Ahrenshoop is a village where artists came first and tourists followed. In the 1890s painters from Berlin, Munich and elsewhere found this thin strip of land between the Baltic and the Saaler Bodden, drawn by the light, the sea, the reed-thatched cottages and the wide sky, and they founded an artists' colony that still defines the place. The landscape painter Paul Müller-Kaempff was among the first to settle, and the village has been a haven for creative people ever since.
Galleries and studios line the main street, and many of the thatched cottages that once belonged to fishermen and sailors now hold shops and cafes. A small art museum, built in the style of the local houses with a glossy dark exterior, displays works from the colony, and a stroll between the galleries is a pleasant way to spend an hour. The village has an unhurried, creative feel, and the coastline is just beyond the dunes.
The Fischland-Darß peninsula, of which Ahrenshoop is a part, is a thin spit of land with the open sea on one side and a chain of shallow lagoons, the Bodden, on the other. The beach is on the sea side, a long strip of sand with a steep, crumbling cliff known as the Hohes Ufer, where the bluffs are eaten away by storms and slowly retreat. The beaches are wide and clean, and the light at sunset is magnificent.
The road through the village is narrow and often busy with visitors in summer, so patience is needed. Speed limits are low, and cyclists and pedestrians are everywhere. Outside the main season the road is calmer and a pleasure, with long views of reeds and water. The surface is generally good, with some bumps.
Cafes in Ahrenshoop serve coffee, cake and smoked fish, with outdoor tables in the sun. The best times to visit are late spring and early autumn, when the light is soft and the crowds are smaller, and the sea in September is still warm enough for a quick plunge.