Brandenburg is the region that wraps around Berlin, but the difference between the fast-paced capital and the quiet countryside could not be bigger. Around the size of Belgium, it stretches between the Elbe and Oder rivers, a flat landscape of pine forests, sandy plains, and over 3,000 rivers and lakes. With only 2.5 million people across nearly 30,000 square kilometres, it is sparsely populated and feels it.
The headline destination is Potsdam, with its extraordinary complex of palaces and parks — 500 hectares of gardens and 150 buildings constructed between 1730 and 1916, including Sanssouci Palace, where Voltaire once stayed as a guest of Frederick the Great. The Spreewald, a unique network of river channels through ancient forest, is popular for canoe trips and cycling. Sachsenhausen, the former Nazi concentration camp near Oranienburg, is a sombre but essential visit.
The state has fine medieval churches in Brandenburg an der Havel and Perleberg, and the lakeland around Rheinsberg in the north offers peaceful countryside retreating.
