Berlin's bathing lakes

Map of 18 locations in Berlin, Germany

Berlin swims in very different kinds of water: Havel bays on the west edge, widenings of the Dahme in the southeast, small ice-age lakes in the Grunewald and a gravel pit dug in the 1970s. The choice that shapes the day is a paid Strandbad with lifeguards, sand and a gate, or a free lawn on the shore. Several lakes offer both, on opposite banks.

Places in this collection

  • Seddinsee — A 269-hectare lake between Schmöckwitz and Gosen in Brandenburg. The whole lake is open to water sports, with boat hire, sailing and windsu…
  • Nieder Neuendorfer See — A 94.6-hectare lake on the Havel, split between Heiligensee in Berlin and Hennigsdorf in Brandenburg. It belongs to the chain of Middle Hav…
  • Langer See — A long widening of the Dahme covering about 243 hectares, from north of Schmöckwitz to Köpenick old town. Grünau and Müggelheim are on its…
  • Dämeritzsee — The border runs through the lake, so swimming out past the middle takes you into Brandenburg water. The S3 to Erkner takes about 30 minutes…
  • Groß Glienicker See — Berlin and Potsdam share the shores, and while the city was divided the border ran down the middle of the lake. It is now counted among the…
  • Heiligensee — A small lake fed by the Havel on Berlin's far north-western edge. Private plots fence almost the whole shore, so the only ways to the water…
  • Plötzensee — A 7.7-hectare lake in Wedding at the edge of the Volkspark Rehberge, with more than a century of bathing history. The paid, lifeguarded lid…
  • Wannsee — Strandbad Wannsee has a strip of white sand 1.2 kilometres long and 80 metres deep, backed by 1920s buildings, on water that is technically…
  • Ziegeleisee — The only way to the water is through Freibad Lübars, a lido built in 1926. The rest of the shore is fenced or overgrown. Inside are lawns,…
  • Teufelssee — A small lake in the Grunewald forest below the Teufelsberg. Only the south and south-east banks and most of the water are outside the Teufe…
  • Halensee — The lake is 550 by 180 metres, and swimming has been allowed again since 2016. The free bathing lawn on the north shore is used by nudists…
  • Orankesee — A small natural lake in a villa district of Alt-Hohenschönhausen with an average depth of 2.6 metres. The lido on the east shore has a 52-m…
  • Weißer See — A glacial lake in Pankow, formed as ice melted at the end of the last glaciation, with a maximum depth of 10.64 metres. The south-eastern p…
  • Schlachtensee — The largest lake in the Grunewald chain sits between Wannsee and Krumme Lanke and is free to enter. A wooded 7-kilometre path runs the whol…
  • Müggelsee — At 7.4 square kilometres this is the largest lake in the city. The Strandbad on Fürstenwalder Damm has its own tram stop, beach volleyball…
  • Jungfernheideteich — A small pond in the Jungfernheide park in Charlottenburg. Local families come for the lido, which has rafts moored in the water, and the pa…
  • Flughafensee — This is a gravel pit, not a natural lake. It was dug in the 1970s just north of the former Tegel airport and is now Berlin's deepest lake.…
  • Tegeler See — Berlin's second-largest lake covers about 1,112 acres in Reinickendorf and has islands, sailing and pedal boats. The Strandbad is the busy…

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