Finally, the time had come for us to visit the beautiful Müritz National Park in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The weather forecast sounded promising, so we set off early in the morning for Waren. This was where we wanted to start our bike tour, cycling right through the national park and experiencing many amazing highlights. Our focus was on the small details along the way, the various lakes, and viewpoints. It felt so good to be out in nature for a whole day again. In the following post, we would like to introduce you to our tour and all the highlights. Of course, there are also a few travel tips at the end. Have fun browsing!

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• About the Müritz National Park
• Information centers & starting points
• Our bike tour through the Müritz National Park
• Information about our tour
• Guided tours through the Müritz National Park
• Accommodation in the area
• Getting to Müritz National Park

About the Müritz National Park

3 of the 16 German national parks are located in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. First, there’s the Jasmund National Park, the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park, and the Müritz National Park. With an area of approximately 322 km², the park is as big as Munich. Incredible, isn’t it? It’s actually the largest German national park on the mainland. We didn’t know that before; we only learned it on one of the many information boards in the park. Awaiting us was 70% forest, 14% lakes, 8% moors, and 7% pastures and arable land. By the way, Müritz National Park has beech forests that have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site (as has Jasmund National Park).

The park is home to many animal and plant species. These include 221 bird species, 54 mammal species (wolf, fox, deer, raccoon, etc.), 655 mushroom species, 1,445 beetle species, and 61 spider species. The 25 observation posts in the national park allow you to observe some of these animals from a distance. These wooden walkways and huts also offer fantastic views of the lakes and forests. We were a little lucky and were able to spot, among other things, a deer in the forest and a beautiful heron.

We originally wanted to go hiking, but then decided on a bike tour. We wanted to cover a lot of ground and spend the whole day in the park. The Müritz National Park Trail runs through the national park, taking you through the park’s beautiful landscapes on 9 different stages (approximately 170 km in total). We cycled along this exact route for part of the way and were able to get our first impressions of the region’s beauty. There are a total of 454 kilometers of hiking and biking trails; we’ll definitely do a hike next time!

Information Centers & Starting Points

You can enter/enter the Müritz National Park from various directions. Most people probably start in Waren or Neustrelitz. These two towns are, so to speak, the gateways to the national park. These two places are also well connected to public transport (train, bus, car). If you start in Waren, you’ll first pass through the western part of the park. From Neustrelitz, you’ll first pass through the eastern part of the national park. By the way, we looked at the western part.

There are various information centers spread throughout the park. These are located in Schwarzenhof, Federow, Kratzeburg, Boek, Blankenförde, Neustrelitz, and Serrahn, among others. You can find more information on the National Park website: National Park Information. Various tours also depart from these information centers; more on that later in the article. You can visit the park all year round and at any time of year or day; there are no opening hours. You also don’t have to pay an entrance fee!

Our bike tour through the Müritz National Park

With cool e-mountain bikes, we rode for around 7 hours through the Müritz National Park, passing many beautiful viewpoints and lakes. Nature was at its most beautiful, the weather was almost perfect, and the autumn colors made our photographers’ hearts beat faster. On the map, you can see our route, including stops. At the end of the day, we had about 67 km on the clock and a full memory card in our camera. The tour was by far the most beautiful bike tour we’ve ever done.

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Starting point: The charming town of Waren

We started in the cozy and pretty town of Waren an der Müritz. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to explore Waren, but we’ll make up for that next time. The town certainly seemed very cozy, and the surrounding nature was lush. In the historic old town, you’ll find two churches, the New and Old Town Halls, the New Market Square, as well as small shops, cafés, restaurants, and boutiques. The city harbor invites you to stroll, and the many surrounding lakes offer a variety of outdoor activities (By houseboat on the Mecklenburg Lake District).

