Kotzen: Hiking, Cycling and Nature

Active days in Kotzen

If you’re looking for a hotel in Kotzen, you can plan your stay around outdoor activities. The municipality of Kotzen and its surroundings offer numerous opportunities for hiking and cycling. These include Kotzen, the districts of Kriele and Landin, and the municipality’s locality of Rhinsmühlen. When planning, consider whether you’d prefer to explore on foot, go cycling, or combine both. This lets you choose a main focus without committing to just one activity.

Visitors cycling the Havelland Cycle Route can use the new seating and bicycle stands in Kotzen for a break. If needed, check before your visit whether this rest stop is still available.

Cycling in the Havelland

In the wider Havelland destination, you can use the numbered junction signs to create your own cycling routes. The Havelland Cycle Route runs through the Havelländisches Luch via Nauen, Ribbeck and Rathenow to the Westhavelland Nature and Star Park. It is mostly paved, flat and pleasant to ride. This gives you two different approaches to planning: use numbered junctions to create your own routes, or follow the Havelland Cycle Route, which has a designated route and a described surface.

Birdwatching and landscapes

The wider Havelland also offers seasonal birdwatching opportunities. On the southern shore of Lake Gülper, an approximately 1.5-kilometre-long educational trail with illustrated information boards invites visitors to explore. During spring and autumn migration, up to 100,000 geese and hundreds of cranes gather at Lake Gülper; many wading birds, ducks and great egrets also arrive. If you’re interested in bird migration, spring and autumn are the seasons mentioned for it.

At the northwestern edge of Kotzen, a species-rich hedge of trees and shrubs made up of native species suited to the location was planted over a stretch of around 800 metres as part of a project running from 2023 to 2026. The species mentioned include hazel, wild roses, goat willow, rowan, wild cherry and field maple. The planting brings together a variety of native shrubs and trees at this edge of the village.

Another natural attraction in the Havelland is the Milow natural swimming spot, on the edge of the “Untere Havel Süd” nature reserve in the Westhavelland Nature and Star Park. It has a wide sandy beach.

Culture in the Havelland

The wider Havelland also offers cultural highlights to consider when planning your trip. The Westhavelland Nature Park Centre brings the lowland landscape, the renaturalisation of the Lower Havel, Germany’s last great bustards and Germany’s first star park to life for visitors of all ages. In Stölln, the Lilienthal Centre presents a Lilienthal exhibition of national significance. The Lilienthal Trail connects the centre with the IL 62 “Lady Agnes” at the foot of Gollenberg. At Ribbeck Castle, the Fontane Museum uses modern museum technology to illustrate the connections between Theodor Fontane, his century, Ribbeck and the castle’s building history; it opened on 1 May 2019.

Discover more destinations: Semlin, Retzow, Rhinow, Märkisch Luch, Dallgow-Döberitz, Falkensee, Nennhausen, Stechow-Ferchesar.

Go to the broader travel overview: Havelland.