Staycation: New Venice in Berlin

After the 17 month long hibernation period and non-stop home office in the same time span, the first non-windy day of over 20 degrees was a wake up call, that reminded us that the bikes are equally comfortable as the couch.
Since my places to explore list in Berlin is endless, we were a bit ambitious and picked up one of the furthest that was pinned. We decided on a route to New Venice, residential area close to the Big Muggelsee, the biggest lake around Berlin.

We started our tour from the northern part of the city, and our round trip was around 65km long. What we expected was sore muscles the next day, but I guess we were not that lazy while quarantined and we were feeling great.

First greatest surprise that suddenly there were new bike lanes, on many streets and that felt pretty good. Starting from the North and heading South-East, and some of the worthy stops are Volkspark Friedrichschein, but if you are not the fastest rider, maybe it is not very smart idea to spend a lot of time here. Next any Karl’s Erdbeerhof Kiosk. Then take a minute to observe the city from the Mödersohn Bridge (this might be a better stop on the way back, the sun offers better colours :)). There are a lot of nice places to stop on the way, but make sure not to lose focus of where you are headed, some of them are the Straluer Penninsula, the “shore” of the Rumbelsburger lake, and some of the cafes on the way like Hafenkuche.

We decided to make our stop in an “off the beaten path” cafe in Schöneweide, and directly on the Spree. Located in an IT School yard, everything around it resembled as you are somewhere in Scandinavia. There were zero other people, so it was perfect corona-free spot.

Next was the Köpenicker promenade, and the castle in Köpenick, very nice and picturesque place.

From there we continued by the Muggelsee and reached our destination. Of course we needed more time than Google Maps suggested.

New Venice is a neighbourhood with many small but pretty houses (there even is a Rialto Bridge), from which you can’t choose which has the better yard. Because they are on the canals, it is possible to rent a kayak and enjoy the view from the water. Don’t forget SPF cream. If you do not plan to rent a kayak, 1 hour max is needed to cross all the paths.

We wanted to have as much as possible different road for the way home, and that included short ride through a village like area – DORF, taking a boat ride to cross the river, and finding a spot around the lake to chill and have lunch.
TIP: On a sunny day in the nature around Berlin, bring your food from home, unless you are prepared for endless currywurst or pommes lines.

We decided to enter the city via Treptower park, and check whether the small restaurant on the Jugend Insel was open, since it wasn’t we continued to the second option spot, the Dreilandeck Canal, and witnessed the boat party. I guess everyone had same idea. Our Journey ended at a korean restauran of course for takeway called Feedback. That spiciness was not something that i need, however was delicious.