Houseboats in the Mecklenburg Lake District
Canals and locks join the lakes here into one continuous network, and the Müritz belongs in its entire extent to the Müritz-Elde waterway. The self-steered kind can be rented in this area without a boating license: for charter boats under 15 meters a charter certificate is enough, once the operator has given at least three hours of instruction. The rental bases sit in the harbor towns along the shore, in Waren and above all in Rechlin, where a charter company with its own shipyard is the largest private employer. Four locks on the Müritz-Havel waterway together bridge 7.20 meters; beyond them the route carries on to Berlin by way of the Havel and to Hamburg by way of the Elde.
The year in this region
September: Red Deer Bellow in the Forests
From mid-September, the rutting season of the red deer begins in the Müritz-Nationalpark: stags leave their herds to compete for females, bellowing several hundred times a night, audible for kilometers around. The best time to follow the spectacle is in the early morning hours around Serrahn and Schwarzenhof. At the same time, the first cranes begin gathering in the region for their autumn stopover.
In the middle of the month the sun rises at 6:40 AM and sets at 7:26 PM. That leaves 12 hours and 46 minutes of daylight.
Water and air: Open-Meteo, measured averages. How busy: share of school holidays 2027 across all sixteen federal states. Nature dates: German Weather Service, phenological observations 2014 to 2026 at 100 stations in the region, typical day.
Tours in this region
Marked tours that fit into a day from a site, and one multi day tour per kind.
- Cycling
Radweg Hamburg-Rügen
From Hamburg to Sassnitz, first along the Elbe-Lübeck canal, then through the Schaalsee biosphere reserve and past Schwerin with its castle. Sternberger Seenland, Güstrow and the Mecklenburgische Schweiz follow. The surface keeps changing, from asphalt to firm gravel tracks to village cobbles, and at the end the Rügendamm carries you onto the island.
527.4 kmMulti day tour
- Cycling
Elbe-Müritz Rundweg
Between the Elbe at Wittenberge and the Müritz lies the Prignitz, flat and wide, with fields and long stretches of forest. Around thirty stork pairs nest in Rühstädt. Further north the lakes begin, Plau am See first, then Waren and Röbel on the Müritz.
419.4 kmMulti day tour
- Cycling
Mecklenburgischer Seen Rundweg
The route strings one lake onto the next, from the Schweriner See by way of the Dobbertiner See to the Krakower See. Sea eagles breed in the pines. Through the Nossentiner/Schwinzer Heide it crosses glacial outwash sand, and near Sternberg the Slavic fort of Groß Raden has been rebuilt on its peninsula.
265 kmMulti day tour
- Cycling
Müritz Rundweg
All the way round the largest lake that lies wholly within Germany: 112 square kilometres of water, 31 metres deep at its deepest. Reeds line the whole eastern shore. That side belongs to the Müritz national park, while Waren, Klink, Röbel and Rechlin follow one another on the other, with their harbours and boathouses.
115 km
- Hiking
Müritz-Nationalpark-Wanderweg
Nine stages through Germany's largest land national park, from Waren along the Müritz shore to Boek and on by Fürstensee to Serrahn. The old beech woods there are world heritage. The ground was shaped by the ice age, low hills and wide plains with more than a hundred lakes between them, and the Käflingsberg tower looks out over all of it.
172.9 kmMulti day tour
- Hiking
Grüne Runde Neubrandenburg
The loop threads together the best parts of the Neubrandenburg path network, from the Broda lido on the Tollensesee to the ice age stream valleys in the north. Broad forest tracks alternate with narrow footpaths. Open fields with long views lie in between, and in the Burgholz the ramparts of the Slavic Ravensburg still stand out clearly.
40.9 km
- Canoeing
Wasserwanderstrecke Obere Havel im Müritz-Nationalpark
From Kratzeburg on the Käbelicksee the way goes lake by lake, on the topmost Havel, where the river is still narrow and no motorboats run. Reed banks and water lilies follow. At the Granziner Mühle the Havel is silted up with sand. A rail trolley carries the boat seven hundred metres on to the Pagelsee, and the long Useriner See closes the stretch.
22.5 km
Tours: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Lengths computed from the mapped course, as of September 12, 2026.
Animals you can meet here
September to NovemberCommon crane
At Rederangsee near Federow in Müritz National Park, hundreds of common cranes gather every evening from September onward to roost together on the water. The grey bird with its red crown patch and bushy tail feathers is easy to recognize by its trumpeting call, which carries far across the lake. In early October, park rangers regularly count well over 10,000 resting cranes here, before the last flocks head on toward southwestern Europe in November.
March to OctoberOsprey
From the fixed observation points at Boek and Federow, visitors can watch the roughly ten osprey pairs of Müritz National Park fishing after they return from Africa in late March and settle into nests built on high-voltage pylons near the water. Its white belly and dark eye stripe set it apart from other birds of prey in the area, especially when it hovers briefly over the water before plunging down after a fish. The pairs stay at their nests until October, then fly back to their African winter grounds.
November to MarchWhite-tailed eagle
From the observation points at Boek, Federow, and Zinow in Müritz National Park, the roughly 23 resident pairs of white-tailed eagles are easiest to spot in the winter half of the year, when bare branches leave a clear view of their nests. The pale head and short, wedge-shaped white tail mark out the adult bird in flight from other birds of prey in the area. Unlike the ospreys, which do not return from Africa until spring, white-tailed eagles stay in their territories all year round.
