Nature

Where planes once took off, vegetables now grow: The Allmende Kontor on Tempelhofer Freiheit in Neukölln is Berlin's best-known community garden, an intercultural meeting place, and a green learning space all at once. Spread over 5,000 square meters, it shows how urban gardening truly works in a major city.

In the southwest of Berlin, in the Dahlem district, lies an active organic farm that is also an open-air museum. Domäne Dahlem combines agriculture, animal husbandry, and cultural history on a historic manor – and offers a packed hands-on program for families and children during the Easter holidays.

Located directly by the lido of Lake Rangsdorf, about 30 kilometers south of Berlin, is the Seehotel Berlin-Rangsdorf: a four-star hotel with private lake access, a 700 square meter wellness area, and a restaurant with lake views. BER Airport is a 20-minute drive away.

On the legendary grounds of the former UFA film copying plants in Tempelhof, chickens, ponies, and ferrets have long swapped the screen for straw and green spaces. The ufaFabrik Children's Farm is pedagogically supervised, free of charge, and offers a real stable scent.

Where city kids suddenly groom ponies and sniff campfire air: The Groß Briesen Riding and Adventure Farm is located in the Hoher Fläming Nature Park, about an hour southwest of Berlin, and is one of the most beautiful excursion destinations in Brandenburg for families with children.

BunBo – The BungalowBoat is Brandenburg's leading provider of floating holiday homes on the waterways around Berlin. At five locations, including Zernsdorf south of the capital and Plaue near the Havel river, city life can be exchanged for a fireplace, hammock, and water views – all without a boat license.

The Café Schwartzsche Villa is part of the cultural center in the former summer villa of the Schwartz banking family, right next to Steglitz Town Hall. The summer garden can accommodate around one hundred people and is quietly located behind Schloßstraße. Breakfast in the green here means: Villa breakfast for 16.90 Euros under trees, above it a gallery and chamber theater.

The beer garden of Châlet Suisse is shaded by tall trees in Grunewald. Grilled chicken and Neuland sausages come from the covered outdoor kitchen. The wooden tables are arranged so that the on-site playground can be overlooked from the seating area.

Spanning approximately 70 hectares in Wedding, this is one of Berlin's largest and least crowded public parks. The garden monument from 1929 includes a deer enclosure with fallow deer, three small lakes, and an open-air stage with 4,000 seats, which hosts an open-air cinema in summer. Among Berlin's parks, this is the most relaxed large-scale area.

The Havel cycle path at Grunewaldturm leads via Havelchaussee to Berlin's most famous observation tower: 55 meters of brick Gothic from 1899 on the 79-meter-high Karlsberg, about 200 steps to the platform. Along the way are the Schildhorn peninsula with its sandy beach and the island of Lindwerder, to which a bell calls the ferry.

A journey through nature in a handcar is a small sporting adventure with friends or the whole family.

Berlin's most famous shipping line, Stern und Kreisschiffahrt, embarks from Greenwichpromenade in Reinickendorf into the northern island world, bringing passengers relaxing cruises across Tegeler See, the Upper Havel Lakes, and far into the Berlin countryside on sunny days. Few excursions showcase the city as serenely and expansively as this one.

About 50 kilometers southwest of Berlin, the treetop walk in Beelitz-Heilstätten invites you on an excursion to Brandenburg that spectacularly links history and nature. Up to 23 meters high, you float through treetops and past decaying ruins above the roofs of one of Germany's most photographed lost places.

The NABU Blumberger Mühle Nature Experience Center in the Blumberger Mühle district of Angermünde is the multimedia heart of the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve in the Uckermark. Where a building in the shape of a hollow tree stump meets osprey views and bog turtles, a weekend trip to Brandenburg becomes a true nature experience.

In Gesundbrunnen, one of Berlin's most historically rich parks stretches across 29 hectares. Gustav Meyer started designing Volkspark Humboldthain in 1869. Today, it includes a rose garden with 15,000 roses of 70 varieties and the ruins of a flak tower, above which rises the 85-meter-high Humboldthöhe. This scope is quite unique for parks in Berlin.

The Chinese Garden in Marzahn is called Garden of the Recovered Moon and is the largest complex of its kind in Europe. In its center lies a 4,500 square meter lake named Mirror of Heaven, and a stone boat stands on its shore. Anyone looking for a backdrop for a marriage proposal that doesn't look like Berlin will find it here, behind the next moon gate.

A listed manor house from the 18th century, nestled on the northern edge of the Schorfheide Biosphere Reserve in Uckermark: Schloss Herrenstein combines historic castle ambiance with a solid wellness and activity offering, just 90 kilometers from Berlin.

Behind the baroque Charlottenburg Palace lies one of Berlin's oldest garden complexes, laid out for Sophie Charlotte from 1695 and opened in 1699. Siméon Godeau designed the parterre in the French style, and Lenné later transformed it into a landscape garden with a carp pond, mausoleum, and Luiseninsel (Luise Island). Among Berlin's parks, this is the most formal.

St. Michaels is located on Bismarckallee in Grunewald, by Lake Hertha, yet close to Kurfürstendamm. The house belongs to the Johannische Sozialwerk. Breakfast is a buffet with fresh pastries, cheese, cold cuts, fruit, and muesli, served on the terrace during warmer months. The adjacent beer garden with a playground is part of the green breakfast experience here.

Those who want to discover Berlin and Brandenburg from the water will find the perfect fleet in Niederlehme near Königs Wusterhausen: Nautilus Houseboat Charter rents modern designer houseboats, most of which are license-free, with panoramic glazing and a spacious terrace for up to six people.

In Berlin's Neukölln district, a 6,000 square meter playground awaits, evoking childhood memories: "Pippi's World" on Theodor-Loos-Weg takes little adventurers into the world of Pippi Longstocking, including Villa Villekulla, Taka-Tuka-Land, and water fun.

Located by Bürgerpark in Pankow, Pinke Panke Children's Farm is Berlin's most charming proof that rural life and city living are not a contradiction. Over 70 animals, workshops, campfires, and a vegetable garden make this educationally supervised playground a nature-oriented meeting point for children and families, which is also freely accessible.

The Berlin Botanical Garden in Dahlem showcases approximately 20,000 plant species across 43 hectares; in autumn, maples and oaks glow in the North American section. If it gets too cold outside, the Great Tropical House from 1907 awaits with giant bamboo reaching 26 meters high. For autumn activities in Berlin, this means: Indian Summer and tropical warmth with a ticket for 10 euros.

In the old town of Brandenburg an der Havel, directly on the riverbank: The Havelfloß Apartments combine lovingly renovated old buildings with floating holiday homes. You can choose between rooms with Havel views and license-free houseboats, with which you can explore the city from the water.

For those who want to get out into nature when the weather is nice, without having to leave Berlin behind for hours, Dahlwitz-Hoppegarten is the perfect place. The Lucky Horse Ranch Mönchsheim on the eastern outskirts of the city offers genuine country life with horses, spaciousness, and a warmth not found in the city.