Backpacking, hiking, and climbing near Berlin

With spring upon us, I am eager to get out and see what Europe has to offer out-of-doors. I moved to Berlin from California this October, but have only done some local hiking. I'm looking for advice and/or other outdoor-interested-folks in the Berlin area. Specifically:

Rock climbing or hiking in the Berlin area?

Advice on short backpacking trips in Europe in general?

Groups that arrange outdoor trips, backpacking the Alps, etc ?

Any folks interested in stuff of this sort?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Gratuitous picture of a sunset over a lake near Mt. Shasta:
Click to view attachment

Unfortunately Berlin and the surrounding area are as flat as the proverbial pancake, and short on undulations of any form let alone rock faces. There are several rock-climbing walls available; I take the stairs myself ;-) but know there are one or two near Gesundbrunnen (and also some club which has permission to climb up the old flak bunker in the Friedrichshain).

The Sächsische Schweiz on the German-Czech border south of Dresden is probably the nearest decent mountainous area.

Nah, if you want to do some serious climbing, visit the Harz. You can go sightseeing in a almost-too-beautiful town named Goslar (that i happened to spend some years in); and the nearby mountains offer some decent cliffs, some of which are almost famous for their difficulty. In Berlin all you can get ist the mentioned artificial walls which i personally find to be a very sad excuse for the real thing.

One of my favourites, in the Okertal close to goslar, the sleeping lion:

Click to view attachment

Yes, its Granite

Thanks Koffer and Pat. Good advice for far. My girlfriend bought a few Herz hiking guides this weekend, so will definitely explore up there a bit.

Some friends also recommended the DAV (german alpine club), which has a berlin website (http://www.dav-berlin.de/). It's probably full of tons of useful information--now I just have to start applying my rudimentary German language skills (and the magic that is babelfish).

I recommend picking up a copy of WanderAtlas Deutschland. It contains 300 of the most beautiful and scenic hikes from Ruegen to Garmisch. You should be able to find this book at any large book store.

Hello,
If you and your girlfriend find yourself heading out to go hiking please do let me know. I moved here from India just last week and really want to take advantage of walking in Europe again. I have a car if we're going and need transport. Just reply to this I guess. Thanks! Colin

Hello, I can recommend the harz and Sächsische Schweiz (, also called "Elbsandsteingebirge" about 20 minutes from Dresden by S- Bahn) ...both about 2,5 ( Sächsische Schweiz) and 3 ( Harz)hours from berlin but worth for a weekend trip.

for the Harz check out the Harz- Berlin express at: http://www.connex.info/ConnexTemplates/Page____11593.aspx

Websites:

http://www.nationalpark-harz.de/

http://www.saechsische-schweiz.de/start/cl...rL0Fed0H6PMNVjp

http://www.tourismusverein-elbsandsteingebirge.de/

http://www.saechsische-schweiz-touristik.d...e=eng-home.html

There's also the Bastei near Dresden. A decent little hike, with beautiful scenery, but packed with tourists, all the way to the restaurant at the top ...

Hopefully I'm wrong but it's hard to imagine any hiking around Berlin that would compare to hiking in California. I've done a little hiking in the Harz, it's nice ... but have fared better in Slovakia.

Maybe a little off topic, but I think the thing to do around here is biking. I've haven't yet been on a multi-day bike tour but I'm thinking of making a few, maybe to Kopenhagen (with the help of a ferry) or through the Czech Republic. Of course a bike tour could be combined with hiking..!

I just discovered Bikely yesterday. People post their bike routes and it's integrated w/Google maps. There's also a place to include hiking trails, but nothing has been posted there yet for Germany.

Any bikers out there with some experience/recommendations for riding through central/eastern European countries, to destinations where one can hike??