Hiddensee is the small, car-free island off the western coast of Rügen, a 17-kilometre sliver of dune, heath, and meadow that has long served as a Baltic retreat for artists and writers. Cars are not allowed; transport is by bicycle, horse-drawn carriage, or foot. The Dornbusch lighthouse on the northern bluff and the small white village of Kloster are the obvious sights.
Day-trip ferries run from Schaprode on Rügen's western coast — the crossing takes about half an hour. For a real sense of the place, an overnight stay is better; the island settles into a different rhythm once the day visitors leave. Gerhart Hauptmann's summer house at Kloster is now a small museum.