Travel report: Cycling trip across three Baltic Sea islands

Holidays on two wheels have been as much a part of summer for us for over ten years as stollen is to Christmas. Whether it's Mecklenburg, East or North Frisia or one of the numerous river or other long-distance cycle paths in Germany, we have already explored many regions in our beautiful home country in this way.

This year, it was to be the Baltic Sea once again. While browsing through the offers at Radweg-Reisen, the "Cycle tour across the three Baltic Sea islands of Hiddensee, Rügen and Usedom "* caught our eye, as this trip was the perfect opportunity to discover the island of Rügen in detail. In contrast to the island of Usedom, it was still a blank spot on the map for us. With a few extra days, we saw the opportunity to see as much of this island as possible and still have some time to relax. As usual, the booking process was relatively straightforward, the travel documents arrived in our letterbox well in advance and we were able to set off in the second half of August.
*Unfortunately, this trip is no longer offered at the moment, but how about this alternative:

Day 5: Another short tour around the Wittow peninsula

Today we got back on our bikes to explore another part of the Wittow peninsula. From Breege, we took the little-used country road directly to Wiek, where we took the opportunity to visit the small church in the village. We then cycled along the shores of Wieker Bodden to the Wittow ferry and back to Breege on the country road via Bischofsdorf. On the way, we relaxed in the sun on a meadow for a few hours. A vacation can be like that too. Back at the hotel, it was time to pack our bags, as we were due to continue our journey to the next stage destination the following day. At the end of the day, we enjoyed another delicious meal on the terrace of our hotel "Am Wasser".

Day 6: Breege - Sassnitz

Today's task was to cycle from Breege to Sassnitz. We had to give up our attempt to cycle to Glowe on the forest path on the Bodden side of the Schaabe after a few kilometers. The path became increasingly narrow and difficult to cycle on, so we returned to the cycle path along the country road after all. From Glowe, we continued past Spyker Lake and Spyker Castle, which are well worth seeing, and then climbed a short distance to the viewpoint on Bobbiner Tempelberg. As we had decided from the outset to visit the Königstuhl the next day, we were supposed to continue on the alternative route via Sagard suggested in the accompanying booklet. However, on the advice of two cyclists we met at the viewpoint, we turned right instead of left at the next junction, gave our muscles a rest on a rapid descent down to the village of Polchow and cycled just under five kilometers along the banks of the Jasmund Bodden and then left towards Borchtitz, a highly recommended alternative. We continued along the largely derelict facilities of the former Mukran shunting and transshipment station via Dubnitz to Sassnitz. From the port of Sassnitz, there was a short, steep climb into the town and we had already reached our hotel, not far from the old town of Sassnitz. We rounded off the day with a short evening stroll through Sassnitz.

As we still had some energy left, we cycled from Königstuhl along a forest path to Lohme in the afternoon, where we were supposed to have the best view of Cape Arkona. Unfortunately, it was a bit hazy over the Baltic Sea, so the view was not as beautiful as we had hoped. From Lohme, we drove back towards Sassnitz as signposted, where the two-kilometre descent along Stubbenkammerstraße into the town was our reward for the day's efforts. We ended the evening with a glass of wine in the "Fährblick" restaurant on the former Sassnitz pier.

Day 8: Rest day in Sassnitz

Today the bikes had another rest day. After a good night's sleep and breakfast, we strolled through the beautiful old town of Sassnitz to the harbor, where we took the opportunity to take a boat trip to the chalk cliffs. It's impressive to see the chalk cliffs from the water when you've been standing on top of them the day before. Afterwards, we enjoyed an ice cream sundae in the harbor and then visited the remains of the former harbor railway station. Unfortunately, the museum in the glass station, the former ferry terminal for the "Sweden ferries", no longer exists. We walked along the new footbridge and some side streets towards the old town to have dinner in the "Altstadt-Brasserie" restaurant there and reflect on our impressions of Sassnitz.

Day 11: Mönchgut peninsula

The wind from the previous day had gone and the sun was shining brightly in the blue sky, the perfect conditions for exploring the Mönchgut peninsula by bike. We took the designated cycle path via Lobbe to Klein Zicker and Thiessow with its pilot tower, from where we had a clear view of the Greifswalder Oie and the island of Usedom, as well as the remains of the former nuclear power plant near Lubmin and the church towers of the Hanseatic town of Greifswald. After leaving Thiessow, we turned off the cycle path to the beach, where we plunged into the Baltic Sea in the sunshine and balmy air and then took an afternoon nap in the sun on the almost deserted beach. Pure Baltic Sea. On the way back, we made a detour to Groß Zicker with its small village church and parish widow's house, which is well worth seeing, and to Gager with its fishing port. In Lobbe, we fortified ourselves at the "Seeteufel" restaurant before arriving back in Göhren later that evening.

A very beautiful path, but very narrow in sections, sandy in places and therefore difficult to cycle here and there. But certainly better than cycling six kilometers of cobblestones on the old Swedish road. But above all, we would otherwise have missed the spectacle of numerous kite surfers with their colorful kites on a small beach on the Bodden in strong winds. From Mesekenhagen, we followed the signs for the Baltic Sea coastal cycle path via Karrendorf to Neuenkirchen, which, although the accompanying cycle map indicated that it was easy to cycle on, consisted in large sections of a dusty gravel track, which we were glad to have finally overcome. We reached the Hanseatic town of Greifswald via a small detour right by the harbor, from where it was not far to the hotel in the old town. As a reward for the day, we enjoyed a hearty dinner and a hearty "Störtebeker" in the brewery on the market square.

Day 15: Greifswald - Wolgast

From Greifswald, we cycled along the Ryk to Wieck, where we were lucky enough to be able to watch the old wooden drawbridge being opened for shipping, which was hard manual work. We continued through the wide coastal landscape via Kemnitz, Ludwigsburg and Loissin to the port of Vierow and from there directly along the coast to the seaside resort of Lubmin, which, in contrast to the other seaside resorts, radiated a tranquil calm at the beginning of September. We continued along long stretches of country road past the remains of the former Lubmin nuclear power plant (the information center at the main entrance was unfortunately closed) through Spandowerhagen to Freest, with its small idyllic fishing port, where another ice cream sundae was due at the "Häppchen" café. In Kröslin, we decided not to continue straight on along the country road, but to cycle in an arc across the flat countryside towards Hollendorf, through Karrin and Weidehof to Wolgast, an almost deserted area where foxes and hares still say goodnight to each other. At the entrance to Wolgast, we descended to the riverside path along the Peene, where we reached the harbor and the small town center of Wolgast, where our hotel "Peenebrücke" was located. In the evening, we settled down in the quaint fish restaurant "Der Speicher" at the harbor, where we quenched our thirst and recharged our batteries for the next day.