Havelland: Discover Cycling Routes, Nature and Culture

If you are looking for a hotel in Havelland, the focus of your trip can help narrow down your choices: cycling, birdwatching or culture lead to different themes and places. Concrete features such as the numbered junction signposting, the route of the Havelland Cycle Route, the nature trail at Lake Gülpe, as well as museums and historic buildings, can help you find your way around.

Cycling in Havelland

The numbered junction signposting in Havelland makes it easy to put together your own cycling routes. If you would like to follow a named route, you can use the Havelland Cycle Route as a guide: it runs through the Havelländisches Luch via Nauen, Ribbeck and Rathenow to the Westhavelland Nature and Star Park and is mostly paved, flat and pleasant to ride. This gives you different route-planning options: you can put together your own route or follow the route described here.

Birdwatching and nature

On the south shore of Lake Gülpe, a nature trail about 1.5 kilometres long, with illustrated information boards, invites visitors to watch birds. During spring and autumn migration, up to 100,000 geese and hundreds of cranes gather at the lake; numerous waders, ducks and great egrets also visit. The trail accompanies birdwatching with information boards, while the particularly large gatherings of birds are specifically described as occurring during the spring and autumn migration periods.

The Three Mountains Tour in Milower Land offers a different perspective on the landscape: from the open summit of Milower Berg, there are wide-ranging views across the green plains of Havelland. The Milow natural swimming area is on the edge of the Lower Havel South Nature Reserve in the Westhavelland Nature and Star Park and has a broad sandy beach.

Museums and history

At the Westhavelland Nature Park Centre, topics such as the lowland landscape, the renaturalisation of the Lower Havel, Germany’s last great bustards and the country’s first star park are brought to life for visitors of all ages. In Stölln, the Lilienthal Centre presents an exhibition on Lilienthal of national significance. The Lilienthal Trail connects the Centre with the IL 62 Lady Agnes at the foot of Gollenberg.

The Fontane Museum in Ribbeck Castle opened on 1 May 2019. Using modern museum technology, it presents the connections between Theodor Fontane, his century, Ribbeck and the history of the castle’s construction. In Kleßen, the Toy Museum in Havelland displays toys from 150 years of childhood. The Colonists’ Church in Großderschau offers a different historical perspective: it was built in 1785 by order of Frederick II to mark the completion of the drainage works and is the only church the king had built for the colonists.

On the water and in Rathenow

Explore Havelland by canoe on the Havel. Raft trips are offered on an adjacent old branch of the Havel at Optikpark Rathenow; the park also has climbing towers, a barefoot trail and a large inflatable jumping cushion. The Milow natural swimming area connects the region’s ties to the Havel with a concrete feature on site: its broad sandy beach.

At the Nature Park Centre, some of the harvest is also made into apple juice and offered for sale. Check before your trip whether it is available.

Discover more destinations: Stechow-Ferchesar, Semlin, Friesack, Wassersuppe, Dallgow-Döberitz, Nauen, Falkensee, Börnicke, Brieselang, Ketzin, Havelaue, Retzow, Rathenow, Schönwalde-Glien, Premnitz, Rhinow, Milower Land, Nennhausen, Wustermark, Märkisch Luch, Gollenberg, Kleßen-Görne, Kotzen, Seeblick.

For the broader travel overview: Brandenburg.