Panoramic Bike Tour – Exploring historic Vistas

The Panorama Bicycle Tour offers superb views of Potsdam and its artistically designed parks. It traces the footsteps of garden artists Peter Joseph Lenné, who as Royal Gardens Director exerted a major influence on the Potsdam garden landscape, as well as Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau, who designed Babelsberg Park in particular. The starting point for the tour is Alter Markt. Heading through Nauener Tor, the tour first passes the Russian Colony Alexandrovka, where you can enjoy Russian delicacies under the apple trees and feel the magic of the colony.
From here, the tour goes up Pfingstberg Hill, which is crowned by the Belvedere. It was King Frederick William IV – a “Romantic on the throne” – who had the Belvedere Pfingstberg built. The vistas within the park and palace landscape were created deliberately and stretch as far as Pfaueninsel and on to Berlin. From Pfingstberg Hill, the trail leads on through the New Garden with Cecilienhof Country House to Glienicke Bridge. The latter became well-known as a symbol of the German-German divide. Steven Spielberg shot scenes here for his film Bridge of Spies about an American-Soviet agent exchange which took place on this very bridge in 1962. Finally, you arrive at Babelsberg Park with its imposing palace. Originally laid out by Lenné, Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau added a gem to the park: the aquatic features and splashing fountains that are now once again in action for all to see and enjoy. From here the cycle path runs along the banks of the River Havel, leading back to the central railway station.

Length: approximately 13 kilometres
Duration: approximately 2 hours
Start/finish: Hauptbahnhof Potsdam
Conditions of the trail: asphalted cycle paths and roads, paved park pathways

How to get there:
– Car/parking: Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (central station)
– Rail: Railway lines RE 1, RB 20, RB 21, RB 22, RB 23
– Bus: various

Sights:
– Belvedere Pfingstberg
– Biosphäre Potsdam
– Filmmuseum Potsdam
– Lindenstrasse memorial site
– Museum FLUXUS+
– Museum Barberini
– Museum Alexandrovka and Café Uschakoff
– Natural History Museum
– Potsdam Museum
– Schifffahrt Weisse Flotte

Possible combinations
– Europaradweg R1
– Havelradweg
– F1 – Rund um die Potsdamer Havelseen
– Radroute Alter Fritz
– Königin-Luise-Radweg
– Radrouten Historische Stadtkerne – Route 4
– Mauerweg

Maps/literature:
Radwander- und Wanderkarte Potsdamer Havelseen, Blütenstadt Werder und Umgebung: Ausflüge zwischen Ketzin, Michendorf und dem Grunewald, 1:35,000, Verlag Barthel, A; Edition: 4 (May 1, 2014), ISBN-13: 978-3895910883, Euro 4.90
Potsdam – Havelland – Fläming: Fahrradkarte. GPS-genau, 1:70000, KOMPASS-Karten; 3rd edition (March 1, 2016), ISBN-13: 978-3850262729, Euro 7.99