Insider Tip: Prater Pilsner in the Beer Garden
Just after the Eberswalder intersection on the right-hand side you’ll find Berlin's oldest beer garden, the Prater. In summer you can enjoy home-brewed beer here under the huge chestnut trees that give the Kastanienallee its name. In winter, the action moves inside the cosy restaurant.
Rosenthaler Platz
Ride down Kastanienallee, which after several blocks will become the Weinbergsweg as it passes the Weinbergspark to your right. Then after another short stretch, you'll be at Rosenthaler Platz. Do watch out for the tram tracks! Until the 19th Century, this was the site of the Rosenthaler Tor, one of the few gates through which Jews could enter the city.
Rosenthaler Straße
Get off your bike at this busy intersection and cross over Brunnenstraße at the pedestrian signal. After crossing, hop back on your bike and ride down Brunnenstraße until it becomes Rosenthaler Straße, which will take you through the Rosenthal suburb.
Hackescher Markt
The Hackescher Markt is a busy traffic junction in the Spandau suburb. Numerous cafés, bars and shops invite you to take some time to shop and relax. Particularly interesting: the Hackesche Höfe, a beautifully restored building with eight rear courtyards.
Walk your bike past the square in front of the Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station and then continue riding to the left onto Burgstraße. Burgstraße curves to the right onto a bridge over the Spree onto Museumsinsel (Museum Island). Stay on Burgstaße after it becomes Bodestraße and then cross the river again. Immediately after crossing the second bridge, turn right Am Kupfergraben.
Insider Tip: Museumsinsel
Museum Island is the northern tip of the Spree Island. It is home to five major museums: the Pergamonmuseum, the Neues Museum (New Museum), the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), the Bode-Museum and the Altes Museum (Old Museum).
The Banks of the Spree
Continue riding along the riverbank on Am Kupfergraben. Follow the curve of the river as the road changes names to Am Weidendamm and then Reichstagufer.
Insider Tip: Tränenpalast
To the left just before the railway bridge is the Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears). This building was constructed in 1962 as the departure hall for the Friedrichstraße border crossing station. The place got its name because of the many tearful farewells that were made here. After reunification, it became an events venue; it now hosts the permanent exhibition "GrenzErfahrungen. Alltag der deutschen Teilung " (Border Experiences: Everyday Life in Divided Germany).
Government District
Continue riding along the Spree riverbank. You'll ride behind the Reichstag, home to the German Bundestag, see the Paul Löbe House, and come to the bend in the river, where the road becomes Ludwig-Erhard-Ufer.
