Pure relaxation - travelling on the Havel in a sauna raft

We were out and about for you in Berlin and tried out a dreamy place for a few relaxing hours.

A visit to the sauna is wonderfully relaxing and restorative. A trip on a raft on the Havel is wonderfully relaxing and restorative. So it makes sense to combine the two: a trip on a sauna raft on the Havel!

Discover the sauna raft with us

We arrive at the restaurant ship “Alte Liebe” on Havelchaussee. According to the website, this is where we should find the sauna raft. We have to look a little closer, but then we discover the raft.
If you stand in front of the restaurant ship and then walk a few metres to the right, you come to a jetty where several boats and rafts are moored. The entrance to the jetty is locked, but we just wait a little while. Shortly before the agreed time, Dirk Engelhardt, the owner of the raft, appeared and opened the door. We reached the sauna raft via the jetty and can board with a big step.

Before we leave, we have some time to take a closer look at the raft. A sauna barrel made entirely of wood stands on a raft. Inside, a wood-burning stove is already heating up the cosy little sauna. There is room for 4 people. In front of it, in the small anteroom, there is enough space for 2 people to change at the same time. In the front area of the raft is the control unit and another seat. There is a small shower and a ladder to climb from the raft into the water. A total of 8 people are allowed on the raft.

We get some safety instructions, from life jackets to fire extinguishers, and then we set sail.

Our cruise on the Havel

Carefully and with the engine running very slowly, we cast off from the jetty with our captain. The mooring is quite narrow, but if you pay attention and steer with feeling, it is no problem to leave the safe harbour. The raft can be driven by anyone over 18 without a licence. We really enjoyed the service of being driven on our first sauna raft tour, but would also set sail on the raft on our own.

While the sauna is still heating up a bit, we sail across the Havel. It’s always nice for us to discover our home district from the water. For safety reasons, we are not allowed to use the sauna until the raft has anchored, so there is plenty of time to discover the Havel landscape. We drop anchor just before the small bathing meadow on the banks of the Havel in Gatow. Now it’s time to enjoy the warming sauna.

The wood crackles in the stove and a cosy warmth envelops us as we enter the sauna. While we enjoy the temperature, we can look out through a large window onto the Havel. Sailing boats, rowing boats and heavy barges pass us by. The raft sways slightly from right to left – it is wonderfully relaxing and quiet.

My mind wanders – I wonder what it’s like to be in the sauna when it’s snowing on the Havel. Because that is quite feasible. Dirk Engelhardt plans to run the raft in winter as well, as long as the Havel is not frozen over and it is safe to sail.

After a while we leave the sauna. Patrick climbs into the Havel to cool off, I prefer to shiver a bit in the November air at almost 10 degrees on the raft.

Longingly, I keep glancing at the flickering fire and Dirk Engelhardt adds some more wood so that the second sauna session is also a pleasure.

While we relax in the second sauna, we watch ducks and swans on the Havel. The sun glistens in the water, simply beautiful.

A tour with the sauna raft takes 3 hours, then you moor again in the harbour on the Havelchaussee. For us, it was a very relaxing trip that we will definitely repeat.