Tom`s travels: Hiddensee & Jasmund National Park (12-13/09/2020)

On a September weekend, my girlfriend and I decided to head to the Baltic Sea coast of Germany, the Ostsee as it is called here, and spend a couple of days visiting the area. We decided to ask two friends of ours, Margo and her boyfriend Denis, to join us and they gladly accepted. So on a Friday night, we took a regional train from Berlin and arrived in Stralsund where we met up with our friends coming from Hamburg and then headed to the accommodation we had booked for those two nights. After reaching the accommodation, the Hostel Stralsund, located to the south of the old town, we self-checked in and found out we were the only ones there. We had to bring our own bedsheets and towels as that was the policy of the place, and the booking had not been that cheap especially if adding up the four of us together. However, it was still the cheapest best option so we were just glad of having found something either way. After a goodnight's sleep, we woke up early the next morning and headed into town to grab some breakfast before catching the boat to the nearby island of Hiddensee which we had come specifically here to visit. We stopped at the Back-Factory, in front of the Cathedral, where we grabbed breakfast and also bought some lunch to take with us on the way. Then, we walked through the picturesque main square and reached the small port from where we would then take the boat. We had luckily bought the ticket online a few days before, though the line to get on was still very long and we had to wait several minutes before being able to board. Once inside, we had wished to go up on the deck but it was already full so we just headed below deck struggling to find four seats close to each other. As we left, I then decided to go outside and take some pictures of Stralsund's skyline slowly disappearing in the distance behind us. I figured out that it had been better for us to stay below deck because it was very windy and quite cold. The boat was in fact packed most probably due to the nice weather and sunny day, probably the last nice weekend for the year to do such a trip; and in fact, we had planned it exactly because of it. A little over an hour later we reached our destination in the small village of Neuendorf, exactly halfway up the island of Hiddensee. Here we disembarked and quickly looked for a place to rent bicycles before any of the other passengers would think of doing the same as us and create another long line. We found a rental place just next to the pier and managed to rent four bicycles for six euros each. On the island, there are no cars allowed so the only means of transportation are bicycles, horse carriages, or on foot. The whole length of the island is about 16km and as we were about halfway up already, we would just need about 8 kilometers to reach the northern tip which is what we intended to do next. So we left Neuendorf and continued northwards following the main path, As expected, despite the sunshine, it was rather windy, a typical feature all year round on the island, which made the cycling a little bit more challenging than usual. In half an hour we then reached the next village, Vitte, the largest on the island. We cycled past some nice typical thatched roofed houses and stopped at the only supermarket on the island where we bought some extra stuff to take with us for lunch. Then we cycled on and passed a nice open grassy area, overlooking the Vitter Bodden, a type of lagoon separating Hiddensee from the larger island of Rugen. Here we also saw some cute sheep grazing peacefully and happily next to the path. Not long after we then passed through the northernmost of the three villages of the island, Kloster. We then cycled up a hill and ended up at a point in the path where we couldn't continue on with our bicycles. We then parked our bikes in the small parking space to the side of the path and continued on foot. We were now on the northern part of the island, in an area called the Dornbusch, characterized by low rolling hills which end up with cliffs over the sea. After following the path for a bit we then reached the main attraction of the area, the Dornbusch Lighthouse, a tall 28m high red and white striped lighthouse. It stands on the highest spot of the island at about 72m above sea level and has a commanding view all around. From the lighthouse, we then continued on following the path and reached a nice spot right above the cliffs from where we had a great view of the coast and sea below. We decided to stop here and have our lunch, sitting behind some bushes to repair us from the wind but with the sun on our face shining from the other way. After eating we then continued on along the path but soon ended up realizing that the way was rather hard as it seemed like it hadn't been maintained in a long while and we were pushing through thick bushes and areas with a lot of thorns. We often thought of stopping and heading back from where we came but each time thought to push on instead. After a long struggle, we finally managed to come out from the bushes and reached the small beach at the end of the path. We were now at the northeastern tip of the island and we celebrated by dipping our feet in the ice-cold waters of the Baltic sea. After a bit of walking around and collecting some interesting rocks on the shore, we then decided it was time to head back to pick up our bicycles. This time we followed the path straight in front of us and walked along the lower part of this side of the island keeping the hilly area with the lighthouse in the distance to our right. We passed by a tiny hamlet made up of a few houses where we also managed to find a tree with some tasty apples to pick from, and then eventually after a bit more walking reached our bicycles once again. We got on and figured out it was time to head back to Neueundorf and to the boat if we wished to catch it in time and not be left on the island until the next day. In fact, unfortunately, the last boat off the island leaves only at four p.m. even though there is still plenty of daylight left and that was obviously our only option. So we cycled quickly back to Neuendorf and after giving back the bicycles, managed to get on the boat in time. One hour later we were then back in Stralsund and decided to take a stroll before heading for dinner. We walked through the pretty old town, which I had visited already during my time living in Hamburg, two years before, and passed by the city's main monuments. As I was with a Russian, an Ukrainian, and a Polish, this meant that all but me were already starting to get hungry. We eventually compromised and ended up having dinner at 6:30pm, quite an early record for me. We eventually chose a place called Dolden Mädel Braugasthaus, and taking a seat on the patio outside had a nice dinner, three of us with a burger and one with a soup. Just as we were done it started raining so we hastily paid and decided to head back to our hostel. After changing into warmer clothes we then decided to take a last stroll around town and find a place to have a warm drink. After that, it was time to head back once again and get ready to sleep for the next day.

