Berlin to the Spreewald in a day: the RE20 to Lübbenau, punt trips from €17, the Lehde open-air museum and the tour

💡 The Short Version: Lübbenau, the base for the Spreewald, is 1 hour 9 minutes to 1 hour 13 minutes from Berlin Hauptbahnhof on the direct RE20, hourly. The Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket is €36.50 for up to five people. Punt trips leave from the harbours in the town: €17 for 2 hours, €20 for 3 and €28 for the 5.5-hour lock tour, with boats every day from April to October. The Lehde open-air museum is €8, open daily to 1 November 2026, then closed until 31 March 2027 except four days in November and December. The last direct RE20 back leaves Lübbenau at 19:44. Or book a tour: From Berlin to the Fairy-Tale Forests of the Spreewaldad is €99 for 8 hours (GetYourGuide).

Getting there

The RE20 runs direct from Berlin Hauptbahnhof to Lübbenau and on to Cottbus, hourly, calling at Potsdamer Platz and Südkreuz. The times below are for a weekday in October; the timetable changes on 13 December 2026.

The Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket is €36.50 for up to five people in second class, for one day on regional trains in Berlin and Brandenburg, with up to three children aged 6 to 14 free. On weekdays it is valid from 09:00 until 03:00 the next day, so the 09:07 is the first RE20 it covers; at weekends and on public holidays it is valid from midnight. Every paying traveller’s name goes on the ticket (bahn.de). A Deutschlandticket covers the RE20 as well. By car, take the Lübbenau junction on the A13 (spreewald.de).

Tours

The tour costs more than the train. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult.

From Berlin to the Spreewald

€99 · 107 reviews · 8 hours · English

From Berlin to the Fairy-Tale Forests of the Spreewaldad is €99 for 8 hours. By train, one traveller pays €36.50 for the group ticket plus €17 for the shortest punt trip, €53.50 in all, and two travellers sharing the ticket pay about €35 each. The tour is for a reader who wants the day arranged for them.

What to see

Punt trips from Lübbenau

€17 for 2 hours · €20 for 3 hours · €28 for the lock tour · April to October

The Spreewald is a network of waterways, and a punt trip, a Kahnfahrt, is how the area is seen. The Großer Spreewaldhafen’s 2026 prices are below, paid at the harbour; a reservation helps on the long trips (grosser-hafen.de).

A punt on a canal in Lehde. This one is the postal boat. Photo: JoachimKohler-HB, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Punt trips run every day from April to October, from 10:00 (longer tours from 9:00), from all five harbours of the Hafenviertel; from November to March they run at set times, daily at 11:00 and 13:00 from the Großer Hafen (luebbenau-spreewald.com). Lübbenau has no public launch points for canoes or paddle boards, and you cannot bring your own; boats are hired locally. The tourist office is at Ehm-Welk-Straße 15 and opens Monday to Friday 10:00 to 16:00.

The Großer Spreewaldhafen in Lübbenau. Photo: Z thomas, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Lehde open-air museum

Adult €8 · ages 14 and over €6.50 · under 14 free · daily 10:00 to 17:00 to 1 November

The Freilandmuseum Lehde is an open-air museum in the village of Lehde. It is open daily 10:00 to 18:00 until 30 September and 10:00 to 17:00 from 1 October to 1 November 2026, and it is closed from 2 November 2026 to 31 March 2027 except for Spreewaldweihnacht on 28 and 29 November and 5 and 6 December, 11:00 to 18:00. A combined Spreewald ticket with the Spreewaldmuseum in Lübbenau is €14 (museums-entdecker.de).

A thatched building at the Freilandmuseum Lehde. Photo: Brücke-Osteuropa, Wikimedia Commons.

Before you go

• Season. Boats run daily from April to October; the winter timetable is two trips a day from the Großer Hafen.
• Last train. The last direct RE20 back leaves Lübbenau at 19:44.
• Museum. The Lehde open-air museum is closed from 2 November 2026 to 31 March 2027, except four days.
• Tickets. The group ticket suits two or more and starts at 09:00 on weekdays; a Deutschlandticket covers the RE20.

The Spreewald is one of the day trips from Berlin. Potsdam and Dresden are the others that go by train. Berlin public transport covers the way to Hauptbahnhof, what to book before you go to Berlin has the city tickets, and where to stay in Berlin compares the areas. Free things to do in Berlin lists what costs nothing back in the city.