Jasmund – the smallest National Park in Germany

Jasmund – the smallest National Park in Germany

Jasmund National Park made on us big impression. Even the pictures raises so many questions among my friends. When I came back from Rügen, my Erasmus friends often asked me: „Karolina, you’ve really been to Germany? I didn’t expect to find places like this one in Germany”. Well, it looks like a coast of Ireland, or any other place, but… wait a second! Who ever said that Germany may not have such beautiful views? Not without reason Germany are the most visited country in Europe after the Spain. It seems to me that we still do not appreciate the tourist attractions of ths country.

But let us return to Jasmund National Park. Although we spent there only 5 hours, we would like to provide some valuable advices.

Take a bus!

Even if you have a car, it is worth to spend around 3 € and take the bus. Well, unless you like a long walk uphill and you can still hike there.  The slope is not too big, and the ground fairly comfortable (but only in park), but you have to be prepared for the 10 km walk. So if you fancy on 20 km, go ahead! We only took a bus to up and then we went down few hours … Therefore, if you’re going to see the most beautiful cliffs, you should go the whole route, not caring that you have to turn back for the car. Leave it in Sassnitz and just take the public transport, which will take you straight to the gates of the Jasmund National Park.

Königsstuhl

According to Wikipedia, Königsstuhl is the most well-known rock formation in the park. Well, that is why you have pay for it and admire this rock formation with thousand of tourists. In our opinion, you can skip this place. Don’t think that we are made, because we wanna skip the biggest attraction. That’s what we thought at the beginning, not as long as we went around the track among the cretaceous formation. Views among the path are much better!

• Whou should go to the Königsstuhl and pay 8€ ?

If you don’t want to walk a few hours in the forest and parlty on the beach, just buy a ticket. I can’t deny that the views from this place are beautiful, but if you are going to walk the whole route to Sassnitz, don’t hesitate to skip Königsstuhl. Ticket price also includes entrance to the museum (which is quite small and extremlycrowded by children) and cinema. We benefited only toilets and we immediately headed to the local viewpoint. Below, I uploaded pictures from Königsstuhl. Compare them with pictures from the trail and decide if it’s worth to visit Königsstuhl.

• Who should go along the cliffs?

Almost anyone! The route is fairly easy, especially if we go through the forest. The route along the beach is unpleasant due to stones and broken trees. We met people of all ages on the trail, so no worries, at your own pace you are able to overcome these 10km. Dress comfortable shoes (sneakers or tennis shoes will be ok) and stretch pants, get a coat or jumper and bring a spray against flies. They are really nasty! Longer posing for the picture becomes almost impossible.

Let’s discover Jasmund National Park!

The entrance to the Jasmund National Park trail is almost invisible. It is located exactly opposite to the entrance to the Königsstuhl. Prepare to be immersed into dense forest!

The path leads up the hill, so to then gradually fall down. The first entrance to the beaches is closed, but we didn’t care, because we knew that there will be another one. Actually, we were happy that it was closed, because we didn’t have a choice! Otherwise we could waste to much time on the beach. Thus we went further, until we found the next view point – „Viktoriasicht.”

• Viktoriasicht

This is the first vantage point on the trial. There is a small footbridge, with very welcomed sign „enter at your own risk.” In fact, no one seems to care, and all enter on this few wooden to capture the best views with their cameras. On the left side you have a beautiful view of the Königsstuhl. You can spot a platform full of tourists. As I wrote above, this place is widely available, for free and quite close to the trail entrance! But this is only a foretaste of what we will see in a moment.

• Along the cliff walk

We continue our walk. The path gradually disappears, but fortunately the road is well trodden, so we know which way to go. We stay away from the cliffs. Right at the entrance was the information that landfalling occurs often. Therefore it is advisable not to get too close to the cliff. Especially since there is no fence. Look at the beach and will know what am I talking about. You can notice traces of the recent tremors: the branches of trees, dozens of sand and stones. We do not pay to much attention to them, because of amazing views. We admire them from a safe distance. However, we made only short break for pictures, because flies were attacking us all the time. Although, not surprisingly, the Jasmund National Park is called the most beautiful one in Germany!

• Walking on the beach

I don’t know exactly what time we went down to the beach, but it was the first open entrance. Of course, the entrance is at your own risk, because of the possibility of landslides. In addition, one sufficed, decent wave would wash us away 😝 . The beach was very small in comparison to the beaches that we have seen on the Baltic Sea. Fortunately, the weather was favorable, so we could be threaten only by the landslides. The descent to the beach is quite steep. Made from Metal and slippery. Small steps are really uncomfortable, particularly  for elderly and kids. If you are afraid, you can try the next entrance. I will not guarantee you that they will be better. Walking on the beach is less comfortable then in the forest. We must pay more attention and walk slowly because of big stones. The sea is cold and very polluted by algae that stink and attract flies. We couldn’t spot the bottom of the sea, so it’s hard to say whether access to the sea was steep or gentle. At least the views from the beach were amazing! As I wrote above, it’s good to see the cliffs from both perspectives.

• Prepare well for the trial!

I don’t know how it happens, but we didn’t prepare well for this trial. I mean, our clothes were ok, but we totally forgot to take food with us. We starved at some point and we couldn’t go faster on the rocky beach. Don’t make this mistake, grab some food with you to enjoy your hike more! I don’t know how it looks now, but whe we were there (summer 2016), access from the beach to Sassnitz was impossible because of landslides. However, we managed to overcome the obstacle, but we don’t recommend this kind of activity 😛

Alternative tour in Jasmund National Park?

That was our plan at the beggining, but we didn’t manage. From Sassnitz, near the pier, you can buy tickets for a cruise along the cliffs. The ship departs several times a day. The trip takes about 2 hours and costs approximately € 13-15. It’s hard to tell if it’s worth. While watching pictures from the internet you can see that some of them were made from the sea and look awesome! Price is also not encouraging, but as I mentioned somewhere… it’s not a cheap place!

If you still need more knowledge about Jasmund National Park, visit their official site!

Have you been to the Jasmund National Park? Or maybe you took a cruise trip? Share with us your experience or ask us for more advices!!

Read also:

• Rügen – general info
• Sassnitz
• Sellin & Binz
• Kap Arkona