When you think of island hopping you quickly think of a boat and tropical islands, but did you know that it is also fun to do this with the camper nearby? The German Baltic Sea is located about 600 km from Utrecht (depending on your exact final destination) and is therefore very easy to drive with a camper. We went on discovery as we didn’t want to travel by plane or far from home due to COVID-19. With our kitesurfing gear in the camper we left for Germany. The wind forecasts looked good, so we left our mountain bikes at home.
Fehmarn
Our first stop was Fehmarn, also known as Germany’s solar island. With no less than 2,200 hours of sunshine per year, you almost wonder why so many Germans go on holiday with us in the country. Fehmarn is connected to the mainland by a 963 meter long bridge, has over 75 kilometers of coastline with endless beaches. In addition, the island has a lot of kite surfing spots.
One of the island’s most famous spots is Gold. Gold is located in a kind of large bay, creating a flat water spot with mostly shallow water, which allows both beginners and advanced skiers to enjoy themselves here. Depending on the wind, you can choose a spot here on the island, so there are spots on all sides of the islands. One more on the open sea and therefore less suitable for a beginner, the other more in a bay such as Gold.
After a first successful day at Gold, we decided the next day to look for a spot with a bit more wind as the forecasts were not very good. Our eye fell on the Altenteil spot, a spot located in the north of the island and a spot that is also known for the beautiful waves (waves). The environment here feels un-German, the water is quite blue and clear, so you only know from the temperature that you are not in a subtropical destination. The beach is small and it gets deep right away. A spot for the more advanced kite surfer.
If you are not very keen on kite surfing or if you want to do something different for a day, then Fehmarn is ideal to be discovered by bike. The average age on this island is quite high and you see many campers and seniors who enjoy a bike ride. The atmosphere is therefore very pleasant.
Rügen
Our next, and also last, stop of our trip is Rügen. Google briefly on Rügen, view the images and you are immediately sold. The first thing you will likely encounter are the chalk cliffs, located in the northeast of the island. The chalk cliffs are located in the Jasmund National Park, a large area where you will encounter several walking and cycling routes and also an area where you may feel more like the Ardennes or Alps than in North East Germany. It is a lot more hilly here than on the rest of the island (and wider surroundings).
Since the wind would only pick up in the afternoon, we decided to head towards the chalk cliffs in the morning. There are several walking routes and it takes a while to find the best walking route. We took a walking route to the viewpoint. This route mainly runs through the forest until you get to the lookout. A beautiful route through the forest, but unfortunately a route where you don’t see much of the chalk cliffs. Next time we try to take a route where you walk more down the beach. If we can believe the photos on the internet, these routes must be there too.
You will also find several kite surfing spots on Rügen, there is a suitable spot for every wind direction. We got the tips from locals of Ostsee Kitesurfschule Rügen to come to their spot, a spot located next to a harbor and a spot that is still quite ‘secret’. When we arrived at the harbor we could not see where we had to enter the water, but after a short walk we arrived at a huge flat water spot. With the first few hundred meters of knee-deep (shallow) water. I think we have rarely seen a spot where it is so mirror flat even at 30 knots. In the Netherlands, this place had belonged 100% to a protected nature reserve, which would have made kite surfing impossible.
Since we were so impressed by this spot, we decided, against our rules, to also go sailing here for our second (and already last) day. The locals laughingly indicated that kite surfing here is busy with 30 kiters on the weekends. Where you quickly talk about hundreds of kiters at popular and well-known spots such as Wiek.
Too little time
Unfortunately we only had a week (- 3 travel days) so we were only able to stay 2 full days on both islands. Fehmarn is nice, but if the wind isn’t blowing, it’s a bit limited. Rügen, on the other hand, is an island where we have seen far too little and where we could have enjoyed ourselves for at least two more days.
You will find a large bath house, several nature reserves and walking routes, the largest hotel in the world (built by order of Hitler), an old steam train and so on.
We will definitely come back with a camper! Don’t have your own camper? Then you might be able to rent one from friends / family like we did, rent one or even look at the purchase of used campers.
