Berlin to Copenhagen cycle route

Road causeway with a cycle route sign between Møn and Bogø, Denmark

Photo: Andreas Wolf 01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Distance
about 700 km (435 miles)
Countries
Germany, Denmark
Difficulty
Easy to moderate
Type of trip
Cycling route

The Radfernweg Berlin-Kopenhagen starts at the Brandenburg Gate and finishes in the middle of Copenhagen. The route's own site puts it at about 700 km. In Germany it heads north out of Berlin along the Havel, then through the lake country of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg to the Baltic at Rostock. There you take the Scandlines ferry to Gedser on Falster and ride up through Falster, Møn and Zealand, crossing between the islands on causeways and bridges. VisitDenmark splits the route into 15 stages and reckons on about 14 days at 40 to 45 km a day.

It's part of EuroVelo 7 and, in Germany, of D-Route 11. In Denmark it's signed as National Cycle Route 9. Most of it is paved, often on its own path. A few stretches aren't, for example between Neustrelitz and Waren, though Wikipedia says an ordinary road or hybrid bike copes fine. You sleep in towns and villages on the way. The Bett+Bike scheme lists places in Germany that welcome cyclists, and there are slube sleeping towers for cyclists at Zehdenick and Neustrelitz. On the ferry you need a ticket for the bike, and on Deutsche Bahn long-distance trains a bike ticket plus a reserved bike space.

Highlights along the way

  1. The Berlin Wall in the first 25 km: Three kilometres in you pass the Günter Litfin memorial, in an old East German watchtower. At 24 km there's the border tower at Nieder Neuendorf, one of the last left on the old Berlin border, with an exhibition inside.
  2. Fürstenberg/Havel: The old town sits on islands between lakes, with the Havel running past. The Ravensbrück memorial is also in Fürstenberg.
  3. Neustrelitz, the Müritz and Waren: The Müritz National Park starts just past the baroque town of Neustrelitz. At Waren you look out over the Müritz, Germany's largest inland lake, and the Müritzeum has aquariums and exhibitions on the lakes and the park.
  4. Møn: You reach Møn over causeways from Falster and Bogø. Its churches, such as Elmelunde and Keldby, have wall paintings by an unknown artist known as the Elmelunde Master. Stege is one of Denmark's oldest trading towns.
  5. Stevns Klint and Køge: On Zealand the route site points you to Stevns Klint, a UNESCO site, where Stevns Klint Experience explains the asteroid strike of 66 million years ago. Køge has well-kept old houses and a big market square, and the Arken modern art museum is just before Copenhagen.

Distance

About 700 km (435 miles) in all, by the route's own site, plus the ferry from Rostock to Gedser. The site splits it into four parts: Berlin 20 km (12 miles), Brandenburg 151 km (94 miles), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 255 km (158 miles) and Denmark 260 km (162 miles). Other sources come in lower. Wikipedia gives 650 km and VisitDenmark 630 km, so your own total will depend on the version you follow and any detours. If you only ride one way, the route site suggests coming back by regional train from Copenhagen to Nykøbing Falster, riding the 26 km (16 miles) to the ferry at Gedser, then taking your bike on the train from Rostock to Berlin.

Best time to go

The Danish ferry Ida, which crosses the Grønsund between Bogø and Falster, runs from 1 May to 30 September in 2026, plus the autumn half-term, 10 to 18 October. Check idasvenner.dk for the current timetable. The rest of the year you go round over the Storstrøm Bridge between Zealand and Falster. Scandlines sails between Rostock and Gedser many times a day, and you board with the cars. On a warm day there are lakes to swim in along the German part, and the Bürgerablage in Spandau has a 600 m sandy beach right beside the route. The route site said in November 2026 that the castle museum in Güstrow was shut for restoration. Check bike rules with Deutsche Bahn, DSB and Movia before you go, and bike-berlin-copenhagen.com for route details.

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