In the morning, after another early rise, we headed to the nearby train station in order to get the next train to the town of Sassnitz, located not far away, on the northeastern end of the nearby island of Rugen. After reaching Sassnitz, we then decided to look for a place to leave our luggage but unfortunately, the station did not have any kind of storage facilities. We even asked a bakery where we had breakfast in but they told us they would close early so they wouldn't be able to keep the luggage. We tried a few other places, including a hotel but had no success. Eventually, after walking along the pier we happily found the tourist office which was open and allowed us to store the bags for just 1 euro each. We were happy and now ready to continued our walk, bag-free. Despite the cloudy weather which was sadly unexpected, we continued our walk along the seaside and soon after started heading uphill past the last houses of the town. Then we finally reached the place we had intended to visit, the Jasmund National Park. The smallest national park in Germany, it consists of a beautiful beech forest, inscribed in the Unesco list along with others around Europe, ending up on the edge of huge chalk cliffs overlooking the sea and reaching heights of up to 161m. Once at the entrance of the park several paths headed in different directions covering the entirety of the area. We chose the main one, intending to walk up through the whole park to reach its northern tip. As we walked through the beautiful beech forest, following the path up and down the hilly wooded area, we often found the path would lead to the edge of the forest and grant views over the impressive chalk cliffs below. We passed some incredible scenic spots which oftentimes were also famous as they had been painted by known artists back in the 19th century such as Caspar David Friedrich. We then passed by one of the most famous cliffs, the Wissower Klinken, known because back in 2004 a whole section of it had fallen down to the sea caused by a spring thaw that can be common in the area. After a bit of walking and beautiful views, we then reached a particularly nice viewpoint, the Victoriasicht, which featured a tiny wooden bridge with rails jutting out over the cliff and granting a great sight. To see it though there was quite a long line as it could only hold two people at a time. We took turns, with one of us standing in line and the others sitting down on a bench and recovering from the hike up and down the hilly forested area. After we had experienced the viewpoint and having taken a few pictures we headed on and finally reached the main sight of the national park, the Königsstuhl, or king's chair. This cliff is one of the largest and most known of the park, and a visitor center has been built here in 2004 in order to provide information on the unique characteristics of the park while instructing visitors how to avoid damaging the ecology of the park. Inside were also an interactive exhibition and a multi-vision theatre. The entrance was though nine euros, and we were only wishing to see the view, so opted not to go in. Instead, we decided to check for the timetable of the next bus that would take us back to Sassnitz. We had to wait quite a bit though, and after about half-hour managed to take our bus back. After reaching Sassnitz we were happy to see the sun had decided to shine once again and as we walked along the seaside we looked for a place to have lunch. We found the Restaurant Fährblick and managed to take one of the outside tables in order to enjoy the sun while eating. Then we ordered our food and had a nice meal with finally some nice weather. After lunch, it was then time for us to head back to the tourist info point to collect our bags, then from there eventually head to the train station. After taking the next train we reached Stralsund once more and from here bid farewell as Margo and Denis left for Hamburg and Ania and I for Berlin, after a nice weekend in the nature.