Schnakenburg Observation Hut

From the city harbor, we set off toward the national park. We passed the Ecktannen campsite and our first viewpoint. The Schnakenburg Observation Hut is one of a total of 25 observation stands and gave us our first view of Lake Müritz. We parked our bikes shortly before on the designated wooden beams and walked across the 50-meter-long wooden boardwalk to the small hut. There was no one else to be seen for miles around. The sky was still overcast, but that would change just a few minutes later…

Hut at Warnker See

Slowly, the first rays of sunshine were fighting their way through the clouds. Back on our bikes, we rode to the hut at Warnker See. We cycled through the lush forest, which was aglow with the most beautiful autumn colors. Lake Warnker is only about 1,070 meters long and 550 meters wide. Surrounded by forest and meadows, this lake is certainly one of the smaller ones in the national park. Between August and October, you can observe various ducks here, such as the tufted duck and the red-crested pochard. In each hut, we always found an information board that gave us information about the different animal species.

Past meadows and pastures

The day started promisingly, and we were looking forward to the coming hours. After leaving the observation hut at Warnker Lake behind us, we passed a large pasture with cows. We were then dazzled by the beauty of nature. The sky shone a beautiful blue, the tree leaves in shades of orange, yellow, and red, and the meadows a lush green. We stopped to pause and savor the moment to the fullest. How beautiful is autumn? Amazing!

We parked our bikes for a moment and explored the small details along the path. We discovered various mushrooms, standing photogenically among the leaves, apparently also enjoying the sun. It’s incredibly fun to photograph these small details. Armed with our 50mm lens (prime focal length | aperture 1.8), it worked quite well. Since we don’t really eat mushrooms ourselves, we don’t know much about this area. However, an information board stated that there are more than 665 species of mushrooms in the Müritz National Park. Worldwide, around 120,000 species have been known and scientifically described.

Short break at Rederangsee

We would have loved to stay on the path beside the fields and meadows forever, but we continued on slowly. Next stop: Rederangsee observation point. Hundreds to thousands of grey cranes are said to be found here, especially in autumn at dusk or early morning. With a lot of luck, you might even spot a sea eagle. We were there during the day, so naturally, we didn’t spot any cranes or eagles. However, we took the opportunity for a light breakfast with warm tea, delicious cookies, and sandwiches. Guided hikes are also offered by the national park centers.

The heavily reeded lake itself lies within Protection Zone 1 (core zone), which means that the protection of nature has absolute priority here. You’re generally only allowed to walk on marked trails here. We imagine it would be incredibly exciting to sit here in the hut with binoculars, waiting to spot and observe the diverse animals. Of course, this can’t be compared to a safari in South Africa, but we somehow enjoy getting to know the natural world of our homeland better. We would love to hike through our national parks with a wildlife photographer.

View of Lake Priesterbäkersee

We continued cycling leisurely through the beautiful nature of the Mecklenburg Lake District. The path led us through Schwarzenhof and Speck, past Lake Specker and Lake Hofsee. Before we reached Lake Priesterbäkersee, we discovered a 700-year-old oak tree. This spot is also marked on Google Maps. Wow! 700 years! You can’t even imagine what this tree must have seen. Not far away is the Priesterbäkersee lake with its large viewing platform.

We sat on the bench, enjoyed the warm rays of sunshine on our faces, and were grateful for this beautiful day. The lake is significantly larger than the others, measuring approximately 2.4 kilometers long and about 1 kilometer wide. A narrow strait just 220 meters wide divides the lake into a northern and a southern basin. The Müritz National Park boasts various natural areas. The open-air Priesterbäkersee, for example, is surrounded by moors and mixed forest, while other lakes are surrounded by meadows or swamplands.

View from the Käflingsberg Tower

We cycled from the lake back to the 700-year-old oak tree and on to our next highlight. We then ascended to a dizzying height, the approximately 55-meter-high Käflingsberg Tower. This serves as a cell phone transmission tower, observation tower, and fire watchtower. We locked our bikes and climbed the 167 steps to the platform. Even on our way up, we could already sense the beautiful view that awaited us. With good weather and visibility, you can probably even see Waren, Röbel, Neustrelitz, and even my (Bolle’s) hometown of Neubrandenburg.

