Europe

Berlin, Germany

A guide to the best places to run in central Berlin & Outskirts, including Potsdam

Photo Credit: Nico Trinkhaus. www.sumfinity.com

Berlin is one of the largest cities in Europe, and is one of the most interesting and exciting cities in Europe to visit. You can go back in history to a church from 1230 A.D., to the more recent history of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ever-changing city and rejuvenating neighborhoods. Berlin was built on a grand scale, with large everything — avenues, parks, and squares. There’s a terrific variety of options for running in Berlin, from classic paths along the Spree River, the iconic Tiergarten, and numerous great neighborhoods and linear parks. Note: For guided running tours in Berlin, we highly recommend our friends at Go! Running Tours.

To get acquainted with Berlin, we’ve put together a 12k ‘runseeing‘ tour of its key sites. The best place to run in Berlin is the centrally-located Tiergarten. We also love running on the paths along the Spree River and the Landwehr Canal. Another running treat is the Charlottenburg Palace. To get inspired, explore Berlin’s Olympic Park. Another favorite is Grunewald Forst, which has grand allées to lake loops and more rugged trails. Tempelhofer Field, a large park built at the site of the former airport, is a new addition to the Berlin running scene. Just outside the city, highlights include Spandauer Forest, Tegeler Forst, and some wonderful parks for running near the convention center and airport. If you have the time, hop on a train and go to Potsdam and do the ‘Palace Run’.

Berlin has a super-efficient public transport system, which makes it easy to access all our running spots or do a one-way run!

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  • All Routes
  • Iconic Routes
  • Weather & Climate
  • Where To Stay
  • Stores & Group Runs
  • Events

Berlin is veberlin-climate-graphry spread out — about 5x the size of Paris, and distances are big. So, best to plan your runs and where to stay, and use the fabulous transportation system with extensive subway (U-Bahn), rail (S-Bahn), and bus lines. Topographically, the city is fairly flat. For some hills, go to Volkspark Friedrichshain . Berlin climate is typical of continental Europe. Winters are cool but not frigid. Summers can be warm and humid but not hot, with lovely long days. Rain is spread throughout the year.

There is a huge selection of hotels in Berlin. The city is very spread out, so best to plan you stay near one of the routes and near a metro station. Recommendations:

  • Western section of Berlin. Large cluster of hotels just south of Tiergarten, and the Kurfürstendamm
  • Lots of hotels in area between Tiergarten and Museum Island.
  • Mitte area. Access to Spree trails, and many sites. Radisson Blu Berlin has Blu Routes
  • East: Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, also good access to Volkspark Friedrichshain
  • Near airport: Don’t despair. Good running here in Volkspark Jungfernheide and Tegler See.
  • Convention Center. Conveniently located. 3km north of Tiergarten, 3km south of Volkspark Rehberge.
  • Spandau. Quite a number of hotels here, and close to forest/park.

Running Stores and Group Runs

Many of the running shoe companies have running stores in Berlin.

Runners Point. Has 5 stores in the Berlin area. Most central is in the Berlin Mall, and in Spanauer. Apparently their Ku’damm location is closed. A fast growing group run culture.

Nike Store. Near Tiergarten. Group runs.

Spreeläufer. Good running store in Prenzlauer Berg area.

Lang und Laufladen  West Berlin shop.

Long Distance – Located right beside Tiergarten,

Spreelaufer – Located in the hip neighbourhood of Prenzlauer Berg in East Berlin is Spreelaufer.  With fantastic service and a good selection of shoes and apparel, Spreelaufer is worth a visit.  So why not discover the café culture of Prenzlauer Berg and also grab a new pair of running shoes?!

Puma Store and Adidas Store, Potsdamer Platz, and a couple of other locations.

Group Runs

Mike’s Sight Running. Has wonderful running tours of Berlin.

Run-Pack.  Tuesdays, Thursdays and sometimes Sundays.
All from Berlin-Mitte

Berlin Runners. Regular 10:00am Saturday morning run in Tiergarten is always a good start. Also a regular Tuesday Speed Work session and Long runs at the weekend.

SCB running club that meets every Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Siegessaule in the Tiergarten. Groups break up into all levels, from a slow 15-minute run to longer than an hour at a faster pace.

Running in Germany. Good site for info about marathons and other interesting races in Germany.

Berlin Marathon. September. One of the world’s five majors. It has two gentle inclines at miles 17 and 21. Otherwise, it’s a fast, flat course through the whole city, and 800 years of history with a spectacular new finish, through the Brandenburg Gate.

Grunewald Marathon  A local marathon that loops twice around Grunewald Forest. Organized by local athletics club SCB Berlin. Run every November.

Berliner Half-Marathon. April. Nearly 15,000 runners take a 13.1-mile sight-seeing tour of the city. Visit www.berlin-marathon.com

Big 25 Berlin. May. An undulating urban route that starts and finishes at the Olympic Stadium. Great race, going back to 1981, through Berlin sites.

Berliner City Nacht. Summer. This summer evening 10-K starts at the Europa Center Mall and runs down the Ku’damm.

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