Excursions into the surrounding countryside are always a pleasure. The many idyllically peaceful fishing villages on the Baltic coast have long been the preserve of promenading sun worshippers rather than freshly caught herring. The landscape of the West-Pomeranian Boddenlandschaft National Park was essentially defined by the ice age. Trace the history of the Swedes in towns and villages by following the Swedish Heritage Route. The Fischland-Darss-Zingst peninsula is a jewel in Mother Nature's crown and protected by the National Park.West-Pomeranian Boddenlandschaft National Park
The 805 km² National Park lies between the Darss-Zingst peninsula, Hiddensee island and the west coast of the island of Rügen. About half of the park is open sea, another quarter or more consists of the estuarial waters of the Bodden lagoons. The pattern of the landscape in this coastal region is the result of natural coastal development and the effects of the people who have been living in this region for centuries. The park serves to protect and maintain this landscape with its spits, coastal lakes, wind flats, saltgrass islands and dune slack marshes. As well as a multitude of flora and fauna, this is the largest resting place for cranes in central and northern Europe. Swedish Heritage Route
The Swedish Heritage Route, initiated by the Swedish embassy, is a 700 kilometre cultural and historical route, which ties in with Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Swedish period. It links historic sites and places which were shaped by the Swedes in various different ways. Much still exists that testifies to the period when the Swedes were in this region. The many museums along the route illustrate German-Swedish history.Fischland-Darss-Zingst
Water is for swimming and for sailing, surfing and canoeing. Anyone who has ever taken time out on this narrow spit of land, even just for a swim, could hardly fail to be captured by its irresistible magic, the austere charm of the boundless beaches and the weather-beaten woodlands. Its unspoilt nature is valued above all by painters and poets, scholars and thinkers. It has been a long time since anyone living in the Sea Captains' Houses went to sea, and much of the picture postcard beauty lies quietly behind hedges of mallow, rose and honeysuckle, swarming with bees. The peninsula contains some particularly picturesque examples of reed-thatched fishermen's cottages and squat smallholdings nestling between the flowers and vegetable patches of idyllic farmer's gardens.