By Michael Blakley
Deep East Loop
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. 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 the city’s neighborhoods, characters and street art. A view 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 Zoologischer Banhof. 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. We’ll post maps, distances and suggest a few stops along some of Berlin’s most popular bike routes.
Deep East Loop
Type: Loop
Distance: 42 kilometers/26 miles
Highlights: Vietnamese markets, Gardens of the World, East Berlin Zoo and Stasi Mueseum
Level: easy
Highlights
You’re sure to work up an appetite after cycling through the Tiergarten. Consider grabbing a traditional Vietnamese breakfast at one of the many Vietnamese food stalls at the Dong Xuan market.
Continue delving deeper into the former Soviet sector of East Berlin and pass through neighborhood Marzahn and the towering prefabricated apartments ,or plattenbau, that were popular throughout the Cold War. You’ll also find the Gardens of the World botanical gardens here. Drop by their tea house in the Chinese garden for a well deserved rest before heading back.
On your return you’ll pass by the Tierpark Berlin, the smaller and less crowded of Berlin’s two zoos. Even if you don’t have time to visit, a quick look at the entrance is worth your time. You’ll find animal statues made from the recycled busts of communist leaders that once adorned the city.
Finally on your way back you can tour (with a little advance planning) Berlin’s Stasi Museum. Once the site of the the GDR’s Ministery of State Security, this space now hosts exhibitions detailing the East German police state and the movements that resisted it.
Finally you can cruise back through the Tiergarden on your way back and even enjoy a drink at nearby Schluezenkrug before dropping off your bikes.
Directions:
- Begin by exiting left from the Fat Tire shop and enter the Tiergarten.
- At the edge of the park follow the trail on the right that runs parallel to the street.
- Exit the park and continue along Unter den Linden
- Turn right on Mollstraße
- Turn right on Vulkanstraße
- Turn left on Herzbergstraße
- Continue aong the bike path through Landschaftspark Herzberge
- Continue along Allee der Kosmonauten
- Turn right and follow Kienbergstraße
- Turn right at Blumberger Damm
- Turn right on Alt-Biesdorf
- Turn left on Am Tierpark to the Tierpark Berlin Friedrechsfelde
- Return in the opposite direction along Am Tierpark
- Turn left on Alt-Friedrechsfelde
- Turn right on Magdalenestraße
- Left on Normanstraße
- Left on Ruschesstraße
- Turn right on Frankfurter Allee
- Turn left on Karl Liebknecht Straße
- Follow along Unter den Linden into the park to return to the Fat Tire west shop.
- Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zcGXIVSZnMak.kSCkYTmIUfuQ
