Many long-distance cyclists know Berlin. They must or may pass through Germany's capital on various routes, such as the Havel and Spree cycle paths, the Dahme cycle path and the D-Route 3/European cycle path R1. The Berlin Wall Cycle Path leads around the old West Berlin along the former GDR border. The Berlin-Copenhagen and Berlin-Usedom long-distance routes also start in Berlin.
But of course the city offers much more than just the backdrop for a stage of the journey. The cycle path network is well developed, with special signs pointing the way to city routes and well-known places such as the Brandenburg Gate or Alexanderplatz.
For users of navigation devices and smartphones, the city administration offers several interesting routes as GPS tracks for download. If you want to put together your own tour, you can use the digital route planner to calculate your route. Around 11,000 Berlin streets and more than 500 Potsdam streets are included in the system. Comfort-oriented city cyclists can have Germany's largest city explained to them by a cycle guide.
Depending on the provider, there are more than ten different themed tours to choose from, from the highlights route to "East Berlin unvarnished" and "Street art Berlin". An intensive city tour through history is described by the tour organiser's multi-day tour along the original Berlin Wall, although there is not much left to see.
TREKKINGBIKE reader Waldemar Piontek followed the Berlin Wall cycle path and went on a tour into history.
The Brandenburg Gate is a magnet for tourists from all over the world and an ideal starting point for this three-day tour. After just a few pedal strokes, I reach Potsdamer Platz and mingle with the crowds. The former centre of the world fell into disrepair in the border strip and turned into a German Manhattan after reunification.
Visitors to Berlin of all shirts and skin colours have their photos taken in front of the Wall elements and flock to Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin's most important and best-known border crossing, where today fake Russian and American soldiers shake hands while posing in front of the replica border house.
It's hard to believe: the third world war almost broke out here in October 1961.
Between Mitte and Kreuzberg, a double row of cobblestones shows the former course of the Wall. It gets quieter, only a few tourists come this far, although there are silent witnesses to the division here too. On the other side of the Spree is the longest section of the Hinterlandmauer. Over more than a kilometre, artists have created the longest gallery in the world.
