Frankfurt (Oder) is more than just the city on the mighty river. This tour invites you to discover the rural side of the twin city: historic village greens, old fieldstone churches, and sweeping views across fields and meadows. The route leads from the flat Oder Valley up to the Lebus Plateau. This urban ascent combines relaxed cycling with more challenging sections and rewards you with surprising panoramas, hidden gems, and fascinating stories told along the way.
Start / Finish: Station Frankfurt (Oder)
Length / Duration: 46 km / approx. 3,5 - 4 hours pure driving time
Logo / route sign: “Ortsteil Route” as well as a bike and the bridge in blue
Character: A moderate day trip that contrasts the urban city center with a green, rural landscape offering plenty of open space. The route follows mostly paved bike paths, quiet side roads, and well-maintained nature trails. Expect some minor climbs and descents.
Course: Frankfurt (Oder), Kliestow, Booßen, Rosengarten, Markendorf-Siedlung, Lichtenberg, Hohenwalde, Lossow, Güldendorf, Frankfurt (Oder)
Extra tip: Thanks to the ideal infrastructure with e-bike charging stations, information boards and covered rest areas in all nine districts, this tour can be experienced in a particularly comfortable way.
Arrival/Departure:
- Public transport: RE1 to Frankfurt (Oder)
- Car: e.g. public car park on Ziegenwerder Island in Fischerstraße
From the city center to the green Kliestow
The tour begins with a detour to the Oder promenade, bringing the mighty river into view. For a panoramic view, climb the tower of St. Mary's Church to take in the town and the Oder floodplain from above, before continuing past the town hall and monastery church out of the town center. The route then follows the old harbor railway line into the countryside. In Kliestow, the landscape takes on a distinctly rural character at the manor park with its castle ruins and fieldstone church.
High up with a wide view
The landscape opens up and you steadily gain altitude. In Booßen, a detour to the Bismarck Tower is worthwhile. From this vantage point, it becomes tangible: you are standing on the Lebus Plateau, a glacially formed plateau that drops steeply to the Oder Valley. The trail continues to Rosengarten. Shortly before reaching the town, the mighty Twin Stone, a 70-ton glacial erratic, marks the highest point of the tour and serves as a reminder of the immense power of the Ice Age glaciers.
History in contrast: the Markendorf settlement and the fieldstone buildings of Lichtenberg and Hohenwalde
You cycle through the Markendorf housing estate. The prescribed uniform architecture of the 1930s is still noticeable in the townscape today. In contrast, Lichtenberg, Frankfurt's smallest district, welcomes you with its rural charm and its church ruins on the village green. In Lichtenberg, another Bismarck Tower invites you to rest.
Markendorf: old oaks and new wine
In Markendorf, a stop in the village center is highly recommended. Here stands the enormous "Drillingseiche" (triple oak), a designated National Heritage Tree and one of the strongest oaks in Brandenburg. A short circular path at the junction to the wildlife park leads to other trees whose trunks, as living witnesses to history, still bear the scars of the battles of the Second World War. Meanwhile, on the northwestern edge of the village, near the fruit-growing cooperative, the future is being shaped: on the south-facing slope of the "Frankfurt Belt," the Patke Winery is reviving the old wine tradition of the Oder region.
Frankfurt's "little Baltic Sea" and Lossow's view into prehistory
The route leads to Lake Helene, a lake created from a former open-cast mine and known as "Frankfurt's bathtub." A detour to the shore is worthwhile. Afterwards, you reach the village of Lossow.
Lively towards Güldendorf
From the Lossow Heights, the winding descent leads down into the Oder Valley. In spring, Güldendorf greets visitors with daffodils. The final highlight is Ziegenwerder Island, a green island reached via two bridges.
Tip: A side path leads to the nearby Lossow hillfort, one of Brandenburg's most important archaeological monuments. An information panel describes the Bronze and Iron Age settlement. At the same time, the panoramic view across the expansive Oder landscape is breathtaking.
Sights:
- Frankfurt (Oder); city center with Oder promenade, St. Mary's Church and town hall
- Kliestow: estate park & castle ruins
- Booßen: Bismarck Tower
- Rose Garden: Twin Stone, City Forest with Wildlife Park
- Lichtenberg: Bismarck Tower
- Landscape conservation area "Biegener Hellen"
- Hohenwalde: Church ruins and Bismarck Tower
- Markendorf: Fieldstone church
- Triple oak
- View of Lake Helene
- Lossow: church ruins, Lossow castle wall
- Güldendorf: Märkischer Naturgarten
- Ziegenwerder Island
Refreshment tips:
- Markendorf settlement: Gasthof Goldener Hahn
- Markendorf: Ice cream parlor Eisgarten Markendorf
- Güldendorf: Seeterrasse Inn
- Frankfurt (Oder): Hotel & Restaurant Zur Alten Oder, Kakadu Beer Garden, S-Kultur, Kartoffelhaus
- German-Polish Tourist Information Frankfurt (Oder)
Maps / Literature can be ordered via the Seenland Shop
- Cycling brochure "Your bike. Your time out. Your flow.", Online shop Seenland Oder-Spree
- One-day and multi-day tours: Cycling in the Oder-Spree Lake District | Get to know the ADFC-certified cycling travel region of the Oder-Spree Lake District with its most beautiful places on 19 bike tours
