Spreewald-Tour - Scenic Boat Rides on Waymarking.com

Long Description:


The punts cruising the Spreewald Delta can’t compete with a Mississippi steamboat but nevertheless, taking this tour is definitely an experience not to be missed. The Spreewald is sometimes called Germany’s Venice which is true only when it comes to means of transportation. But while Venice has turned into a noisy, hectic and polluted tourist trap, a tour in Spreewald takes you through a nature preserve and offers a couple of hours of undisturbed tranquility. Hop on board, enjoy the clear water and the clean air and experience a culture that hasn’t changed in hundreds of years.

Ten thousand years ago, at the end of the last ice age, retracting glaciers carved hundreds of ditches and rifts into a once plane landscape. These ditches were later filled with water from the Spree river, forming 187 square miles (or 120,000 acres) of wetland in a delta system made of tiny channels that often look manmade but really are a freak of nature.

Spreewald is the heartland of the Sorbs, a small Slavonic nation that never had a state of her own. They have preserved their own culture, language and religion. Over the last thousand years, they were ruled by Swedish, Polish, Bohemian, Austrian and German kings at one time or another. While Sorbic population in nearby cities suffered severely under foreign domination, the swamps and wetlands of the Spreewald delta were so inaccessible that neither Wallenstein’s soldiers in the 30-Years War of the 1500s, nor Napoleon’s troops in the 1800s, and not even the Russian tanks in World War II left a scar. The Spreewald-Sorbs lived mostly undisturbed and brought a unique culture with beautiful legends and colorful rituals into the 21st century.

There are several companies offering rides, lasting between two and six hours. We generally recommend starting from the main harbor (Großer Spreewaldhafen) in Lübbenau. Directions (in German language) are here, a large map of Lübbenau is here. We took the 2 hour tour from Lübbenau to Lehde and back.

This is what it looks like on bard a punt. Tour operators in Lübbenau Harbor employ more than 100 punts, each holding up to 20 passengers. Each one is navigated by an experienced captain/tour guide who not only punts the boat through a labyrinth of channels but also has a lot of tales to tell.

As soon as the boat leaves Lübbenau Harbor, it enters one of Germany’s largest nature preserves and passengers can enjoy peace and tranquility only interrupted by occasional small settlements.

Coming closer to the village of Lehde, there are more houses along the way, all built in traditional Sorbian style.

Most of the area is only accessible by boat and houses here don’t have a garage and a driveway, but a boathouse and a channel instead!

Lehde Harbor

Spreewald Museum

After about 45 minutes, the boat reaches the harbor of Lehde, where passengers can enjoy local restaurants as well as the Spreewald Museum and the world’s only Pickle Museum.

Of course, our travel mascot, Bernd das Brot was with us all the way. We hope you enjoyed our little tour. For more information and more pictures, check out all the blue links as they will take you to our other Spreewald Waymarks.

Adult Ticket Price in local currency: 15 Period/Days/Hours of Operation: 9am-5pm Protection from the elements on board: Deck completely open to the elements Address of the Ticket Counter: Kahnfährengenossenschaft Dammstraße 77a Lübbenau, Germany 03222 Required Photos Will be Uploaded: yes Related Web Site: Not listed Food/Drink available on board?: Not Listed Restroom facilities on board?: Not Listed Coordinates of the Ticket Counter: Not Listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   5/17/2008 Modestia visited it

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