Cycling: Berlin to Leipzig
In the late summer of 2022, I met up with an old roommate from my time when I studied in Kaiserslautern University. As we are both in the bike touring scene we decided to make a small local trip from Berlin (where I live) to Leipzig (where he lives).
For the set up, I used my newer Canyon Grizl for which I didn’t have any bike bags yet. I strapped my tent to the handlebars and my tent to the saddle with make-shift velcro straps and foam (and wrapped with cheap plastic bags). It looked very unprofessional but I found it very effective! The only downside is I underestimated the shake of the tent on the handlebars and it did scratch the paintwork a bit on the front. I did need a spare change of clothes and my friend packed that on his bike.
The trip was relatively easy. Probably possible to complete within a single day but we decided to take advantage of the full weekend and camp overnight at the halfway point. We started early on Saturday morning and set off from my place nearby Tempelhofer feld - cycling across the tarmac is a great warm up.
Cutting through the city takes time and is not a very fun or pretty route. It takes roughly an hour or so to get out to Zehlendorf where the real cycling begins. From there to Potsdam the cycling paths are easy-going although hilly. It’s a good idea to take a break in Potsdam to enjoy the small town vibes and nice coffee shops.
From Potsdam, we spent the day cycling onwards to Wittenberg on the Elbe. The route was relatively easy with mostly official bike paths or quiet roads. There are enough shops and places to stop along the way for food/drink and a good mixture of forests to keep the background green. We cycled that day approximately 90km before reaching Wittenberg.
Just past Wittenberg, on the other side of the Elbe, we found a very peaceful campsite called Marina-Camp Elbe. Be warned, you probably need a good grasp on German to navigate the reception process (handled by my friend). We found ourselves to be lucky to set up camp here in the late afternoon as immediately after a thunderstorm rolled in that would’ve demolished us if we had kept cycling.
The next day we packed up the tent and bags and continued cycling onwards to Leipzig. Since it was a Sunday, the shops were closed and we found there was not much else open between Wittenberg and Leipzig. My advice for this stretch is to make sure you bring enough food/water because you won’t find much (at least on a Sunday). This route was almost completely bike path but there was some elevation to climb (although not much).
There are however some really great lakes as you get closer to Leipzig and we were lucky to have a nice hot sun over us that day to justify a swim.
The final stretch into Leipzig was fun with lots of cycling through the city bike routes that are very green/active with weekend people. On this second day we cycled approximately 95km, making the trip total around 185km.
Overall, a very easy weekend cycling route. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to give bike touring a try. It’s not too much distance or cycling each day (can be as low as five hours but for slower cyclists that gives lots of slack time), has an easy route back to Berlin via the Deutsche Bahn, and has some nice camping opportunities to get a taste for tenting up without committing to more than one night.
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