Lace up your hiking boots and explore ancient beech forests hemmed by soaring chalk cliffs and the Baltic coast in Germany’s smallest national park.
Measuring just 12 square miles (30 square kilometers) in size, Jasmund National Park may be small, but this nature park is one of northeastern Germany’s most spectacular destinations. Get a glimpse of the enormous chalk cliffs that captured the imagination of 19th-century painters and meander through beech forests dating back to the 13th century. With plenty of walking and cycling routes and an informative visitor center, the Jasmund National Park is a perfect daytrip on the island of Rügen.
Situated within a 19th-century stone building, the Königsstuhl National Park Centre provides an introduction to the park’s extraordinary natural beauty. Pick up a map and begin your exploration into this wild corner of Germany.
The national park is crowned by gleaming white chalk cliffs, known as Königsstuhl (King’s Chair). The cliffs reach up 384 feet (117 meters) from the waters of the Baltic Sea and are speckled with fossils. Get an awe-inspiring perspective of the cliffs on the popular Jasmund National Park Walking Trail, which spans 5.3 miles (8.5 kilometers) of the park’s coastline. The path takes you through the park’s area of UNESCO World Heritage-listed beech forests. If you’ve got keen eyes, you might spot orchids on the forest floor and majestic white-tailed eagles circling above the sea.
Continue your adventure by bike along the Hamburg-Rügen or Baltic Coast cycling routes. Add to your experience of the park at the visitor center’s galleries and auditorium. Check out the interactive exhibition, which tells the story of the park’s unique geology, or sign up for a tour or a ranger talk to learn about the park’s Germanic mythology and pirate history. See the exhibition dedicated to Caspar David Friedrich’s 1818 painting Chalk Cliffs on Rügen (Kreidefelsen auf Rügen) and enjoy the work of talented landscape photographers. For the kids, there’s a climbing area with a recreated bird’s nest to explore.
Jasmund National Park is located on the island of Rügen in northeastern Germany. The nearest intercity train station is in Binz, a Baltic Sea resort 11 miles (18 kilometers) away. Alternatively, catch the train from Rostock to Sassnitz and continue by bus to Jasmund National Park. The park is free to visit.
