Rügen Treetop Walk / Baumwipfelpfad
Summer at the Baltic Sea can be a bitch, and I apologize for the impulsive use of the word summer. (For our German readers, that’s the middle part of the calendar year, when in more fortunate areas of the world it is hot, and it doesn’t rain, hail, or blow. The wind, I mean. The weather too.)
So what’s a weary traveler to do during such a gloomy, chilly, windy and blowy day? Pack his swimming trunks (just in case!) and… treetop walk at Rügen Baumwipfelpfad, of course!
I had seen aerial photos of this treetop walk, with its rounded funnel-like tower - it’s called the Eagle’s Nest - and it looked awesome from the bird’s point of view. From the tiny walker’s perspective it looks less impressive on the way towards it, especially during the summer months, when there’s a lot of vegetation.
It gets a lot better when you get on top and you just feel like running around the deck, arms spread wide, screaming “Eagle!“
But don’t! Unless you actually see an eagle, they do have those in the area. The white-tailed kind.
Back to the walk. The Baumwipfelpfad on the Rügen island is close to resorts Prora and Binz, in the forest between the sea and the lagoon. Its wooden path, winding among treetops, is more than 1 km long and it’s especially fun for families with children, who get to see the trees from a totally different perspective.
The most exciting part is of course the tower, which spirals around a 30m-high beech tree and allows you to see all the eastern part of Rügen island, to Sassnitz and even all the way to Stralsund, on clear days.
If you look to the left, you’ll see Rügen.
If you look to the right, you’ll see Rügen
This is the Kleiner Jasmunder lagoon, or “Bodden”, a briny type of “lake” common in the area, with fluctuating salt levels and a narrow connection to the sea.
And if you look really hard, you can see the former mega-resort called the Colossus of Prora peeking above the trees, still-standing remnant of the colossal uniform architecture of the Third Reich.
The path leading up to the actual tree top walk is also a spiral
Actual tree top walk, close to the tower
Tower
30m-high beech and 40m-high tower seen from below
… and from above
You can find all the information about the Rügen Treetop Walk / Baumwipfelpfad on its website. It’s a very nice spot to spend half a day if you’re in the area, it has a cafeteria and a shop, and a bus stop right in front of it.
For more photos, check out the gallery or just click through the slideshow below.
