For our anniversary getaway in Lübben, one of the things I wanted to do (and, well, one of the only things to do aside from eat pickles) is go on a Kahnfahrt (boat trip) through the local Fließe (canals). There are around 200 of these canals running through the area and making up a total distance of 1,300 kilometers of waterways. While the Spree River runs right through Lübben, the offshoot canals are much much smaller and very shallow.
Taking a Kahnfahrt consists of riding in a punt, a boat designed specifically for the shallow waters. It is propelled along through the use of a pole, which pushes off the bottom of the canal to make the boat move. The waters themselves are very calm, full of ducks, and often pass alongside backyards or the gardens of residents. It’s also not so strange to pass by local traffic, as many residents of the Spreewald hop in their own punts to run errands.
Our trip was a two-hour journey in the area, though tours of all sorts of lengths exist. Our guide, who lives in Lübben, talked in the local dialect and shared lots of information and answered questions as we went along. He also was well stocked with alcohol for people to drink on board. And we stopped off at a dockside snackbar midway through as well, so that people could get ice cream, or refreshments, or hot dogs. It was really cool to go through a variety of locks as well, all of which had someone on duty to let all the boats through.
I knew that I would love the trip, as I am all about boat tours, but surprisingly, M. (who is very clear about how boring he finds boat tours) really enjoyed it as well. It wasn’t the most action-packed and there wasn’t a ton to see, but there was a lot of awesome nature and it was overall very relaxing.
