Steinhuder Lake

30 km west from Hannover lies the largest lake in the north-west of Germany. Boats go from the town of Steinhude to different places on the northern and eastern banks of the lake as well as to the artificial Wilhelmstein island with a small fortress and a museum.

The second artificial island is called Badeinsel (island for swimming) and has a nice sandy beach. But note the lack of cabins for changing clothes, cold water and the fact that the lake is quite shallow. Despite the huge size the average depth is 1.5 meters and the maximum depth is 3 meters.

There is a dinosaur park on the western bank of the lake in Munchenhagen. Here you can see the fossilized footprints of dinosaurs who lived about 130 million years ago. The tracks were discovered by accident during repair works in 1980. There are also full-size dinosaur figures in the park.






In winter, the lake periodically freezes and people come to walk on the ice.








Getting there: By regional train from Hannover to Wunstorf, then by bus #710 or #711 to the lake. We cycled from Garbsen (Hannover suburb).