Binz on Rügen - amber, white beach villas & star kitchen

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Attractions in Binz on Ruegen

We make a stopover to see the Binz sights. Our road trip to Scandinavia is practically crying out for a stop in Binz on Rügen. The Stenaline ferry that took us from Trelleborg in Sweden back to Sassnitz in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern brings there only at 22 p.m. We don't want to travel far after a day in southern Sweden and after a ferry crossing over the Baltic Sea. Therefore, we plan a stay in Binz on the return journey. The city is just a twenty-minute drive from the Sassnitz ferry terminal in Neu-Mukran. We are excited.

Binz sights

We stay in one of these pretty villas, the Villa Salve *, right on the waterfront and are awakened by the quiet sound of the sea. Between the pines, which separate the promenade from the sandy beach behind, the sun rises from the sea, as if she wanted to tickle us awake and tell us not to lie in bed lazily, but to explore the city.

A city in white - Binz on Rügen

At first glance you can see how much the city has blossomed. The beach villas, which line up on the promenade look like neat and inviting, like pearls on a string. Only a few have splashes of color. White is the color with which the houses in Binz are painted. This gives them a delicate appearance. One villa is more beautiful than the other.

The Binz promenade

Walkers enjoy the deep blue sky from which the sun shines, the breeze that blows from the Baltic Sea and the sound of the waves washing up on the beach. We also go out to the pier, which extends from the town center into the Baltic Sea. At the end of it, the boats moor every few hours, with which you can drive along the chalk coast to the Königsstuhl. We prefer to watch a young seagull as she painstakingly cleans every single one of her feathers. She is also not disturbed by Petar, who documents her cleaning work on video.

Booking.com

The Kurhaus - one of the Binz sights

On the way back to the promenade that shows Kurhaus from Binz auf Rügen at its best. With its two towers, the yellow and white painted facade and the arched windows, it almost looks like a castle as it rises behind the beach. It is quieter on the east side of the promenade. We meet fewer people here. Maybe because there are only a few Coffee where you can take your coffee break or watch the strollers over a cocktail or a glass of beer. Instead, sandy paths always lead down to the beach. There, sun-seekers have made themselves comfortable in the beach chairs. You will find shelter from the wind that blows in from the Baltic Sea.

Getting married in Binz - exceptional

"That's how I imagine a seaside resort," I say to Petar. At the end of the promenade, a strange building suddenly protrudes from the sand. It reminds me of a UFO. However, the house has nothing to do with extraterrestrials. It is a lookout tower that the rescue team had built from Binz on Rügen. Today, however, the most extraordinary of the Binz sights serves the registry office as a wedding venue. With a view of the chalk coast and the sandy beach.

Interesting facts about the bathroom architecture by mobile phone

On the way back we pull out our cell phone, on which we take a tour of the Binz villas (https://villen.binz.de/) downloaded. We learn a lot about the development of the city and the fate of its people. We follow the villa tour back to the city center. On the way we discover a gallery of clay plates surrounded by a wisteria, on which the history of the seaside resort Binz from 1884 to its 125th anniversary in 2009 is told. Passers-by keep pausing in front of the tiles that an artist has created from the place, on which she has burned in original photos of the time in a special process.

Our goal is the workshop of

Finbarr Corrigan, the amber fisherman from Binz on Rügen

We had heard of him: the Irish man, who had been coming to the region years ago because his brother lived on Hiddensee. During his visits, he got to know amber and was so fascinated that he spent almost every vacation looking for the stone that was washed ashore by the sea everywhere on the Baltic Sea coast. During one of his visits, he decided to sell his restaurant in England and to settle on Hiddensee.

An Irishman on the Baltic Sea

It didn't last long there, however, then he met his wife Yvonne. With this he finally moved to Binz. There he runs a business where he grinds the amber and processes it into works of art with stone or wood. Together with his wife and daughter, he offers his work at Paulstrasse 1 in Binz in the summer. When a vacationer comes by and puts an amber in his hand, he starts to grind his find. Then a piece of jewelry is quickly created. Or fossils are visible that were not previously visible. Binz sights to take away.

Amber workshop and shop by Finbarr Corrigan
Paulstr. 1
18609 Binz

Finally, we stop to get hungry

Star restaurant freustil by Ralf Haug

Star chef Ralf Haug invites us to lunch in his restaurant. There is spaghettini with venison ragout in lime sauce and a rhubarb strawberry dessert. For the price of 19,00 euros. We enjoy his pasta with venison ragout on the terrace of the restaurant. The other guests are regulars and come over for lunch. Ralf Haug has been in Binz on Rügen since November 2009.

