Riding the Spree and the canals on a rented bike

Berlin was built on sand, water and freight, and the freight left canals behind. Four of them still run through the middle of the city, all flat, most of them edged by a path, and together they make it possible to cross from Kreuzberg to a swimmable lake without meeting a car for more than a few hundred metres at a time.

They are not one route. They are four quite different rides that happen to connect.

The four waterways

The Landwehr Canal. Around eleven kilometres, from the Spree at Schlesisches Tor through Kreuzberg, past the Urbanhafen and along the south side of the Tiergarten before rejoining the river in Charlottenburg. This is the famous one: plane trees, low walls, the market on the Maybachufer twice a week, and long stretches where the path is a cobbled side street rather than a towpath.

The Spree, east. From Kreuzberg through Treptower Park, past the Pläntewald, under the cable line, then along the working river at Oberschöneweide, into Köpenick old town and out to the Müggelsee. Twenty-five kilometres, and the scenery goes from tourists to shipyards to a small baroque town in about an hour.

The Spree, west. Through Mitte past the museum island, along the government quarter, through the Tiergarten and Charlottenburg, and on to Spandau where the river meets the Havel. Prettier in the middle, more fragmented at the edges, with several sections where the riverside path simply stops and pushes you inland.

The Teltow Canal. The southern one, running from Britz across to Teltow, Lichterfelde and eventually the Wannsee end of the city. Much less known, much better tarmac in places, industrial for the first few kilometres and then suddenly rural.

A day that works: Kreuzberg to the Mueggelsee

1. Start at the Urbanhafen rather than further west. The stretch through the Tiergarten is nice, but you will want the distance later.
2. East along the canal to Schlesisches Tor, roughly 4 km. Setts in places, slow, and full of people from midday.
3. Cross to the Spree and follow the south bank through Treptower Park, 5 km. Wide asphalt, the best surface of the whole day.
4. Through the Plänterwald and along to Oberschöneweide, 6 km. The river goes industrial here and the path swaps sides twice. Watch the signs.
5. Köpenick old town, 4 km further, cobbled and worth ten minutes off the bike.
6. Out to the Müggelsee, 6 km. Forest track for the last part, sandy in dry spells.
7. Return by S-Bahn with the bike from Friedrichshagen or Köpenick. Buy a bicycle ticket, avoid the late-afternoon commuter hour, and expect competition for space on a hot Sunday.

That is around 25 kilometres one way, no climbing worth the name, and perhaps three hours of actual riding with stops.

The surfaces, and the bridge problem

Two things make a Berlin canal ride slower than the map suggests.

The other is the bridges. Every road crossing lifts the path back up to street level and drops it again on the far side, usually via a short ramp and a set of give-way markings. On the Landwehr Canal that happens perhaps twenty times. It is the reason a flat eleven kilometres takes as long as a hilly fifteen somewhere else, and the reason an upright city bike with a hub gear beats a road bike here comfortably.

What to rent

Take the plainest thing in the shop. A steel city bike, seven or eight gears, upright bars, mudguards, a rack, 42 mm tyres. That is the correct machine for this and it is the cheapest one on the rack, which is a rare alignment.

Do not rent a road bike for the canals; the setts will punish you and there is nowhere to use the gearing. Do not rent an e-bike either unless you are heading out past Köpenick and back in the same day. Berlin is flat enough that the assistance is buying you nothing over twenty kilometres — which is the opposite of the case on the longer, rougher loop described in renting an e-bike for the Mauerweg.

If you are here for a week and plan to ride most days, run the numbers on holding one bike the whole time rather than unlocking a shared one twice a day. The comparison is set out in bike rental against the sharing apps, and for a waterside routine the shop bike wins on tyres alone.

Timing

April to October, and within that the mornings. The Kreuzberg canal path on a warm Sunday afternoon carries pushchairs, dogs, drinkers and a market crowd, and riding a bike through it at any speed is unpleasant for everyone. Before nine it is one of the best commutes in Europe.

November through February the canals stay rideable, the light is short and the towpath sections stay wet for days. Worth doing, but with different equipment — see winter cycling and what to rent for it.

One practical warning that catches visitors: the eastern Spree route past Oberschöneweide crosses active industrial ground, and on weekdays there are lorries reversing across the path at two or three points. It is fine, it is signed, and it is a genuinely different experience on a Tuesday morning than on a Sunday. If you have children on the bike, do that section at the weekend.