It seems like summer came on the first of June this year. From pretty chilly temperatures, we went to 28 degrees. What a change! And that on a Saturday! Time to go exploring.
It was still quiet on the streets when I walked to the train station. However, at the train station were many people with picnic blankets and shopping bags full of supplies. High temperatures, means we all want to get out of the city and into nature. My train headed East, towards the Polish border. We passed a lot of forest and some small towns. About an hour outside of the city, I arrived in Lübbenau, a small town in the Spreewald.
I followed the other people towards the old town and arrived in a fairy tale town. There was a square with some terraces and a bakery. Across from it, I walked into the tourist information to pick up a map and some advice for a walk. Then I made my way towards the town of Leipe. Via the Wanderweg where you can walk or bike, you go all the way through the forest. It seemed like everyone else was biking, but I enjoyed my walk. The birds were whistling, ducks were splashing around and occasionally I heard some children’s laughter from behind some trees.
The Spreewald is not just a forest, but has many, many waterways. Some are smaller streams, but many are big enough for punting and canoeing. So Lübbenau is the town of punting. And… gherkins! I didn’t see many gherkins in the forest, but punters aplenty. There were so many companies offering guided trips over the waterways. The older people were being pushed through the water, while mostly families made their own way in a canoe. And hence the children’s laughter coming from the trees.
The path to Leipe is almost one big straight line. You do cross many bridges and walk over the bigger canals where you see canoers or punters. Other than it’s it’s pretty quiet. When you arrive in Leipe, the first house is actually a holiday place with a big, cosy beergarden. Leipe is a pretty small town, and this is where the special walking path ends. Many biking routes and even some walking routes depart from here, but they are all on the public road, so I decided against walking.
I walked around and then returned to where I came from, making a detour to see Lehde. Lehde seems to be the center of this touristic area, perhaps together with Lübbenau. A few restaurants and beergardens are centred where the museum is and where many punting boats pass. It was surrounded by holiday houses and restaurants, but because they were spread out throughout the forest, it still had a very pleasant vibe.
The Spreewald offers a few walks, but many more biking routes and is the perfect place to explore on water. It reminded me a lot of the ‘rafting’ trips I’ve done in the Czech Republic, where you float down the river and stop at beergardens for a beer or a sausage. Next time I’d like to get a bike to explore a bigger area, or maybe a canoe and explore the forest from the water.
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