By Michael Blakley
Like a little sweat with your sightseeing? We do too, so we put together a list of great bike paths for those of you who like a little cardio when you explore by bike on your own. Berlin’s bicycle friendly streets and flat terrain make it an ideal city for cyclists. Besides, taking a bike will give you a front row seat to Berlin’s eclectic neighborhoods, residents and street art. It’s views you’d certainly never get from the train or on the bus.
These routes are all easy to navigate and begin at our bicycle rental shop near Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten. Once there, you can rent either our classic cruiser bicycles or one our new trekking bikes. We also have helmets and panniers available so you can ride around both safely and comfortably. Every other week we’ll post maps, distances and suggest a few stops worth exploring as you pedal around the city.
Tour 1: The Palace, the Pitch and the Periphery: Zoo Station to Spandau
Style: Out and Back
Distance: 20 miles/32 kilometers
Sights: Charlottenburg Palace, Olympic Stadium, Spandau Citadel
Difficulty: easy
Highlights:
– Drop into the beer garden at Schleusenkrug after (or before) your ride for well a deserved meal and a great German beer.
– Ride along the Spree River to the gardens surrounding Berlin’s largest surviving royal residence, Charlottenburg Palace. Catch a rare glimpse of the grandeur of the Prussian royal court and explore what Berlin would have looked like before the destruction of much of the city following World War II.
– Take a break alongside the Olympic Stadium, built for the 1936 Summer Olympics. Tours can be arranged beforehand, or just wander around outside and take in the enormity of these world class athletic grounds.
– Head north to the Spandau Citadel, and take in the view atop one of Europe’s best preserved medieval, military fortresses.
Directions:
- Head left out of Fat Tire toward the Tiergarten.
- Turn left onto Muller-Breslau Strasse
- Make a soft right onto the bike path along the riverFollow the bike path to Charlottenburg Palace
- Take Spandauer Strasse west
- Turn left on Bolivar Alle
- Go around Stubenplatz and continue along Olympische Strasse
- Turn left onto Trakhner Alle
- Make a soft left onto Hellsberger Alle
- Turn left on Flatow Alle
- Turn right at Heer Strasse and ride along the side street
- Turn right at Pichelsdorfer Strasse
- Make a soft right onto Kloster Strasse
- Turn right at Falkenseer Platz onto Am Juliusturm
- Turn left at Spandauer Citadel.
- Map
Simply follow the directions in reverse to ride back, or take the U-bahn back from the Altstadt Spandau station on Am Juliustrum.
