Why this ride
A one-way ride of 688 km, Potsdam to Stahnsdorf - roughly 11 h 31 in the saddle. The stops in between: in Werder, Wilhelmstadt, Scenic stretch near Wandlitz and near Marienwerder.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Uckermark Lakes Quiet Day + Bad Saarow Coffee and Curves
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 688 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 11 h 31
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Uckermark Lakes Quiet Day fuel gate → Uckermark Lakes Quiet Day high p
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 18 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 18 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Potsdam
Frederick the Great wanted a place without cares, sans souci, and he built one in Potsdam: a summer palace on a terraced vineyard, surrounded by a vast park of gardens, temples, follies and more palaces. Sanssouci is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the other palaces and parks of Potsdam and Berlin, and it draws visitors from all over the world. Frederick himself is buried on the terrace, and visitors still leave potatoes on his grave, a tribute to his promotion of the crop.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Potsdam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Uckermark Lakes Quiet Day is where the day begins. Next is High point in Werder.
2. High point in Werder
Every spring, when the fruit trees blossom, Werder throws one of the biggest parties in Brandenburg. The Baumblütenfest, the tree blossom festival, draws huge crowds to taste the local fruit wines, and the town on its island in the Havel becomes a sea of people, music and stalls. For the rest of the year, Werder is a pretty, quiet town, with an old centre on the island, a church, a windmill and views over the water.
Read the complete High point in Werder write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
High point in Werder comes up 41 km in. Next is Uckermark Lakes Quiet Day checkpoint 8.
3. Near Wilhelmstadt
Spandau was a town in its own right for centuries before it became part of Berlin in 1920, and its people still sometimes say they are going into Berlin when they head for the centre. The finish is near Wilhelmstadt, a district on the western bank of the Havel, south of Spandau's old town, and it is a calm place to finish rides that have spent the day in the lakes of the Uckermark or around Bad Saarow.
Read the complete Near Wilhelmstadt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 608 km. Next is Scenic stretch near Wandlitz.
4. Scenic stretch near Wandlitz
During the years of East Germany, the name Wandlitz meant something sinister to many citizens. In a guarded estate in the forest near the lake lived the members of the ruling Politburo, Erich Honecker among them, cut off from the population behind walls and guard posts, with access to Western goods that ordinary people could only dream of. When the estate was opened after the fall of the Wall in 1989, people were surprised by its modest, almost petty privileges. Today, the houses are part of a clinic, and the forest has reclaimed its quiet.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Wandlitz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Wandlitz, early in the day. Next is Photo stop near Marienwerder.
5. Photo stop near Marienwerder
Marienwerder is a small village north of Berlin, set among forests and canals in the Barnim district. The landscape here is shaped by water, both natural and man-made. The Oder-Havel Canal, which links the two rivers, passes close by, as does the older Finow Canal, built in the early seventeenth century and often described as the oldest artificial waterway in Germany that is still navigable. Its locks and towpaths are a charming reminder of the past.
Read the complete Photo stop near Marienwerder write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop near Marienwerder sits at 162 km, early in the day. Next is Berlin motorcycle escapes return.
6. Berkenbrück, on the way back
Berkenbrück is a small village on the Spree, between Fürstenwalde and Frankfurt an der Oder, in the east of Brandenburg. The river here winds slowly through meadows and forests, and the village, with its houses scattered along the water and among the pines, has a sleepy, summer-holiday feel. On the way back towards Berlin, it earns its place with a swim in the river or in one of the small lakes nearby, such as the Dehmsee.
Read the complete Berkenbrück, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Berlin motorcycle escapes return comes up 203 km in. Next is Food stop near Storkow.
7. Food stop near Storkow
East of Storkow, a string of shallow lakes and reed beds known as the Groß Schauener Seen forms one of the most important bird sanctuaries in the region. Ospreys, sea eagles, cranes, bitterns and many ducks breed or rest here, and an observation tower gives a view over the water and the reeds. The lakes have been fished for centuries, and a traditional fishery on their shore still sells smoked fish, a delicious lunch for anyone passing through.
Read the complete Food stop near Storkow write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Back to Uckermark.
8. Back to Uckermark
Few places make a better last stop than the quiet lanes beside Potsdam's South-Western Cemetery. Stahnsdorf, a town of about thirteen thousand people, is known for its great wooded cemetery, laid out in 1909 as a burial ground for Berliners, with winding paths, tall trees and elaborate Art Nouveau monuments.
Read the complete Uckermark write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Uckermark. That is the ride. Next is Bad Saarow Coffee and Curves.
9. Fuel stop near Stahnsdorf
Planning note
Next is Food stop near Zossen.
10. Food stop near Zossen
Planning note
Food stop near Zossen is where this day stops to eat. Next is Scenic stretch in Woltersdorf.
11. Scenic stretch in Woltersdorf
Planning note
A break here. Next is High point near Petershagen.
12. High point near Petershagen
Planning note
Somewhere to get off the bike, 446 km in. Next is Bad Saarow Coffee and Curves checkpoint 8.
13. Near Neu-Hohenschönhausen
Planning note
Bad Saarow Coffee and Curves checkpoint 8 closes the day.
14. Near Liebenwalde, on the way back
Planning note
Berlin motorcycle escapes return comes up 527 km in. Next is Photo stop near Oranienburg.
15. Photo stop near Oranienburg
Oranienburg is a town on the Havel river, a short way north of Berlin, and it carries two very different histories side by side. On one side there is the palace, built in the seventeenth century for Louise Henriette of Orange, the Dutch-born wife of the Elector of Brandenburg, who gave the town its name. It was the first baroque palace in Brandenburg, and its Dutch influence is seen in the proportions and brick. The town became known as Oranienburg, the castle of Orange, and the palace now houses a museum and gardens.
Read the complete Photo stop near Oranienburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Back to Bad Saarow.
16. Back to Bad Saarow
Stahnsdorf has a cemetery that people cross the city to see. The Südwestkirchhof, opened in 1909 to relieve Berlin's overcrowded graveyards, spreads through pine woods like a park, and its Jugendstil chapels and carved family tombs hold a roll-call of Berlin's cultural life, including the illustrator Heinrich Zille and the painter Lovis Corinth. It feels more like a forest than a burial ground, quiet and shadowy, with moss on the stone and light filtering through the trees.
Read the complete Bad Saarow write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Bad Saarow closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Potsdam to High point in Werder
Fuel stop near Potsdam → High point in Werder is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point in Werder to Near Wilhelmstadt
High point in Werder → Near Wilhelmstadt is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Wandlitz to Photo stop near Marienwerder
Scenic stretch near Wandlitz → Photo stop near Marienwerder is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Marienwerder to Berkenbrück, on the way back
Photo stop near Marienwerder → Berkenbrück, on the way back is 99 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Storkow to Back to Uckermark
Food stop near Storkow → Back to Uckermark is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Back to Uckermark to Fuel stop near Stahnsdorf
Back to Uckermark → Fuel stop near Stahnsdorf is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop near Stahnsdorf to Food stop near Zossen
Fuel stop near Stahnsdorf → Food stop near Zossen is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Food stop near Zossen to Scenic stretch in Woltersdorf
Food stop near Zossen → Scenic stretch in Woltersdorf is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch in Woltersdorf to High point near Petershagen
Scenic stretch in Woltersdorf → High point near Petershagen is 12 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Petershagen to Near Neu-Hohenschönhausen
High point near Petershagen → Near Neu-Hohenschönhausen is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Oranienburg to Back to Bad Saarow
Photo stop near Oranienburg → Back to Bad Saarow is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.