Cospudener See is one of Leipzig's best examples of industrial landscape turned leisure landscape. The former open-cast mining area is now a broad lake with beaches, cycling paths, sailing, and a busy summer shoreline south of the city.
It is easy to fold into a warm-weather Leipzig trip, especially by bike through the southern floodplain forest. Come for swimming and sunset rather than solitude; on hot weekends, Cospuden is very much where the city goes to cool off.