Looking for a promising escape plan to the countryside? If you really want to get out, even for a few hours, pick up the paddle

and take a south-east course over the Spree-Oder waterway. Only 2 hours further the world looks completely different ... About 9 river kilometres separate us from Köpenick. As we all know, the way is the goal, so pay attention: Plänterwald on the right bank is followed by Niederschöneweide and Oberschöneweide on the opposite bank, which is considered the largest continuous industrial monument in Europe. The wide Spree is lined with warehouses, yellow brick chimneys and industrial facilities, most of which have been decommissioned and put to new uses: such as the Funkhaus Nalepastraße, a listed building complex currently used by artists of various kinds, music schools, various companies and recording studios. Not far away are the Spreehöfe, a former lighting factory, where the promising name "sun deck" tempts exhausted canoeists to moor up and take their first rest on the terrace directly on the banks of the Spree. Amateurs of contemporary art shouldn't miss the Reinbeck-Hallen, center for contemporary art in Berlin, just after the next bridge. The Oberspree cable factory, the original site of AEG, now houses the Wilhelminenhof campus and serves 6000 students of the technical university (HTW) every day.

And you're almost in Köpenick. Have you paddled that far and returned immediately? No way! The idyllic old town of Köpenick, located on a peninsula between the Spree and Dahme rivers, exudes a truly maritime flair. Walk around the beautiful Baumgarteninsel, discover the Kietzer Graben, marvel at the castle island with the Renaissance castle from all sides. There are numerous restaurants and cafés along the old Spree and Dahme, right on the water. Our "favorite excursion tip" for you, however, is the Krokodil restaurant and café with its own beach, where else can you find something like that in Berlin? Located on the eastern bank of the Dahme below the Frauentog. You can also spend the night here (it is best to reserve in advance!). The second best comes at the end: you paddle the way back downstream!