The climb was worth it; the view from the Käflingsberg Tower was fantastic! We spotted several lakes, including Priesterbäker See, Hofsee, Specker See, and Lake Müritz. The vibrant colors of autumn made this picture perfect. Was this the “Indian Summer” we often talk about in North America? Through a telescope installed on the viewing platform, we were able to see quite far and observe nature. By the way, there is no admission charge, but you can leave a donation for the tower’s upkeep.

Last break at the Doppelkiefergraben

The sun was already quite low, even though it wasn’t even 3 p.m. yet. We decided to drive from the Käflingsbergturm to Boek. Thanks to the excellent cycling paths in the Müritz National Park, the nearly 7 kilometers were covered quickly. Arriving in Boek, we looked for a nice spot to take a second, longer break. While researching on Google Maps, we discovered the Müritz Viewing Hut. We unpacked the last of our sandwiches and enjoyed the view over Lake Müritz.

Return to Waren

We didn’t have to return the bikes until 6 p.m., but the sun was slowly setting. Since we didn’t have any lights on our bikes (we’d forgotten them for some reason), we had to hurry. So we decided to ride quickly and directly back to Waren. We now had about 20 kilometers left to go; we already had over 45 on the clock.

The setting sun once again colored the landscape of the Müritz National Park in the most beautiful colors, a truly magnificent sight. First, we cycled back to Schwarzenhof and from there continued towards Federow. Along the way, we spotted a very elegant heron and various interesting mushroom species along the path. We arrived back in Waren at exactly the right time, around 5 p.m., and were able to crown the day with a spectacular sunset. Be sure to check out our Instagram story about this day trip. There’s also a great video of this sunset there.

Info about our tour

We were on the road for almost 7 hours and covered around 67 kilometers. The weather was at its best that day, and we were able to enjoy the day outdoors in plenty of sunshine. Despite everything, it was quite chilly (early November), and we were incredibly glad we had brought a hat, gloves, and scarf. Without gloves, our fingers would probably have frozen. Therefore, our tip for you: Dress warmly if you want to go on a bike tour in Müritz National Park at this time of year.

Pack enough provisions and drinks (thermos bottle*), grab a good pair of binoculars*, and charge your camera batteries before your trip. The national park is very photogenic, so you should, of course, have enough storage space on your memory card*. A telephoto zoom lens* is also very useful in the forests and at the lakes if you want to photograph objects from a distance.

Guided Tours of Müritz National Park

We definitely want to take a guided tour on our next visit. These are currently not taking place due to the coronavirus. Nevertheless, we have selected the most popular tours for you and us. These tours are free of charge at specific times and on specific days. Here’s a great overview. But be sure to check out the tours online before you travel to the park. Perhaps they can take place again soon.

• National Park Bike Tour
• In the Realm of the Ospreys
• Kingfisher Tours
• Eagle Safari Morning and Evening
• The Big World of Small Creatures
• Eagle-Crane-Deer Tours
• Bird Song Tour
• Wild Plant Magic

Accommodation in the Area

If you want to spend more than just one day in Müritz National Park, you can also stay one or more nights in the surrounding area. Good starting points are the town of Waren an der Müritz or Neustrelitz in the east. There are also many smaller towns where you can find accommodation, as well as some campsites. In the following table, we’ve selected some really nice accommodations for you.

Getting to Müritz National Park

If you’d also like to take a tour of Müritz National Park, we recommend starting from Waren or Neustrelitz. Waren is very easy to reach by train from Berlin, Hamburg, Lübeck, and Rostock. You can use either the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ticket* or the Berlin-Brandenburg Ticket*. From Rostock, it takes just under an hour; from Berlin, it’s around 1.5 hours.

By car, Waren can be reached from Rostock via the A19 in about an hour. From Berlin, it’s best to take the A24 and A19 to Röbel and then continue to Waren on the B192 (journey time: 2.5 hours). From Hamburg, take the A24 to exit 17-Pulitz. Then follow the signs to Waren an der Müritz (journey time: 2.5 hours).