Family vacation on the sunny island of Usedom

The sunny island of Usedom lives up to its name. We drove towards the Baltic Sea in the worst of the rain and as soon as we passed the bridge to the island, we had a bright blue sky and the sun was smiling at us. Perfect! That's how it should be.

Our hotel for the next 6 days was the Hampton by Hilton in Swinoujscie (hotel rating). Since it was our first vacation with a baby, we took it easy and looked for places and destinations that were easy to reach with a stroller. At the beginning of June on Usedom you will find mainly older couples who use the pre-season and people like us with small children who are not yet dependent on the holidays. But mostly the former, occupying all the benches.

Swinemünde

Directly behind the German-Polish border you come to Swinoujscie. This not so small place is just as popular with Usedom tourists as the German seaside resorts. Typical Polish markets are located on the main entrance road. We're not so sure what else you can buy there today, besides cigarettes and wooden art. Because the days of fake Nike shoes and Gucci shirts are over. We didn't walk along it. There is a beautiful promenade on the Baltic Sea beach, with many shops, restaurants and cafes. A lot has been newly built here, but some things still look the same as they did 20 years ago. In general, Świnoujście is a developing city. You can still find the typical GDR prefabricated buildings. But our hotel z. B. was in a completely newly built complex. A lot is currently being invested and small architectural highlights are being set, with new residential areas and hotels.

The path directly along the beach is really great. Here they have come up with something for wheelchair users, walkers and prams. A kind of footbridge leads over and along the dunes. So everything is barrier-free accessible. Since you are not allowed to enter the dunes anyway, you walk “over” them. The beach in Swinoujscie is very wide and relatively clean. The view extends to Ahlbeck and Heringsdorf.

There are enough shopping possibilities in Swinoujscie. Only in the vicinity of our hotel was a Lidl and a Kaufland within walking distance.

Seebad Ahlbeck

Ahlbeck is one of the most beautiful health resorts on Usedom. The magnificent promenade is lined with partly new and partly old spa houses. There are numerous cafes and restaurants and one ice cream parlor at the other. The best are the small smokehouses with their freshly caught fish, which you can get in a bun. The pier is definitely worth a visit. You can simply walk past the restaurant in the middle of the bridge and at the end you have a wonderful view of Ahlbeck and Usedom. The beach looks endless from here!

Our tip for parking: choose the center car park. This is free for 2 hours with a parking disc and the walk to the pier takes just 10 minutes. Further into the city there are very few parking spaces and these are chargeable.

Heringsdorf

This is the spa clinic place par excellence, because here is one clinic after the other. Heringsdorf is a really nice spa town. In our opinion, the promenade is smaller and shorter than the one in Ahlbeck and unfortunately very full and overcrowded. Apparently all tourists flock here and forget that the immediate neighboring town is also beautiful. There are some small shops, shops and restaurants. There is even an outlet center on the pier and a large restaurant at the end. We found the large LED wall on the beach with advertising very funny. Can you watch TV on the beach! There is also less space here for digging in the sand, as the beach seems to get narrower towards the north of the island. At least it is smaller in Heringsdorf than in Swinemünde and Ahlbeck.

You can park in Heringsdorf only on paid parking spaces with a ticket or in the multi-storey car park. The distances from the parking lots are not far. Of course there are places near the center, but the car park a little further away is only a 15-minute walk from the pier.

Zinnowitz

Zinnowitz may not be as well known as the other spa towns, but it is just as beautiful! The cute little shops invite you to browse. The pier is not that big and spectacular, at the end there is an underwater cloth bell that you can use to watch the Baltic Sea. The promenade is beautiful with its old spa houses and the loving planting. The place is not so crowded with tourists and therefore very quiet. Here further north the beach gets narrower and narrower.

You can park in parking lots near the center with a parking meter for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Bansin

This cute little place must take quite a lot of tourists for its size. Therefore, a new hotel is being built on the beach promenade. The promenade is not very long but beautifully designed. The pier is off-center from the village and is really small. In the village itself there are the same small shops as everywhere, with postcards, beach toys and maritime knick-knacks.

We recommend the ice pirates just before the town center. Here you can get Danish soft ice cream with various sprinkles or brittle. Delicious!

You can park along the street towards the center with a parking meter or, as we did, in the Sky-Markt car park with a parking meter for one hour. Actually, this is only for customers, but all the cars that were there were definitely not all buyers in the supermarket.

Technikmuseum Peenemünde – former army research institute on Usedom

Peenemünde is located in the north of the island of Usedom. The small fishing village was made famous by Hitler's rocket base station and coal-fired power station. This is where the tests of the V1 and V2 took place, which are also on display on the site. The extensive area tells the story very vividly, from the founding in 1936 to the GDR era and the transformation into a museum today. The exhibition in the main building is really interesting. You learn how it all began, the first rocket tests, how these tests determined the time, whether in Germany, the USA or Russia. Also how the rockets worked and what the initial problems were until the first rocket could be launched from the Peenemünde base into space.

In the power plant you can marvel at how energy was generated from coal. Most of the old boilers, coal chutes, apparatus and components have been preserved. There is a large hall on the upper floor, which is even used today for concerts due to the good acoustics. But the big old machines also make it clear how inhumane the work must have been for the concentration camp inmates and prisoners back then! A viewing platform has recently been installed on the roof of the power plant. Since the end of May there has even been a glass elevator leading up to it. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we didn't make it to the top. But you should have a good view of the museum grounds and even be able to look as far as Rügen.

You can park around the museum in paid but not expensive parking lots. The museum is completely barrier-free and therefore also manageable with prams. There are ramps and very old elevators that take you to every floor. The staff is very helpful and nice and also lends a hand immediately when the pram has to be carried up the long stairs in the power station.

Which travel guide can you recommend for Świnoujście?

This current travel guides* is the ideal companion to independently discover all sides of the Baltic Sea island of Usedom. The most interesting places, sights and attractions are presented and evaluated in detail.

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