He now cooks in the Freustil restaurant in the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, which has had a Michelin star since 2013. Rightly so, as we find: our lunch melts on the tongue. Ralf Haug uses regional products. His venison ragout in lime sauce is an example of this. Rügener Wild offers an experience for the palate. The chef describes his way of cooking as "nordic nature cuisine". With us he won fans.

Restaurant Freustil
Zeppelinstr. 8
18609 Binz

Bathing in the Baltic Sea

It is still a bit too cool for swimming in mid-May, but with a deep blue sky, temperatures around 18 ° Celsius, plenty of sun and a breeze that blows in from the Baltic Sea, a walk on the beach in the seaside resort of Binz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is just that Right one. We have a choice. We can either at the Beach promenade with its white villas Stroll along from the Art Nouveau period and join the masses.

We can go down to the sea, let the wind blow around our ears, watch the goings-on at the beach bars and watch the bathers. They don't miss the chance to plunge into the floods of the Baltic Sea on this sunny day. Or you do it like we do. We enjoy the promenade with its views, the bars and cafes and the spa architecture in one direction and on the way back we experience sun, sand and sea on the beach in the seaside resort of Binz along the water.

The beach in the seaside resort Binz

While the walkers on the promenade are more looking for the flair of a beach pool and strolling from café to café in casual clothing, sea lovers can be found on the beach in the seaside resort of Binz. These are bathers who cannot be deterred by the water temperatures, at least sticking their feet into the sea. They are beach hikers who roll up their pants and walk with their shoes in the sand for miles. Others are families with children, whose offspring digs holes in the sand with a shovel and bucket. Or it is simply relaxation seekers who make themselves comfortable with a book in one of the beach chairs to spend the day in the sun.

At the beach bar, guests can take drinks and have a snack. Here you can also rent the beach chairs and pay the tourist tax, which is due when using the beach area.

A beach holiday in the sand

We trudge through the sand to the regions where the waves keep smoothing it and making walking easier. With our shoes in hand, we stroll along the coast, feel the salt on our lips and press our eyes together to protect them from the sun.

We hear the whispering of the waves that run in the sand next to us. Happy children build sand castles while their parents watch them from the beach chair. In the distance the excursion boat approaches, which takes its passengers out to the chalk cliffs. It moored at the pier, which was built for such purposes. Until they were built, travelers who came to Binz by boat had to be disembarked off the coast because the water was too shallow towards the shore. In stormy weather it was often a delicate matter. It's different today. Visitors take a leisurely stroll to the end of the pier and comfortably get on the excursion boats.

Beach chairs - Binz sights

We continue our beach hike and pass beach chairs in all colors and variations. Seagulls screech above us and one of them, which is just losing its juvenile feathers, is busy cleaning them. For minutes we watch her pull each feather through her beak. She turns her head in unbelievable directions to really reach all parts of her plumage. She doesn't mind that we watch her doing it. It is only when the sun sets against the horizon that we make our way back our hotel, the Villa Salve *, we know that from the junior suite we have a view of the Baltic Sea coast of Binz to end our day there.

Binz sights like back then

For us, Binz is the epitome of a seaside resort as it may have looked in the 19th century: sophisticated with villas, but also with rows of beach chairs in which bathers can make themselves comfortable. Only that they no longer jump into the floods in knee-length swimsuits or wear bathing caps with ruffles. The current swimwear exposes the illusion of a past epoch that is open to our eyes and takes us back to the present day. For a few hours, however, we indulge in this fantasy and experience it Beach tourism from yesteryear in Binz.

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Travel Arrangements:

Arrival by plane, train or bus
Lufthansa or Germanwings fly to Rostock. From there, continue with the rental car. It is possible to travel to Rügen station by train.

Cars:
Cheap car hire - book quickly and easily!

Events on Rügen:
For example, a summer event Störtebeker FestivalDiana from kurzreisenundmeer describes here.

Hotels in Binz:
Hotels in Binz * You can book through our partner booking.com at this link. The Travel Charme Kurhaus Binz * you can find under this link.

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Find more Slow Travel goals you find here. Discover others cities in Germany.

Source: own research on site with a friendly invitation from the spa administration Binz auf Rügen

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Video: © Copyright Petar Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline