn ice cream, sea buckthorn flour dishes.

Dishes such as Königsberger Klopse, roulades, fricassee, goulash, schnitzel, roast pork or beef, pork knuckle, and smoked pork can be seen every day on the lunch table of the locals.

Getting there

You can reach Rügen by car, train, bus, ship or plane.

By car

The island is connected to the continent by two bridges. If you are arriving from the west (Hamburg / Lübeck), drive from the A1 via the Lübeck junction to the A20 Baltic Sea motorway. The Stralsund / Insel Rügen exit then takes you via the motorway feeder road (B 96 n) and the Bypass Stralsund to the island of Rügen. From the direction of Berlin, it is advisable to travel via the Berliner Ring onto the A 11 to the Uckermark junction and then onto the A 20 towards Stralsund.

By train

You can reach the island by Deutsche Bahn from Munich, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, and the Ruhr area. The travel time from Berlin is approx. 3 hours, from Hamburg - approx. 4 hours.

By bus

Flixbus offers the trip from Rostock to Rügen 5 times a week. Besides, you can go to the island from Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Dresden, partly with the transfer.

By plane

To get to Rügen, you should come by plane to Rostock-Laage Airport (RLG).

Then you can take the airport shuttle line 127 from Rostock-Laage Airport to Rostock ZOB / Hbf. South. You can get to the long-distance buses or the chosen train to Rügen via the central bus station and Rostock central station.

By ship

You can travel via the Stena Line ferry connection (from Denmark and Sweden) and via the BornholmerFærgen ferry shipping company to the Sassnitz ferry port (from Bornholm).

Accommodation and hotels

Since the white villas with the carved balconies dominate in the architectural ensemble of the island, today's numerous hotels are located exactly there. In order not to disturb the overall picture of Rügen's seaside architecture, the modern hotels are also built in a traditional style. That's why Rügen mostly offers charming accommodations on the coast with perfect views.

The most popular seaside resorts are Binz, Sassnitz, and Sellin. On our website, you will find numerous hotel offers at reasonable prices. Arrange your unforgettable trip to the island of Rügen with HotelFriend!