Discover Schorfheide

Nature experiences, hiking trails and cultural attractions come together in Schorfheide. When looking for a hotel, you can first consider which excursions you want to shape your stay: a visit to the wildlife park, a trip around Werbellinsee, or a visit to exhibitions and historic sites. The destinations below offer different highlights to help you plan.

Wildlife Park and Hiking Trails

At Schorfheide Wildlife Park in Groß Schönebeck, large wild animals live in spacious enclosures. The animal population also includes very rare heritage breeds of domestic animals that are endangered. Seven kilometres of hiking trails lead through the wildlife park, with rest and picnic areas offering places to take a break. A large playground and a petting enclosure round out the facilities. A visit combines observing animals with time outdoors and a longer walk.

The landscape around Werbellin also has its own distinctive character: the town is located in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve, in a hilly terminal moraine landscape, parts of which are under special nature protection. If you want to combine nature and exercise on your excursions, this landscape is a useful point of reference for planning.

Cycling to Werbellinsee

The Werbellinsee Cycle Route runs from Wildau via the wooden bridge at Askanierturm and along easily rideable forest paths directly beside the lake to Altenhof. Altenhof is the only settlement situated directly on the lake. Joachimsthal, Eichhorst and Altenhof are listed as starting and finishing points. Signposting with numbered junctions and a dedicated tour logo makes the route easy to follow. When planning, you can take into account both your preferred starting point and the route along the lake.

In Altenhof on Werbellinsee, there is a bathing meadow as well as boat and bicycle rental services. The town is also a popular starting point for cycling and walking trips through Schorfheide. These options offer different ways to spend your time: you can plan time by the water or choose Altenhof as a starting point for a walking or cycling tour.

Canoe Trips on the Finow Canal

At the edge of Schorfheide lies the Finowfurt waterway rest area. Canoe trips on the Finow Canal start there, and you can also rent canoes at the rest area. This offers another way to experience the region, alongside hiking and cycling. If you want to include a canoe trip in your travel plans, Finowfurt is the suggested starting point. The Finow Canal is also a waterway steeped in history: in the wider travel destination of Barnim, it is considered Germany’s oldest artificial waterway still open to navigation.

Exhibitions, Church and Monument

The station in Groß Schönebeck houses an exhibition about the natural landscapes of Schorfheide and the Polish partner region of Drawsko. The exhibition thus brings together nature-related themes from two regions in one place. The Evangelical church in Groß Schönebeck regularly hosts concerts. In Altenhof, the preserved vaulted cellar of Breten Castle is protected as an archaeological monument.

The “Hunting and Power” exhibition features a film, approximately 40 minutes long, shown on three screens and covering the history of Schorfheide. It is screened in the coach house of the hunting lodge during opening hours, on the quarter hour. You can take the approximate film length into account when planning your day; screenings are limited to the hunting lodge’s opening hours.

Planning and the Wider Region

The Tourist Information Centre in Groß Schönebeck advises visitors on planning cycling and hiking tours as well as excursions to places of interest. When choosing accommodation, it may therefore be helpful to first list your planned activities and the places where they take place. This helps you keep the different options in mind rather than treating hiking, cycling, water activities and culture as a single offering.

The wider travel destination of Barnim has other distinct attractions: Chorin Monastery is a key example of North German Brick Gothic architecture, and the Niederfinow Boat Lift is Germany’s oldest working boat lift. These places broaden the picture of Barnim as a travel destination. For planning your stay around Schorfheide, the wildlife park, Werbellinsee, hiking trails and the cultural sites mentioned above remain the specific points of reference.

Discover more destinations: Niederfinow, Oderberg, Ahrensfelde, Eberswalde, Hohenfinow, Parsteinsee, Breydin.

Back to the overview of the wider travel destination: Barnim.