53.10° N · 12.89° E
An hour and a half from Berlin: the palace where Frederick the Great was happy as a young man, its park beside Lake Grienericksee, boats across five lakes and pottery.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Palace · 1 h 30 · From €10 · The Rococo rooms of the young Frederick the Great and those of Prince Henry, beside the lake
Walk · 1 h 30 · Free · Gardens and paths on the shore of the Grienericksee, with an obelisk across the water
Boat · 1–9 h · From €17 · The five-lakes round trip, the route to Flecken Zechlin or the full day to Mirow, with Reederei Halbeck
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From May to September, with all the boats, the palace open until 17:30 and Prince Henry's summer apartment. In winter the palace can be seen with a guided tour and few boats remain.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
It is the most comfortable way: about 95 km from Berlin, an hour and a half, and you can stop at Oranienburg on the way there. In the village you leave the car and go on foot.
You get there by train with one change: RB12 from Berlin-Ostkreuz to Löwenberg (Mark) and RB54 to Rheinsberg, about two hours. The RB54 runs every two hours, so plan your return. In the village everything is on foot.
You fly to Berlin: BER airport has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities. From there, Rheinsberg is about 130 km by motorway, around an hour and a half by hire car; by train, you first go to central Berlin and continue via Oranienburg and Löwenberg, about two and a half to three hours from the airport.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Rheinsberg makes a relaxed day with children: a palace with a lake, a flat park and boats. What they like most is the water, by boat or canoe.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Small eleven-room hotel in a house of 1750 beside the lake, with apartments with balconies over the Grienericksee and the house breakfast.
Why we like it: Four-star hotel on the shore of the Grienericksee, fully barrier-free, with an indoor pool, saunas, a lake terrace and 24-hour reception.
Why we like it: Complex beside the Rheinsberger See with rooms with balconies, suites, a marina, a 2,000 m² spa with a pool and an indoor play area.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the bouillabaisse of lake fish (salmon trout, pike-perch and catfish) or the wild boar escalope
What to order: a table on the square terrace, looking at the palace
What to order: lake fish, such as pike-perch, on the terrace over the harbour
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
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Tips
It runs every two hours from Löwenberg; plan your return before you leave.
The boat company accepts bookings up to an hour before departure; in summer it is advisable.
The palace and the Tucholsky museum are closed.
It is on the same railway line and on the road.
Rheinsberg is a small village in northern Brandenburg, among pine forests and lakes, that owes everything to the palace reflected in Lake Grienericksee. Frederick the Great lived here from 1736 to 1740, when he was still crown prince, and he himself said they were the happiest years of his life. It was later inherited by his brother Henry, who made it a court of music and theatre. Today it is a day trip from Berlin, quieter than Potsdam, with a boat across the lakes and an old town of low eighteenth-century houses.
Rheinsberg Palace. A medieval moated castle converted into a rococo palace for the young Frederick, with two round towers above the lake. From April to October you walk through it on your own, with Frederick's rooms, Prince Henry's and his summer apartment; from November to March, with a guided tour in German. The same ticket includes the Kurt Tucholsky Museum, devoted to the writer who made the village famous with a short love novel.
The palace park. Gardens on the lakeshore, with a stone obelisk on the other side of the water and paths that follow the shore. It is free and always open.
The boat across the lakes. The Reederei Halbeck leaves from the old-town shore: the round trip of the five lakes lasts two hours and costs €24; if there are few people, it is cut to an hour. From the water you get the best photo of the palace.
The old town and the pottery. Rheinsberg has been a village of potters for more than 260 years: it has a ceramics museum in the old fire station, two manufactories and a pottery market on the second weekend of October.
By car, about 95 km to the north, along the A111 and the A24 or on roads through the forests, in about an hour and a half. There is visitor parking next to the palace.
By train, the RB12 regional leaves Berlin-Ostkreuz, passes through Oranienburg and reaches Löwenberg (Mark), where it connects with the RB54 to Rheinsberg; the RB54 runs every two hours. Allow about two hours door to door and check the timetable first, because a missed connection means two hours' wait. From Rheinsberg station to the palace it is about a 15-minute walk.
Oranienburg is on the way: the Oranienburg Palace, one of the great baroque palaces of Brandenburg, makes a good stop on the way there or back. It can also be reached from Berlin by S-Bahn.
A full day covers the palace, the park, the short boat trip and a lunch beside the lake. If you want the long boat route, to Flecken Zechlin or Mirow, or to hire a canoe, sleep a night: the village has hotels beside the water and goes quiet in the evening.
The Ratskeller, opposite the palace, is open every day except Wednesday from 11:30. The Zum Fischerhof, in the harbour, cooks lake fish from Wednesday to Sunday. For a more refined meal, the restaurant at Der Seehof, with regional cooking, is open every day.
To sleep, Der Seehof itself has eleven rooms in a house from 1750; the Seehotel Rheinsberg, with an indoor pool and all rooms step-free, is on the lakeshore; and the Sunday Resort Hafendorf, with a marina and pool, suits families with a car.
From May to September: all the boats run, the palace is open Tuesday to Sunday until 17:30 and Prince Henry's summer apartment is included in the visit. On the second weekend of October the Töpfermarkt, the pottery market, takes place. In winter the palace opens from 10:00 to 16:00 with a guided tour and the village is almost empty. The palace is closed on Mondays all year.
Questions
By car, about 95 km and an hour and a half. By train, RB12 from Berlin-Ostkreuz to Löwenberg (Mark) and then the RB54, about two hours in total.
From April to October, €14 with the summer apartment and the Tucholsky Museum; from November to March, €10 with a guided tour. Families, €28 and €20.
Mondays, all year.
The boat company sails as long as the lake does not freeze, with fewer departures; check the month's timetable on its website.
Yes, if you want the long boat route or to paddle: the hotels are beside the lake and the village empties at dusk.
Yes: the park is flat, they enjoy the boat and the Hafendorf has a pool and an indoor play area.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/germany/brandenburg/rheinsberg
