New Venice - Berlin
In the South-East of Berlin lies one of the city’s most beautiful corners, still untouched by mass tourism.
New Venice makes for a great weekend day trip escaping the bustle of the city. Just a few kilometres outside the city center, behind the Müggelsee, lies this tranquil, postcard-perfect enclave. It is easily reachable by public transport or even by bike.
If you want to explore New Venice you’ll absolutely have to get canoe. There are multiple places where you can rent some on location. The one we went to cost 10€ for the first hour and 5€ for each additional one.
Overall there are 6 canals and 13 bridges. You can also continue to paddle on the Müggelspree and close-by lakes, but the waters could get bumpy there since larger boats usually cruise around.
Why does this place exist?
New Venice was created in the 1920’s, when Berlin was in the middle of industrialization. Back then, the population of the city was even higher than it is today, New Venice was one of many outskirt areas to provide a weekend get-away.
People built wooden “summer houses” on the plots, which changed hands pretty often over the years. During the DDR times, they were reserved for high ranking politicians.
Today it’s a mix between those old wooden houses and new massive villas.
How much time you should plan in?
1 hour to get there / 2-3 hours paddling / 1 hour fooding / 1 hour to get back
It would be great if Berlin created more such places, paddling around these canals, you instantly get the urge to get one of those houses next to the water.
No matter how long one lives in Berlin, the city continues to surprise with it’s versatility.