Distance: 22.4km
Duration: 5.5h and 1.5h break
Weather: sunny, no clouds, no wind, approx. 33C
The plan was to leave Wittenberge along the right side of the river, pass through a nature preservation area and cross the Elbe into Schnackenburg via ferry which would have been a comfortable distance of around 18km. Thankfully, Sandra told me that the ferry wasn’t working and the next one was another 10km further which would have been a stretch with the current temperatures. Hence, we could adjust our trip from the beginning and take the same bridge to leave Wittenberge and continue on the dyke from there. What was a bit surprising and equally adventurous was that the path made us cross a motorway. Good thing was that the traffic was not as bad as in the south of Germany and we could find a gap to cross it safely.
While the majority of the first part had a few shady parts, the last stretch of 4km went straight on, without any shade as there were no trees. The way into Schnackenburg took us through a small harbour where it was so obvious again how low the water levels were. Our accommodation was an old school building until the 1960ies and was then used by the military as the location was right on the border to the East. After the reunification, it became a cultural center and since 2013 the current owners run it as a B&B. Dinner was provided by the owners as an ‘all you can eat’ BBQ which was perfect as there was no shop or restaurant in town.
We finished the day with a beautiful sunset over the Elbe which turned everything into pastel shades.
Accommodation: http://www.cafefelicitas.de/
Sabine's blog 