The Spreewald, episode 2: Burg’s red walking route
My parents were in town and since we spent time in the city the last few times there were in Berlin, I decided to take them out to the Spreewald. Well… I asked my dad to drive us there. Last summer I spent some time exploring Lübbenau, so this time we started in Burg, at the very Eastern edge of the Spreewald. Unfortunately it’s not connected to Berlin by rail, so you have to take a train and a bus to reach it if you don’t have a car.
It had been a bit of a moody week weather-wise and today it was surprisingly warm. No wonder that we weren’t the only ones in Burg. We only just found a parking spot and then joined the many cyclists, hikers and paddlers in the town center.
Burg is a very small town that is super tourist oriented. There are several sites where you can join a “Kahnfahrt”, punting on the canals through the Spreewald. Most places will also rent kayaks and we even saw a place with SUP boards. We left the water for what it was and decided on a walk. Burg has several well marked routes from 2,5km till 15km. We opted for a 10km walk.
First we crossed the “Festplatz” where locals were selling their produce and handicrafts on a small market. There was also some sort of festival going on, although it seemed quite tame. Officially our walk started at the “Sagenpark”. This public park has little sculptures and signs that explain the myths and legends of the area. Then the route slowly led us away from the town.
A lot of the paths are combined walking and cycling paths and sometimes you walk on the side of a very rural road. It didn’t take long before we saw the famous little canals and the first punters and kayakers. I could usually hear them before I saw them. There was a row of thick trees in between us and the water. In the trees grew all kind of berries, apples, pears and even hops. I’d never seen hops growing in the wild. Or at all for that matter…
We also walked past a few locks. The difference in water level on either side was quite significant. But since the waterways are tiny, the locks are manually operated and as a paddler you have the option to just lift your boat out of the water, or get yourself acquainted with the instructions of the lock. It was interesting to watch the paddlers going in and out of the locks.
The middle section of our walk went along a fairly busy road and wasn’t so interesting, but soon we took a right and were in rural Germany again. A few cyclists passed us, but mostly it was very quiet and peaceful. It’s a very pleasant area to explore and I can see that Burg would be a great place for an active weekend away.
A bumblebee on a random sunflower in a corn field 
The path was easily followed with the many signs 
One of many places where you can buy local honey 
We found a lot of wild hops 
Kayakers on one of the many waterways
Since we didn’t feel like going on the water, we made another stop at Lübbenau. I just love the walk to Lehde and this time we visited the “Freilandmuseum”. This open air museum has several authentic houses from around the Spreewald. It explains how people used to farm and live here. There is a bunch of old farm equipment that I couldn’t recognise and it’s nicely presented.
To top off the day we went for dinner in Lübbenau. Well… it seemed at first that we couldn’t find a restaurant with available tables. As we headed back in the direction of the car we saw some people leave. Lucky! It turned out the restaurants were not at capacity, there were plenty of tables inside, but they hadn’t put on enough staff. It took a while for our meals to come, but they were delicious. I think I’ll visit the Spreewald again next year 😀