Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [125]
Herzschlag ( 410 414; Grosse Münzenstrasse 17; tapas €4-7, mains €7-13; from 11.30am) Urban sophistication in sleepy Brandenburg? Look no further than this restaurant-bar combo, complete with artsy decor, lounge music, tasty cocktails and a menu featuring everything from tapas to fajitas to crocodile steaks.
An der Dominsel ( 891 807; Neustädtische Fischerstrasse 14; snacks €5-7, mains €8-15; 11am-10pm; ) The regional food – especially the fish dishes – is dependable here, but what you’ll probably remember most are the fabulous Dom views across the canal. It’s right by the Mühlentorturm.
Bismarck Terrassen ( 300 939; Bergstrasse 20; mains €8-15, 2-course meals from €8.50; ) Discover your inner Prussian at this traditional restaurant whose proprietor may greet you in Bismarck costume and seat you in a room brimming with Iron Chancellor memorabilia. The kitsch quotient is undeniably there, but the Brandenburg food is authentic, delicious and plentiful.
For a quick fish snack (from €1.50), pop into one of the little fishing shacks ( usually to 6pm Mon-Fri, to noon Sat) operated by professional fisherfolk along Mühlendamm. In summer, they set up tables on floating pontoons.
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FLAMING FLAEMING: THE GREAT SKATE
In-line skating is popular in Germany and its Eldorado is Flaeming-Skate (www.flaeming-skate.de), a 210km smooth asphalt trail that winds through forest, meadows and picturesque villages. It’s Germany’s longest, with side trails adding to the fun of exploration; it’s also extremely gentle on the environment.
The epicentre is Luckenwalde, some 50km south of Berlin on the train line to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg. There are numerous routes, from easy 10km jaunts for beginners to thigh-burning day trips. All are well signposted, making navigation a snap. The website has full details, also in English.
A good place to hire skates and protective gear is Sportmarkt Luckenwalde ( 03371-611 030; Breite Strasse 5, Luckenwalde; per day/weekend/week €8/15/25; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-12.30pm Sat) Also in Luckenwalde, Hotel Märkischer Hof ( 03371- 6040; www.skatemekka.com; Poststrasse 8; bike rental per day €7, s/d €55/70, mains €4.50-10) has a good-sized fleet of bicycles for rent. The restaurant serves salads and flavoursome mains, and rooms here will give you a good night’s sleep, should you decide to stay.
One interesting place to skate or cycle to is Jüterbog, with the 12th-century Kloster Zinna (Zinna Monastery; 03372-439 505; www.jueterbog.eu; Am Kloster 6; adult/concession €5/3.50; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun). The classical Kloster-Zinna-Sommermusiken ( 03372-4650; www.kloster-zinna-sommermusiken.de; tickets €7.50-16) concert series is held here from mid-June to late August. The museum sells tickets.
Regional trains make hourly trips to Luckenwalde or Jüterbog from Berlin-Hauptbahnhof (€5.10, 40 minutes). Drivers should follow the B101.
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Getting There & Around
Regional trains link Brandenburg twice hourly with all major stations in central Berlin, including Hauptbahnhof (€6.30, 50 minutes), and with Potsdam (€5.10, 35 minutes).
From the station, it’s about a 10-minute walk via Geschwister-Scholl-Strasse and St-Annen-Strasse to the Neustädtischer Markt. Trams 6 and 9 will get you there as well. Free parking is available at the corner of Grillendamm and Krakauer Strasse, just north of the Dom.
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SPREEWALD
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The Spreewald, a unique lacework of channels and canals hemmed in by forest, is the closest thing Berlin has to a backyard garden. Visitors come here in droves to punt, canoe or kayak on more than 970km of waterways, hike countless nature trails and fish in this Unesco biosphere reserve. The region is famous for its gherkins – over 40,000 tonnes of cucumbers are harvested here every year! Lübben and Lübbenau, the main tourist towns, often drown beneath the tides of visitors vying for rides aboard a Kahn (shallow punt boat), once the only way of getting around in these parts. To truly