September to OctoberRed deer
Around Serrahn and Schwarzenhof in Müritz National Park, the red deer rut begins in mid September and is best followed in the early morning hours. The stag with its heavy antlers is known for its loud, far-carrying roar, which it lets out several hundred times a night to keep rivals away and attract females. The rut still echoes through the woods of the area into October.
Pictures: Freepik
What to check before booking
- Moored or under way?
- This is the biggest split inside the type. A fixed houseboat is booked like a holiday home at a jetty. A moving one is handed over like a hire vehicle, with a briefing and a return.
- Do you need a boat licence?
- On designated waterways in several German states, no. Since May 2000 there has been the charter certificate: the operator gives at least three hours of instruction and issues a paper valid only for the hire period and only for that water. Boats under the scheme may be no longer than fifteen metres.
- Where is the mooring, and where is the car?
- A berth in a marina is a different thing from a jetty at the edge of a wood. Whether parking comes with it, and how far the luggage travels along the pontoon, is rarely in the headline.
- How tall may the boat be?
- Anyone who travels passes under bridges, and on most waters through locks as well. Clearances differ from one stretch of water to the next, and the operator will say which circuits his boat can do.
- How do water and the toilet work?
- Fresh water comes from a tank on board or from a connection at the jetty. Waste stays in a holding tank and is pumped out at a station, it may not go into the water. On a moving boat both belong in the route planning.
Who it suits
Made for
Anyone who likes living by the water and wants to look at it first thing in the morning. A moving boat suits groups who want to travel together and trust themselves at the wheel. A fixed one suits everyone who wants the position without planning stages.
Less so for
Anyone who cannot swim, or who has very small children along, is watching all the time on board. A houseboat is rarely step free, because the jetty and the way aboard almost always mean steps. And anyone who wants to operate nothing on holiday should leave the moving boats alone.
Where it comes from
Living on the water is a Dutch habit above all in Europe. Towards the end of the nineteenth century steel vessels pushed the wooden sailing barges out of inland shipping, and private buyers took the retired hulls and converted them into homes. In 1918 the Dutch state passed a law of its own on caravans and houseboats that required every municipality on the water to provide at least one mooring, and in the years that followed the housing shortage pushed their numbers up sharply. Hundreds still lie in the canals of Amsterdam.
Good to know
Life jackets for children
The step from the jetty into the water is a short one. Where children are aboard, a jacket belongs on deck, even when the boat never moves.
Bridges and locks
Anyone steering plans the circuit around clearances and lock passages. The operator knows his water and will say what fits into a week.
Dogs on board
Many operators take dogs, some do not. On the jetty and at locks the dog is better on a lead.
Grilling by arrangement
An open flame on a boat is a delicate thing, and harbours have rules of their own. Anyone who wants to grill settles it before booking.
Dark skies
Places certified by DarkSky International.
Naturpark Nossentiner/Schwinzer Heide
Certified in December 2025. Pine woods, heath and quiet lakes between Krakow am See and Malchow, with wide stretches where no light burns at all once it is dark.
Getting there
- 1 h 30 minRostock
- 2 h 15 minBerlin
- 3 h 15 minHamburg
- 7 h 15 minKöln
- 7 h 15 minFrankfurt am Main
- 7 h 45 minMünchen
Good to know
Leash Requirement in the National Park
In the woods and meadows of the Müritz-Nationalpark, dogs must be kept on a leash year-round to protect red deer, fallow deer, wild boar, and ground-nesting birds from disturbance. Dogs are not permitted to swim freely in the national park's lakes because of the waterbirds that breed there.
Keep Your Distance from Crane Roosts
At the cranes' evening gathering sites, such as the Rederangsee near Federow, visitors should keep their distance and use guided walks or fixed viewing points rather than approaching the birds directly. When canoeing in the national park, large gatherings of birds on the water should also be given a wide berth.
Opening Times of the Malchow Swing Bridge
The swing bridge in the island town of Malchow opens on the hour for boat traffic, briefly halting road traffic: from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. between April and September, until 4 p.m. in October, and until 3 p.m. in November. Anyone driving through Malchow should plan for these short closures.
Use Campsites Outside the National Park
Camping and overnight stays are generally not permitted inside the Müritz-Nationalpark itself, including at the rest stops along the water trails. Designated RV sites are available instead on the edges of the region, for example at the Seglerhafen, the sailing harbor, in Röbel with about 30 spaces, or at the harbors in Waren.
Open Fires Only at Designated Fire Pits
Under Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's state forestry law, open fires in the woods are generally allowed only at sites approved by the forestry authority. Grilling or campfires anywhere else in the forest are banned year-round, not only when wildfire risk is high, and the rule also covers disposable grills and camping stoves.
Boating Rules on the National Park's Waters
On the water trails of the Müritz-Nationalpark, such as the Obere Havel, motors, sailing, and windsurfing are prohibited; only canoes and rowboats are allowed, and only along the green-marked channel. Landing and resting are permitted solely at designated spots, and group trips are limited to eight boats and require registration.
Protected landscapes
- National park
- Müritz-Nationalpark
- Nature park
- Feldberger SeenlandschaftFlusslandschaft PeenetalNossentiner / Schwinzer HeideUckermärkische Seen
Names and boundaries: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
