... follow the gherkin!

In fact, the happy cycling gherkin will lead you throughout all 250 km of this purpose-built long-distance cycle path that takes you right across the Spreewald.

Where you start and end your tour is entirely up to you...

Choose a daily section of 40 to 60 km in length and cycle along the picturesque waterways and traditional fields of gherkins and vegetables that gave the path its name. Soak up the history of the region at the local Spreewald museums, such as those at Lübbenau (Gherkin Museum), Lübben (at the palace), Schlepzig, Peitz and Raddusch (the Slavic Fort of Raddusch). You can visit the gherkin packing plants (on request) and indulge in a spot of gherkin-tasting. And the clear waters of Lakes Köthen and Neuendorf are ready and waiting for a refreshing bathe.

This tour takes you through some 200 km of a region teeming with contrasts. Be ready for surprises as you explore its ancient woodlands, historic old towns, charming villages, stately homes and their country parks, stone-built churches and the rapidly changing landscape of this former mining district with its chains of lakes and unique natural spectacles.

South of Luckau in the Borcheltsbusch Nature Reserve is an important site where you'll find cranes gathering. More than 4,000 cranes arrive at the 300 ha. of fenland in the autumn as they rest on their flight south. From the viewing tower between Goßmar and Freesdorf, watch the evening spectacle of the birds arriving at their roosting sites on the water.