Berlin is like an urban island nestled in the middle of Brandenburg, with routes leading out of the city in all directions. The wild north is hilly and sandy, the west is a vast wetland and, in the east, the sun rises over the Oder River. This journey takes you south, beyond the borders of Brandenburg into the Eastern Ore Mountains to the summit of Komáří hůrka.

Komáří hůrka, also known as Mückenberg in German, is an 800-metre (2,600 ft) mountain in the Bohemian Ore Mountains. It lies directly on the range’s main ridge and is an important landmark for the region. Until the 19th century, ore was mined here for hundreds of years, leaving its mark on the landscape around the Mückenberg. You’ll see numerous trench- or funnel-shaped holes, created by the collapse of old deep mining pits.

In 1568, Bohemian miners built a ringing tower on the summit of the Mückenberg; its chime marked the beginning and end of their shift. The tower is now a small mountain hotel and was the first of four control points of the eighth edition of the Transcontinental Race, a legendary bikepacking race across Europe. The riders had about four days to complete a distance of almost 800 kilometres (497 mi) from the start in Geraardsbergen (Belgium) to Mückenberg (Czech Republic) in order to get the first stamp on their brevet card.

I suggest five days for this 606-kilometre (376 mi) bikepacking journey from Berlin through the Spreewald and Saxon Switzerland to the Ore Mountains. The stages are designed for road cycling and allow you to cover long distances during the day. Country roads alternate with asphalt cycle paths through nature reserves, forests and farmland. There are short gravel sections in the Ore Mountains, but these are still easy to ride on a road bike. Each stage ends at a refuge or bivouac site where you can stay the night.

The Spreewald is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of Berlin and is one of 15 biosphere reserves in Germany. It was officially recognised by UNESCO in 1991 as a cultural landscape worthy of special protection due to its unique flora and fauna. A 1,500-kilometre (930 mi) long network of flowing water runs through the flat landscape, which was formed during the last Ice Age.

In the former mining area of the Lusatian Lakeland, you come to the border between Brandenburg and Saxony. Gradually, you notice a few metres of climbing until you reach Saxon Switzerland and the view of the impressive rock formations of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains opens up. This unique landscape with its deep carved valleys, gorges and unique flora and fauna was formed by the erosion of the Elbe and its tributaries. It’s hilly.

At Bad Schandau you reach the Elbe Valley and cycle along the riverbank for a few kilometres before climbing the steeper slopes of the Ore Mountains and seeing Komáří hůrka towering on the Czech side. The route then heads downhill to Dresden, via the Fürstenau border meadows, and along the Elbe back to Brandenburg. You cross Lower Lusatia and the Baruther Urstromtal valley on beautiful country roads.

The wet lowlands of the Nuthe and Nieplitz rivers, woodland, farmland and small villages in the Mark Brandenburg characterise the landscape here. The Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, which stretches from Luckenwalde to Lake Seddin, is interspersed with wet meadows and fens. The still waters and reeds are home to a wonderful diversity of plant and animal life. The last section of this bikepacking adventure takes you along Lake Templin to Potsdam and through Glienicke Park back to Berlin.