The 13 Best Hikes In Berlin

If you're visiting Berlin it doesn't mean you have to spend your entire time shut away in one museum after another doing nothing more than browsing historic artifacts. To be honest, after visiting some of them you may well need a breath of fresh air and some exercise to calm the strong emotional feelings they provoke.

Fortunately, there are some super walks in Berlin itself and plenty of places near Berlin to go hiking. You’ll find easy walking trails accessible by public transport or more testing ones an hour’s drive from the city limits. Whatever your preferred landscape whether it’s forests, meadows, lakes, or rivers, you’ll find a trail near or in one that will suit you.

The one thing you don't need with you when you set out on foot is your bags, so leave them at a Bounce luggage storage service in Berlin. They'll be in a secure place and you'll be free to stride it out for as long as you want without having to carry a ton of weight on your shoulders.

Our Top Hiking Trail Picks In Berlin

Here you'll find a list of our top hiking trails in Berlin. They're separated into two different sections. The first is walks and hikes in Berlin city itself. The second part contains hikes which are outside of the city limits, to the south and in the northern districts, but ones that are not so far away you have to spend half a day waiting for a train at an S-bahn station to get you there.  For more on that subject, check out our guide on how to get around Berlin.

Walks and Hikes In Berlin City

Berlin Wall Trail

The Berlin Wall Trail is over a hundred and fifty kilometers long, so not something you'll be hiking in its entirety in a day. The trail has various sections though, and probably the best section to do if you want to stay in the city is the Berlin Wall History Mile. This trail follows the route of the wall where it cuts through the center of the city and is marked all the way by cobblestones and plaques inscribed with the words – Berliner Mauer. Along the Berlin Wall History Mile there are thirty-two individual information points detailing the lives and deaths of people who lived on both sides of the wall. If you're interested in the history of the wall then this is the ideal walk to take in Berlin.

The 20 Green Walks Of Berlin 

There's no shortage of places to go for a gentle stroll in a countryside setting in Berlin. The 20 Green Walks have been created to provide just that opportunity for residents and visitors. The walks are numbered individually and vary in length from the longest, which is sixty-plus kilometers, to the shortest which is around seven kilometers long. The majority of the green walks are also perfect for cycling, but while they're all well away from the city traffic, they don't all have marked cycle paths, so you'll need to keep a wary eye out for pedestrians. All of the trailheads that are not in the city center are easily accessible by public transport which is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to get around Berlin.

The Best Of Berlin’s Green Walks

Lübars Walk – The Lübars Walk is a fourteen-kilometer-long out-and-back trail that follows part of the route of the Berlin Wall. It starts in the city center on Bernauer Strasse and leads out into the countryside of the Lübars district. It's one of the best hiking trails for anyone interested to see exactly how far the wall stretched. Level - Easy

The Lindenberg Corridor – The Lindenberg Corridor is a seventeen-kilometer-long paved hiking and biking trail in the city suburbs which runs between the residential districts of Lichtenberg and Marzahn. It's not a circular route, but a point-to-point one, so if you don't want to do the entire trail the best part for walking is the section by Rummelsberger See where there's a riverside promenade. Level - Easy

Wannsee Walk – The Wannsee Walk is a thirty-kilometer-long out-and-back hiking trail and is one of the greenest trails in Berlin. The trailhead is at Lake Königssee and from there the Wannsee Walk trail winds past a further seven lakes, alongside the River Havel and through the Grunewald and Düppeler Forests. This trail is a total escape from the city and the scenery is magnificent. If you’re on a summertime visit to Berlin, you’ll find the beaches and beer gardens you pass on the way very convenient points for a rest stop or refreshment. Level - Easy in parts and intermediate in others.

Teltow Canal Walk – The Teltow Canal Walk in Berlin is a thirty-eight-kilometer out-and-back trail that runs alongside the Teltow Canal for almost its entire length. The canal links Lake Griebnitzsee with the Dahme River and the trail, once a towpath, has been paved to make it more suitable for hiking and cycling.  Level - Easy.

Inner Park Ring Walk – The Inner Park Ring Walk is a fifty-two-kilometer-long loop trail in the city center that connects many of Berlin's public green spaces. You can join the walk at multiple points in the city including the Volkspark Wilmersdorf, the Volkspark Jungfernheide, and on Simon-Dache Strasse in the Friedrichshain district. Level – Easy.

Kaulsdorf Walk – The Kaulsdorf Walk is a gentle stroll through one of the more upmarket residential areas of Berlin. The trail stretches for around seventeen kilometers from Treptower Park to Mahlsdorf cutting through parklands where there are nice lake views. Level – Easy.

