Runners Discover Berlin's 3 Best Routes Through Parks and Forests

Berlin is famously flat and famously green, which makes it one of the easiest cities in Europe to string together a long run without repeating a street. Here are some of the best running routes in Berlin.

Tiergarten

Tiergarten offers gravel and sand trails through Berlin's central park, passing the Victory Column (Siegessäule) and the Neuer See lake on the way toward Brandenburg Gate. It is flat, shaded and a classic central-Berlin run. The Berlin Marathon itself starts and finishes on Straße des 17. Juni, the road that cuts straight through Tiergarten past the Siegessäule.

Tempelhofer Feld

Tempelhofer Feld is a genuinely unusual running venue: a paved loop that follows the perimeter road of the former Tempelhof Airport, plus two straight former runways good for sprint or tempo sessions. The airport closed and reopened as public parkland; a citizen referendum permanently banned any development on the site, which is one of the largest inner-city open spaces in the world. It is completely flat, wide open and free of traffic.

Grunewald Forest

For genuine trail variety, Grunewald Forest offers soft forest trail options with rolling, hilly terrain rare for Berlin, plus several lakes along the way.

Müggelsee

In south-east Berlin, Müggelsee is a lakeside loop, typically run by locals as a full circuit, though shorter out-and-back sections work just as well for a lighter session.

Charlottenburg Palace Park

Charlottenburg Palace Park offers a shorter, scenic option: a loop through baroque palace grounds, combining history with an easy, flat run.

Practical Guide to Running in Berlin

Berlin's flat terrain means route choice is mostly about surface and scenery rather than difficulty. Tempelhofer Feld is the best choice for structured tempo work thanks to its marked distances and dead-flat straights; Grunewald is the pick for anyone wanting genuine trail variety and a break from pavement.