Wannsee

The Großer Wannsee is a bay of the Havel River in the southwest of Berlin, part of the roughly 7.5-mile (12-kilometer) stretch of water running from Pichelsdorf down to Potsdam-Sacrow. Framed by wooded shores, villa colonies and small peninsulas, the Wannsee has been the city's favorite summer escape for more than a century. A 1950s pop hit whose title translates as "Pack Your Swimsuit" made the lake a nationwide shorthand for summer in Berlin.

The main destination on the eastern shore is the Strandbad Wannsee, first licensed in 1907 and expanded in the late 1920s by the architects Martin Wagner and Richard Ermisch in the New Objectivity style. With an artificially created sand beach roughly 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) long, it counts among the largest inland-water lidos in Europe, with lawns, hooded wicker beach chairs, diving platforms and boat rental. On hot days tens of thousands of people show up, so arriving early pays off.

There is plenty to do here besides swimming. Excursion boats leave the Wannsee for trips across the Havel and to Potsdam, hiking trails run through the neighboring Düppel forest and out to the Pfaueninsel, and the House of the Wannsee Conference memorial site is close by. If you want quiet, the shore of the smaller Kleiner Wannsee has calmer corners. The whole area is an easy S-Bahn ride to Wannsee station.