Best Walks and Hikes In Berlin - Outside Of The City

The Humboldt Trail

The Humboldt Trail, or Humboldt Walk as it's also called, is a thirty-six-kilometer long out-and-back trail through the open countryside to the north of Berlin. It is one of Berlin’s 20 Green Walks but a little way out of the city center. The trail begins at the Schloss Tegal which is the former home of the famous Humboldt brothers on the shores of Tegeler See Lake and winds its way across the Barnim Plateau. Level - Intermediate.

The Müggelberge Hiking Trails

The Müggelberge Hiking Trails are a network of trails for hiking and mountain biking on the Müggelberge, an area of elevated and hilly ground forty minutes drive to the east of Berlin. They're not mountains, but more hills. The Müggelberge consists of the Grober Müggelberg and the Kleiner Müggelberg from the tops of which there are excellent views of Berlin and the surrounding countryside. The hiking trails wind through various landscapes such as bogs and forests as well as up and down the hills. If you get that far, at the top of the Kleiner Müggelberg, you'll find an observation tower which you can climb for more panoramic views. Level - Intermediate to Difficult

The Teufelsberg Hike

The Teufelsberg Hike is a hike for anyone who likes to do and see something a little different from the norm. The Teufelsberg is an artificial hill in the Grunewald district of Berlin created as a high point to house communications listening equipment. The derelict structures are a surreal sight constantly in view as you climb the steep dirt trail to the top. Whether the Teufelsberg is worth seeing is a matter of opinion, but there are also spectacular panoramic views of Grunewald Forest and Berlin from the top so you'll be rewarded with more than ruins if you make it that far. This is also one of the favorite hikes of artists and photographers. Level - Intermediate

The Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Reserve

The Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Reserve is the place to go outside of the Berlin city limits if you want to hike through unspoiled countryside far from the maddening crowds. The reserve covers over six hundred square kilometers to the southwest of Berlin. The best spots to head for to start your exploration are the village of Blankensee where there's a large lake teeming with birds or the High Flaming Nature Park where there's a network of Nordic trails some of which lead past ruined castles. Level - Easy to Intermediate

Grumsin UNESCO World Heritage Beech Forest Trails

For serious hikers, the Grumsin UNESCO World Heritage Beech Forest Trails are some of the best you can set foot on in Germany. The forest is around an hour's drive north of Berlin, but definitely worth the drive and setting out early for. The beech trees cover several thousand acres and have an almost enchanted appearance. There are over twenty different loop trails in the five areas of the forest, most of which have trailheads right next to a car park. The routes are signposted and marked with signage about special flora and fauna you can expect to see while hiking. This is proper backcountry hiking, so you need to go properly prepared with good walking boots and a rucksack with enough food and drinks for the day. It's also a good idea to pick up trail maps from a tourist information center before setting off. Level - Intermediate to Difficult

Hikes In Strausberg

Strausberg is a city one hour's drive east of Berlin and a super place for a day of hiking through scenic landscapes. Around Strausberg you'll find all levels of trails that circle lakes, wind along river courses, and through pretty meadowlands as well as woodland. One of the more relaxing and less arduous hikes in Strausberg is the five-kilometer loop trail around Lake Herrensee. For something a little more challenging, the Stage 8 section of the Strausberg to Rudersdorf is good and after you've done the full twenty-four kilometers you can take your hiking boots off and have a paddle on the beach at Lake Stienitzsee. Level – Easy to Intermediate.  

Easy Hikes In Berlin

Walking has to be one of the best free things to do in Berlin and the bonus is, the city is flat so no overly strenuous effort is involved and most trails are a relatively easy hike. The easiest hikes in Berlin are those of the 20 Green Walks and the Berlin Wall History Mile Trail.

Intermediate Hikes In Berlin

It's hard to find sloping ground in Berlin so if you want to test your calf muscles on an intermediate level hike you'll need to head for somewhere like the Teufelsberg. By the time you've traipsed up and down the artificial hill and seen the ruins, you'll be ready for a sit-down and the best brunch in Berlin. Another good intermediate hike in Berlin is the Humboldt Trail which is more country than city.

Difficult Hikes In Berlin

To test your stamina and go on a difficult hike in Berlin, you need to go outside of the city limits. The best difficult hikes near Berlin are on the trails that lead up the Grober Müggelberg and the Kleiner Müggelberg in the Müggelberge. The Grumsin UNESCO World Heritage Beech Forest Trails are also good if you want to push your limits a little.

So now you know that going for a hike in Berlin is as easy said as done and something you can totally enjoy while you're there no matter what level of hiker you are. If you don't have time to head out into the countryside around Berlin, you'll still be able to wander through some fantastic green spaces that will, for a while at least, make you forget you're in one of Europe's biggest cities. All you need to do is remember to pack a good pair of hiking boots.