Barnim: Monastery, Waterways and Nature

Barnim brings together a variety of reasons to travel: Brick Gothic architecture, impressive examples of water engineering, lakes and trails for active days. This makes the region appealing if you want to combine culture and nature—or are looking for a clear focus for your stay. The sights and activities offer different points of interest, without requiring you to limit your trip to a single theme.

Brick Gothic Architecture and Water Engineering

Chorin Monastery is a landmark of North German Brick Gothic architecture. Those interested in architecture will find it a distinctive cultural point of interest for their trip. The term Brick Gothic refers to the monastery’s distinctive architectural classification and offers a different focus from the region’s engineering landmarks.

The Niederfinow Boat Lift is Germany’s oldest boat lift still in operation. The Finow Canal is also an exceptional example of water engineering: it is Germany’s oldest artificial waterway still open to navigation. These two superlatives make engineering and waterways a destination in their own right for a stay in Barnim. If you enjoy discovering different facets of a destination, architecture, engineering structures and waterways can inspire different ideas for excursions.

Landscape, Cycling and Hiking

The Ice Age Geopark on the Oder Slope extends across the Uckermark and Barnim districts in northeastern Brandenburg. Its name gives the landscape a distinct thematic setting. Numerous bathing lakes in Barnim offer opportunities to relax and bring water into your travel plans beyond the waterways.

For hikers, the “Around the Schorfheide” circular trail offers a concrete measure of scale: it is 143 kilometres long and passes through Barnim Nature Park. Its total length helps you understand it as a longer hiking route; how you plan your hike depends on your own itinerary. Hiking in the Schorfheide is also an activity for visitors in the wider Barnim area.

If you prefer to get around by bike, Barnim district has a network of cycling routes with a total length of 610 kilometres. Cycling is also an activity for visitors to Barnim Nature Park. This lets you tailor your stay to your personal preferences: you can choose cycling, hiking or relaxing by one of the bathing lakes as your focus, without having to combine these options into a single tour.

Experience the Waterways

Sightseeing cruises are offered on Lake Werbellin, and canoe tours are possible on the Finow Canal. These activities offer different kinds of experiences: a lake cruise takes you out on the water, while a canoe tour on the canal offers a distinct way to experience the waterway. Together with the history of the Finow Canal and the boat lift, this gives water in Barnim both a technical and an active dimension.

When choosing a holiday apartment, you can first consider which of these interests will shape your trip: architecture and engineering, cycling and hiking tours, or activities involving lakes and waterways. This way, you can search for a suitable place in Barnim based on the experiences you have planned, rather than making your accommodation choice depend on a single excursion. Families looking to bring together different interests can consider these themes as different options for planning a trip together.

Discover Places in Barnim

Places in Barnim that you can explore as you plan your trip include Panketal, Biesenthal, Marienwerder, Bernau bei Berlin, Chorin, Friedrichswalde, Hohenfinow, Breydin, Britz, Niederfinow, Parsteinsee, Oderberg, Lunow-Stolzenhagen, Eberswalde, Ahrensfelde, Althüttendorf, Joachimsthal, Liepe, Wandlitz, Melchow, Schorfheide and Werneuchen.

For the broader travel overview: Brandenburg.