Germany
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
958km²
Area
513km
Coastline
161m
Highest point
Piekberg
67,526
People
19°C
Warmest sea
August
4km
To the mainland
When to go to Rügen
Best to visit from July to August.
The sea is warmest in August (19 °C) and coolest in February (2 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island in the Baltic Sea off the Pomeranian coast of Germany
Rügen is an island in Germany. It covers 958 km², with 513 km of coastline. Its highest point, Piekberg, rises to 161 m. About 67,526 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 4 km away.
Getting there
- Heringsdorf Airport (HDF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 80 km in a straight lineCar hire at MMX airport (Malmö)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesWittower Fähre, Sellin - Göhren, Sellin - Binz, Fähre Moritzdorf (Ruderfähre)
- 4 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From July to Augustbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Rügen.
- 96beachesFKK, Tiki Beach (Sportstrand), Hundestrand/FKK and 93 more
- 127viewpointsBakenberg, Rastplatz MS, Aussicht m. Bank and 124 more
- 6lighthousesGrabow Oberfeuer rot, Grabow Unterfeuer, Leuchtturm Lauterbach and 3 more
- 17ferry terminalsWittower Fähre Südseite Rügen, Göhren, Fähre Flipper and 14 more
- 32marinasMarina Ralswiek, Libnitz (Pachtgew.), Hafen Breege and 29 more
- 24named peaksPiekberg, Rabenberg, Lenzberg and 21 more
- 2waterfalls
- 14castles and fortsSlawenburg Garz, Jagdschloss Granitz, Gutshaus Boldevitz and 11 more
- 81ruins and archaeological sitesGroßsteingrab Hagen-Stubnitz 1, Großsteingrab Starrvitz, Hügelgräber Woorker Berge and 78 more
- 3surf spotsUni Surf Team Rügen, Fly-A-Kite, Baysurf Lietzow
- 11waymarked walking routesJakobsweg, Birgittaweg Sassnitz (Rügen) Tribsees, Pfad der Muße & Erkenntnis, Europäischer Fernwanderweg E10, Deutschland, Rügen/Vorpommern and 8 more
- 59campsitesHafen Seedorf Wohnmobil-Stellplätze, D3, Landgut Dargast and 56 more
- 1,487hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 432restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Rügen in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Rügen, each with its own numbers.
7beaches and covesCoastya
45mountainsPeakyas
9lakesLakeyas
Highest point
161m
Piekberg
prominence 161 m · according to Peakyas
Largest lake
1.2km²
Selliner See
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
24.0°C
Garzer See
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
19.1°C
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
7 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Hauptstrand Sellin19.1°C
- Großer Strand19.1°C
- Strand Glowe18.7°C
- Hundestrand18.7°C
- Gustower Wiekcove19.1°C
- Rüsensoltcove18.1°C
- Lanckener Bekcove19.1°C
45 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Piekbergprominence 161 m161m
- Königsstuhl118m
- Herthaburg
- Rugard
- Waldhalle
- Baken-Berg
- Kegelin Berg
- Kapellen Berg
37 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
9 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Selliner See1.2km²
- Schmachter See1.1km²
- Spyckerscher See0.77km²
- Großer Wostevitzer Teich0.64km²
- Landower Wedde0.28km²
- Ossen0.26km²
- Kleiner Wostevitzer Teich0.25km²
- Garzer See0.11km²
1 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 19 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 91 %0–50 m
- 9 %50–200 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
20 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Bergen auf Rügen13,457 people
- Sassnitz10,779 people
- Ostseebad Binz5,531 people
- Putbus4,803 people
- Sagard2,859 people
- Sellin2,358 people
- Samtens2,085 people
- Garz1,977 people
- Gingst1,554 people
- Dranske1,527 people
- Altefähr1,301 people
- Ostseebad Göhren1,280 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 12 | 8 | 4 |
| Night low (°C) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| Sea (°C) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 5 |
| Rain (mm) | 60 | 45 | 42 | 34 | 46 | 57 | 74 | 72 | 57 | 62 | 57 | 62 |
| Wet days | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 |
| Sun h/day | 0.4 | 1.7 | 4.1 | 6.9 | 8.1 | 8.5 | 7.6 | 6.5 | 5.3 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| Wind (km/h) | 27 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 26 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +2.0 | +2.7 | +2.5 | +2.0 | +0.7 | +1.0 | −0.3 | +1.1 | +1.3 | +1.8 | +2.2 | +1.7 |
| 2021 | +1.6 | +0.2 | +0.3 | −0.2 | −0.8 | +2.2 | +2.1 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +1.3 | +0.6 |
| 2022 | +0.7 | +1.6 | +1.7 | +0.8 | +1.6 | +1.3 | +0.1 | +1.4 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +1.8 | +0.7 |
| 2023 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +1.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +1.9 | +0.5 | −0.6 | +1.8 | +1.2 | +0.8 | −0.2 |
| 2024 | +0.1 | +1.3 | +1.5 | +1.0 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +1.7 | +0.8 | +1.2 | +1.2 |
| 2025 | +1.4 | +0.8 | +1.3 | +2.2 | +1.6 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +1.2 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.8 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Denmark
Poland
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q3237) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit