Lake Oberhavel Sightseeing Cruise from Tegel

Two hours on Lake Oberhavel aboard the MS Havel Queen, a Mississippi paddle-steamer-style vessel that crosses from Berlin into Brandenburg and passes a standing GDR border watchtower on the water.

Getting started

Board at the Greenwich Promenade in Tegel, a 10-minute walk from U-Bahn Tegel (line U6). The MS Havel Queen is the most distinctive vessel at the pier — modelled on a Mississippi paddle steamer, with a large open upper deck visible from the promenade.

What to expect

The route heads northwest from Tegel into Lake Oberhavel. The lake is significantly wider than the Spree — open water, forest shoreline, and the lakeside architecture of Villa Borsig come into view first. After Konradshöhe and Alt Heiligensee, the boat crosses the city boundary at Nieder Neuendorf and enters the state of Brandenburg. The former GDR border watchtower at Nieder Neuendorf stands on the bank — this stretch of the Oberhavel was a fortified crossing point until 1989, and the watchtower has been preserved. On the return, the boat threads through the Saatwinkler Enge between the wooded islands of Valentinswerder, Baumwerder, and Scharfenberg before heading back to Tegel.

Features

• MS Havel Queen: the only Mississippi paddle-steamer-style vessel in the S&K fleet, with a large open multi-level upper deck

• Crosses from Berlin into Brandenburg; one of the few city cruises that leaves the Berlin city boundary

• Former GDR border watchtower at Nieder Neuendorf visible from the water — preserved since 1989

• Islands of Valentinswerder, Baumwerder, and Scharfenberg on the return through Saatwinkler Enge