Museumsinsel and Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
80 km
Riding-time estimate
1 h 52
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
From Mitte it runs 80 km to Mitte; allow about 1 h 52 of riding. It goes by way of Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf, Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin and back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
This part of the ride is 27 km of Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin.
Chapter facts
Length
27 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Museumsinsel
The northern tip of an island in the Spree in the middle of Berlin holds five museums that between them cover about six thousand years of human history. The Museumsinsel, or Museum Island, grew out of a decision in the nineteenth century by the kings of Prussia to build a cultural centre in the heart of the capital, and the buildings, in neoclassical and neo-baroque style, were added one by one until the 1930s. UNESCO listed the ensemble in 1999. Among the treasures are the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the bust of Queen Nefertiti, which sits in the Neues Museum.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Museumsinsel is where the day begins. Next is Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf.
2. Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Bright colours were a weapon for Bruno Taut. The architect believed that good housing could change people's lives, and in the 1920s he designed several large housing estates in Berlin for working and middle class families, with light, airy flats, gardens and shared green spaces. The Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf, better known as Onkel Toms Hütte, Uncle Tom's Cabin, after a nearby inn and the underground station, was built between 1926 and 1931 on the edge of the Grunewald forest, and Taut, working with other architects, painted the houses in strong reds, greens, blues and yellows, so that the estate glows among the pine trees. It is one of the great monuments of modern housing in Germany.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin.
3. Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
Potsdam lies just outside Berlin, in a landscape of lakes, rivers and woods along the Havel, and for over two centuries it was the summer residence of the Prussian kings and German emperors. Frederick the Great built the palace of Sanssouci here in the 1740s, a single-storey Rococo palace above terraced vineyards, where he wanted to live without worries, as its name suggests. His successors added more palaces, gardens and follies, and today the ensemble, together with sites in Berlin, forms one of Germany's largest UNESCO World Heritage sites.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Museumsinsel. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Museumsinsel to Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Museumsinsel → Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf to Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin to back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin → back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf to Museumsinsel
back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Museumsinsel is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.