Discover the remote West of Berlin – the best way to do this is along the Gatow Route. Get on a bicycle at Sophie-Charlotte-Platz U-Bahn station and ride along Kaiserdamm in a westerly direction to where it becomes Heerstraße at Theodor-Heuss-Platz. Straight on westwards, past the Olympic Stadium and LeCorbuisier House, over the Havel and Stößensee lake, past the island of Pichelswerder to the former fishing village of Alt-Pichelsdorf.
The route then bends to the south-westerly direction and the cyclist has to go uphill a little bit at Weinmeisterhöhe, before being able to enjoy the expanses of the Gatow irrigation fields (the eastern extension of Havelland). Ride through this endless vastness, before – behind a small wooded area – discovering plenty of old combat aircraft on an asphalt surface: this is the former Gatow aerodrome, now the site of the German Luftwaffe Museum.
Riding on through Groß-Glienicke with its old manor park you reach the banks of the lake with the same name, where the border between East Germany and West Berlin used to run, then along to Alt-Kladow. The old village centre of Kladow lies directly on the banks of Wannsee. The tour ends here with a 20 minute ride to Wannsee S-Bahn station, from where it will take you back to the civilisation of the city centre.
