Großer Stechlinsee

This was my first Berlin camping trip, and I STILL haven’t calmed down about HOW magical this lake is. The Großer Stechlinsee is a 1.5 hour drive from Berlin. It’s one of Germany’s last large clear water lakes, which means a few things for us: it’s set in beautiful nature and it’s crystal clear to swim in. I drove to the Lake Stechlin as it’s known in English with a friend, borrowed camping gear and another friend’s car (I really go all-out on the buddy system borrowing front) and once we got off the motorway we felt like we were hours from the city. Great air, bad cell phone reception, dinky villages to drive through, you name it. We were on holiday!

To reach Lake Stechlin, head to Neuglobstow, a 1.5 hour drive or about 2 hour trip on public transport from Berlin’s city centre. There’s a sweet and secluded camp site about 100 metres from the water we stayed at called Campingplatz Neuglobstow which has super clean showers… but costs €18 per Person which ain’t cheap if you ask me. Oh well.

You can hike around the lake in about 4 hours and enjoy lovely views across the water, empty paths and spot occasional sunbathers along the shore. Since we had time and quick drying towels (two of my favourite travel accessories) we stopped for several swims during our walk and LET ME TELL YOU: it was absolute bliss. The water is easy to get into and you can look around 5 metres deep from the surface. Friggin amazing.

For dinner we had some pretty standard German fare in the village of Neuglobstow, and quickly made our way back to the lake for a final evening swim before snuggling up in our tent. All in all we were out of Berlin for about 26 hours in total but it really felt like a holiday. Enjoy!