☰Maschsee

The Maschsee is Hannover at its most relaxed — a 2.4 km artificial lake just south of the city centre, dug in the 1930s as a Depression-era jobs project. Today it is where the city goes to swim, sail, row, run or simply sit on the terraces of the lakeside cafes with a beer. The path around it is just under six kilometres of flat, tree-lined walking. In the first three weeks of August the Maschseefest takes over the whole shore: food stalls, music, fireworks and the kind of crowds that prove Hannoverians can let go when they want to.