Berlin · Spreewald Forest and Canal Sweep

A 223 km loop from Lübbenau fuel and

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Why this ride

Canals, forest roads and slow-food stops south-east of the city. Out of Lübbenau and back again: 223 km, roughly 3 h 51 in the saddle. The stops in between: Burg Spreewald canal core, Straupitz windmill sight and Schwielochsee water stop.

Roadbook

1. Lübbenau fuel and food food

   Lübbenau is the front door to the Spreewald, and the first thing it will tell you is that this is a landscape of water. The Spree breaks up here into hundreds of small channels, called Fließe, that wind between meadows and alder woods, and for centuries the only way to reach many farms was by flat-bottomed punt. Tourists still glide through on long wooden boats pushed with poles, and the postman used to deliver by boat in the old days.

   The town has about seventeen thousand people, so fuel, supermarkets and a good run of bakeries are easy to find. The old centre sits near the harbour where the punts start, and the restaurants around it serve the dishes the region is proud of: Spreewald gherkins, which carry a protected name, with linseed oil and boiled potatoes, smoked or fried fish, and horseradish in everything. A few pancake and cake places do a thriving trade at the weekend.

   This is also the edge of Sorbian country. The Sorbs, a Slavic minority who have lived in Lusatia for more than a thousand years, keep their own language, costumes and customs, and in some villages the road signs are bilingual. In spring, Sorbian women paint Easter eggs in intricate patterns, and in some villages girls wear the traditional headdress on feast days.

   Riding here is gentle. The roads are flat and straight, with the occasional bridge over a channel, and the surface is generally good. Traffic is thick on summer weekends, when coaches and cyclists crowd the lanes near the harbour, and it is better to arrive early. Avoid the middle of the day if you can. In the early morning, mist hangs over the water and the light turns the alders gold.

   A boat ride costs a modest sum and takes you into a world with no engines. It makes the road feel loud afterward.

2. Burg Spreewald canal core scenic

   Burg is the heart of the Upper Spreewald and one of the most Sorbian places you will find in Brandenburg. The village, with about four and a half thousand people, goes by its Sorbian name, Borkowy, on bilingual signs, and the wooden houses with their carved gables and steeply thatched roofs stand beside canals that serve as streets. Here the water is the main road. Punts carry visitors between farms, and a surprising number of locals still keep their own boats.

   The Spree arrives from the south and splits into a labyrinth of channels, and the area is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The woods are mostly alder, growing right in the water, and in autumn the leaves fall and float along the surface. Small meadows between the channels are mown by hand in places, because machines cannot get in. Kingfishers, otters and beavers live in the quieter channels, and white storks nest on the village rooftops.

   For a rider, the roads around Burg are narrow, flat and slow, with low speed limits and bridges that creak. This is not a place for speed but for gentle cruising, and you will often share the road with cyclists, who outnumber cars on a summer weekend. The surface is generally good, though bumpy at the bridges, and it can be slippery after rain. Parking in the village is limited, so be patient.

   There are restaurants by the canals serving fish, potato dishes and the famous gherkins, and a few bakeries selling Sorbian pastries. Fuel is not in the village, so fill up in Vetschau, about seven kilometres away, or in Lübbenau. A traditional Spreewald lunch is plain and filling, and tastes better after a morning on the road.

   Early morning and evening are the best times, when the village is quiet and the light on the water is golden. In winter, the canals sometimes freeze, and the locals skate between the farms, a scene that looks like a Dutch painting. It is a place that asks you to slow down.

3. Straupitz windmill sight sight

   The windmill at Straupitz is a Dutch-style tower mill, a plump, whitewashed thing with a turning cap and four long sails, standing at the edge of a Spreewald village that otherwise looks as if it belongs in an illustrated children's book. It is a working museum these days, and the sails creak in a good breeze. It is only part of the reason to stop. A few hundred metres away stands the village church, built in the 1820s and 1830s to a design of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, a big, round-arched brick building with a surprising grandeur, sometimes called the cathedral of the Spreewald.

   Straupitz belongs to the Sorbian, or Wendish, country, the home of a Slavic minority that has lived in Lusatia for over a thousand years. Place names appear in two languages on the signs, and in some villages older women still wear the elaborate folk costume and headdress on feast days. The cuisine is distinctive. Spreewald gherkins, sold in jars everywhere, are famous, and a plate of boiled potatoes with quark and linseed oil is a local dish worth trying at least once.

