20 grüne Hauptwege: Trail 5 - Nord-Süd-Weg (45 km)

I tackled this trail back in October, when Berlin became a risk area and travel to other German states became difficult. The North South Trail bisects the city into two, from north to south, as the name implies. It follows the Panke River from where it starts all the way to where it connects with the Spree River, in the centre of Berlin. This is a rather long trail, so I actually split it into three different days. On the first day, I headed north, taking the S-Bahn all the way to the city border.

I haven't been frequenting this part of the city, so when I got off Röntgental Station, it was relatively unfamiliar territory, as I found myself in a small village. I then walked a bit and found the trail head.

The trail actually starts at the Berlin city border, so I found my river and my trail, and slowly I headed into the city. It was rather quiet in this area, and the only people I saw were either people living in nearby houses or people who were cycling.

The trail traces the river, and also follows the S-Bahn line. Eventually it enters Schlosspark Buch, which actually is a park that I haven't heard of before. I didn't even know there was a palace in this area.

Then I crossed the A10, which for some reason was backed up in a traffic jam.

The trail then goes through the Karower Teiche, which is a wide expanse of greenery, and then after crossing the A114 and going alongside it, I came across a couple of little bodies of water.

Afterward, the trail passes through Schlosspark Niederschönhausen and Bürgerpark Pankow. Again, since I am not familiar with this part of the city, I don't frequent this area too much, which makes me surprised to see such green spaces in a very large city.

On the second day, I continued the trail from where I left off, near Wollankstrasse station. The Panke is still there, but it is a little stream this time, and slowly I was entering the city centre. I started seeing the typical historical buildings in this area of Berlin. Eventually, I ended up meandering within Charite Hospital.

The next section of the trail hits several famous sights of Berlin. The Panke disappears as it has merged with the Spree, so this is where I encountered the Reichstag, and its glass dome. Other familiar sights include the Brandenburg Gate, and I kept moving south until I came to Potsdamer Platz.

The trail then follows and goes through Gleisdreieck Park, all the way to Südkreuz. And from there, it goes further south to the southern edge of the city. Along the way one passes by interesting architecture, like this fancy apartment building.

Near the end, the trail goes through quiet neighbourhoods and cemeteries. And at the end of the line, it terminates in Lichtenrade. From there, I caught a train heading north, and made my way home.