Elbe and Havel Cycle Paths: Hamburg to Berlin

This ten-day self-guided tour links Hamburg to Berlin along the Elbe and Havel rivers, passing tranquil floodplains, sleepy villages and half-timbered towns. Riders follow the Elbe on dykes through Lauenburg and the Elbe Floodplain UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to Hitzacker, then continue through former inner-German borderland to Wittenberge and on to Havelberg, with its Romanesque and Gothic cathedral.

From Havelberg the route joins the Havel River Cycle Path through the Westhavelland Nature Reserve to Rathenow, the "city of optics," then through island city Brandenburg and past Werder and Palace Caputh to Potsdam, home to Palace and Park Sanssouci.

The final stage crosses the Glienicke Bridge into Berlin, takes a ferry over the Wannsee, and follows the Spree Cycle Path into the city centre.

Highlights:

• Elbe dyke riding through Lauenburg's half-timbered old town
• Elbe Floodplain UNESCO Biosphere Reserve near Hitzacker
• Havelberg's red-brick Romanesque and Gothic cathedral
• Westhavelland Nature Reserve and Rathenow's Optics Museum
• Palace and Park Sanssouci in Potsdam
• Crossing into Berlin via the Glienicke Bridge, the Wannsee ferry and the Spree Cycle Path

Surface and terrain:
Flat, well-signed riverside cycle paths (dykes along the Elbe, then the Havel River Cycle Path). Rated "average" difficulty. No hills mentioned; not suitable for riders with mobility impairments.

Suitable for:
Riders of average fitness wanting a flat, self-guided point-to-point tour with daily distances of 38-75 km. Bookable from a single traveller.