Bicycle tour from Burg to Cottbus – Cultural Experience

This bicycle tour starts at the local history parlour in Burg (Spreewald) and ends at Cottbus central station. Start by taking a look at Burg local history parlour, a typical log cabin with a thatched roof that houses a small but excellent historical collection relating to the history of Burg. Before heading toward Schmogrow, you should enjoy the view of the unique Spreewald landscape from the 27-metre-high Bismarck Tower. The tour takes you via Striesow to Dissen, which is also called Storchendorf (“Stork Village”) due to its many stork nests. The enthusiastically maintained local history museum offers interesting insights into the customs and traditions of the Sorbs/Wends and is also home to a stork exhibition. Along the Spree, the tour goes past green meadows and the auroch pastures by the renaturated River Spree before finally ending up in the historic town centre of Cottbus. Amid impressive town houses in Saxon Baroque and Prussian Classicist style, there are numerous shops, cafés and bars.

Length: approximately 37 kilometres

Start/finish: Burg (Spreewald), Burg im Spreewald tourist information centre

Logo/route sign: not specified

Directions:Train: From Berlin take the RE 2 to Cottbus, from there take bus 47 to Burg. From Dresden take the RE 15 or RE 18 to Cottbus, from there take bus 47 to Burg.Car: From Berlin Schönefelder Kreuz A13 follow signs to Dresden-Forst as far as Dreieck Spreewald, then take the A15 for Cottbus-Forst. Exit Vetschau, continue in the direction of Burg. From Dresden Dreieck Nord A13 Berlin to Dreieck Spreewald on the A15, following signs to Cottbus-Forst. Exit Vetschau, continue in the direction of BurgParking: At the Festplatz not far from the tourist information centre, or behind the Spreewaldmühle (Hauptstrasse 31), at the end of the village in the direction of Lübben
Route:  Burg-Dorf – Striesow – Dissen – renaturated Spreeaue – Döbbrick/Skadow – Spreeaue Cottbus Nord – Cottbus city centre – Branitz Park – Cottbus central station

Points of interest/background information:Burg-Dorf: Local history parlour, Bismarck Tower, Weidenburg, Spreewald Biosphere Reserve information centre at Schlossberghof with Annemarie Schulz HouseDissen: Local history museum with costume and stork exhibition, Stary Lud, half-timbered church with Sorbian inscriptions, Spreeauenhof, herb gardenSpreeaue renaturation area with auroch reserve, observation hill with huge wooden sculpture of the devil with yoked oxenCottbus: Altmarkt Cottbus with Brandenburg Pharmacy Museum, Oberkirche church, monastery church, Staatstheater Cottbus, airfield museum, Fürst-Pückler-Park in Branitz with palace and water pyramid, gondola rides in the park
Possible combinations:Spree Cycle PathGherkin Cycle Path
Trail conditions/surface: not specified

Maps/Literature:
For optimum preparation and planning of the bicycle tour, the tourist information centre at the Haus des Gastes offers detailed cycling maps which can also be purchased from the online shop on the website.