   The landscape is flat and watery. The Spree splits here into a maze of small channels, with alder carr, wet meadows and little farms on raised mounds, and in summer the whole area is full of green light. The roads are straight and quiet, with avenues of old oaks and poplars, and the bends come when the road meets a channel. The surface is generally good, though in places it has the patched look of a road that floods. Mist and midges are common near the water, and cyclists fill the lanes at weekends, so give them room. Spring and early autumn are lovely.

   Practically, Straupitz has a small shop and an inn, and the nearest fuel is in Burg, about nine kilometres away, with more at Lübbenau. Neu Zauche, closer by, is a tiny village. Take cash, because some places do not take cards. A visit to the windmill and church takes an hour, and the nearby cafes sell gherkin rolls and cake, which makes a good lunch for riders short on time.

4. Schwielochsee water stop swim

   Schwielochsee is a broad, shallow lake south-east of Berlin, where the Spree widens out before continuing north, and it is among the larger natural lakes in Brandenburg. The shoreline is a mix of reeds, pine woods and small villages with sandy beaches, and the water is warm enough in summer for easy swimming. It is a lake for holidays rather than drama, and none the worse for that.

   The surrounding country is quiet, flat and half-forgotten. To the south lie the heaths and the former lignite landscapes of Lusatia, and to the north the forest of the Dahme-Heideseen. The nearest towns are small: Friedland, with about thirty-six hundred people, lies a little to the south, and Beeskow, sixteen kilometres away, has a medieval castle and a town wall. Both have fuel and basic services, and Beeskow is the better place for a proper meal.

   Riding here is easy and unhurried. Roads run along the lake edge and through the pine forest, mostly smooth and empty, with the occasional sandy patch near the shore. The curves are mild and the traffic light. In summer, the weekends bring campers and caravans to the lakeside sites, and you will want to avoid the main road toward the camping areas on a Friday evening.

   A swim stop is simple. Several villages have public beaches with a small kiosk or a restaurant, and in the afternoon the water is warm and clear. Bring a towel and a little cash, as card payment is not universal here. After a swim, a plate of fried fish and potatoes tastes better than it has any right to.

   The light over the lake in the evening is a soft, flat gold, and the reeds go dark against the sky. It is an excellent place to slow down at the end of a long day, with the smell of woodsmoke and warm sand drifting across the shore, and no one in a hurry.

5. Back to Lübbenau finish

   Lübbenau is the gateway to the Spreewald, and the first thing you notice is the quiet that comes from a town where half the traffic moves by punt. The Spree breaks into a lace of channels here, called Fließe, with flat-bottomed boats, the Kähne, gliding between banks of alder and willow, and the old harbour in the centre is the place where visitors board. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, farmers poled their vegetables and mail along these waterways, and some villages were only accessible by water. The rich soils grow cucumbers, horseradish and onions, and the gherkins have become a regional symbol.

   The town is about seventeen thousand people, with a Baroque palace and park that was the seat of the Counts of Lynar, and a pleasant old centre with a church, a small museum and cafes. The Spreewald is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and it supports otters, white storks, kingfishers and a surprising number of dragonflies. The air is humid and smells of wet wood and pond weed, and in early mornings, mist hangs on the water and the world seems far away.

   For riders, this is flat-country riding, easy and calm. The roads between Lübbenau, Lübben and the villages are straight with avenues of old trees, and the main hazards are cyclists, who flock to the cycle paths along the canals, and farm vehicles. The surface is mostly good, though the narrow lanes through the villages may be patched and flooded after heavy rain. Expect crowds at the harbour in July and August, when day-trippers arrive in coaches. Spring, with the blossom, and early autumn, with the mist, are the better seasons. In winter, the canals sometimes freeze, and locals skate along them.

   Practically, the town has fuel stations on the approach roads, supermarkets, bakeries and a good choice of restaurants serving fish, potatoes with linseed oil and the inevitable gherkin. Parking near the harbour is limited at weekends, so arrive early. Lübben, nearly ten kilometres north, is the other main town of the Spreewald, with a lovely old town on an island in the Spree. If you have time, take a boat trip, because the canals are best seen from the water.

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