Kayaking in Berlin: 9 rentals from €9 an hour
Kayak rental in Berlin starts at €9 an hour. Nine rentals compared on price, day rate and booking, plus the Spree stretch closed to kayaks. Checked Sept 2026.
Kayaking in Berlin starts at €9 an hour at Fährallee 19 in Rauchfangswerder. Full days run €28 to €65. Nine rentals are compared below, with opening hours and booking rules. One stretch of the Spree, through Mitte, is closed to kayaks year-round.
The short version
- The cheapest solo kayak of the nine here is €9 an hour, at Kanu Kajak Fährallee 19 in Rauchfangswerder — the lowest single-hour rate of the nine. The dearest by the hour is €20, at Flotte Dahme.
- Prices are always per boat, not per person. Where this list carries a two-seater rate — Spreepoint, Kanuverleih Wannsee, Der Bootsladen — two people splitting one pay less each than one person in a solo kayak.
- You cannot paddle the Spree past the Museumsinsel or the Reichstag: muscle-powered boats are banned between the Kanzleramtssteg and the Oberbaumbrücke. The Landwehrkanal is open.
- Der Bootsladen in Spandau shuts on 30 September and reopens on 1 April. Only two others publish a closing date: Flotte Dahme ends in October, Fährallee 19 in November.
- Two of the nine take no reservations at all. Two say outright that they cannot take cards, and two more require cash in their terms, for the hire or the deposit. Bring cash and photo ID.
How we checked
Every price, opening time and season date here was read in September 2026 from the operator’s own website — not from an aggregator, a review site or a booking portal. Where an operator prices on more than one page we followed the German pages and checked them against each other. The Spree rule is quoted from the statute itself.
One correction is worth stating openly. Rent a Boat Berlin loads its tariff with JavaScript, below a language toggle: read as plain source it looks as though the business advertises kayaks without pricing them, but rendered properly it publishes a full kayak tariff.
Contents
- Kayaking in Berlin: the 9 rentals compared
- The Spree through Mitte is closed to kayaks
- Köpenick and the Müggelsee: where the cheap boats are
- Wannsee: fixed slots and big water
- Treptow and Rummelsburg: turning up without a booking
- Spandau: day rates only, and it shuts on 30 September
- Paddling after October
- What to bring
- How we chose these
- Frequently asked questions
- Want to keep reading?
- Sources
Kayaking in Berlin: the 9 rentals compared
| Rental | Where | Cheapest kayak | Day rate | Booking | Season and hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanu Kajak Fährallee 19 | Rauchfangswerder, Köpenick | €9 an hour, solo kayak | €40 | Phone only | March to end of November. Wed–Fri 10:00–18:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–19:00. Closed Mon, Tue |
| Bootsverleih Oase | Köpenick, An der Dammbrücke | From €10 an hour (listed with rowing boats) | €50 day ticket | No reservations — turn up | Mon–Fri 12:00–19:00, Sat–Sun and holidays 10:00–19:00. No closing date |
| Rent a Boat Berlin | Alt-Treptow, An der Abteibrücke | €20 for the two-hour minimum, then €8 an hour | From €40 | No reservations — turn up | Daily 10:00–20:00; hours may vary by season |
| Spreepoint | Friedrichshagen, plus a Rübezahl jetty | €12 an hour, solo kayak | €45 | Walk-ups fine; booking secures a boat | Friedrichshagen daily 09:00–19:00; Rübezahl Sat–Sun 10:00–19:00 |
| Kanuverleih-Berlin.de | Rahnsdorf, on the Müggelspree | €15 first hour, €10 second, €5 each after | €40 | Not published | Daily 10:00–18:00, spring to autumn |
| Kanuverleih Wannsee | Am Großen Wannsee 60 | €19 for a three-hour slot, solo kayak | €45 | Reserve by form or phone | Open from 1 May. Slots start 10:00, 13:15 and 16:30 |
| Flotte Dahme | Köpenick, Möllhausenufer | €20 an hour, solo kayak | €65 | Booking advised, walk-ups possible | April to October, daily 10:00–19:00 |
| Ahoi Ostkreuz | Rummelsburg, Zillepromenade | €25 for two hours (the minimum) | €50 | Walk up, or reserve a 10:00–13:00 departure | Mon–Fri 11:00–19:30, Sat–Sun 10:00–19:30. Reservable departures Mon–Fri 10:00–13:00, weekends and holidays 10:00 |
| Der Bootsladen | Spandau, Brandensteinweg | No hourly rate — €28 a day on weekdays | €28 weekday / €30 weekend | Phone only | Shuts 30 September, reopens 1 April. September: Fri 12:00–19:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–19:00 |
Found one you want to try? Post it as a plan on MITRA — a lake, a time, a two-seater — and go with someone instead of paddling the second seat empty. Get MITRA on Google Play · Download on the App Store
The Spree through Mitte is closed to kayaks
This is the rule that catches people out. Under § 21.24 of the Binnenschifffahrtsstraßen-Ordnung, small craft travelling without an engine are banned on the Spree-Oder-Wasserstraße from the Kanzleramtssteg at km 14.10 to the Oberbaumbrücke at km 20.70, and the Spreekanal is included. That is a 6.6-kilometre stretch containing the government quarter, the Museumsinsel and the Nikolaiviertel — in other words, the exact postcard route most people picture when they imagine paddling the city.
There is no seasonal window, no early-morning exception and no permit a private paddler can buy — the paddling ban carries no exemption at all. The two exceptions in that subsection sit elsewhere: one lifts the separate ban on under-powered motorboats, for engines of at least 3.69 kW with a licensed skipper; the other lets the authority waive the towing-and-coupling rule. Neither touches a kayak.
What is open is better than it sounds. The Landwehrkanal is not part of the paddling ban — the only piece of § 21.24 that extends to it is the rule against towing or coupling sport boats together — and it carries you under the Technikmuseum’s aeroplane, past the Neue Nationalgalerie, the zoo fence and the Tiergarten lawns. West of the Kanzleramtssteg the Spree opens again towards Charlottenburg, and everything east of the Oberbaumbrücke was never covered at all. For city scenery without the legal problem the Landwehrkanal is the answer, and it pairs well with a day out on your own.
Köpenick and the Müggelsee: where the cheap boats are
Berlin’s south-east is where the water opens out and the prices drop. Five of the nine rentals here sit around Köpenick and the Müggelsee, and every one of them publishes a rate by the hour, from €9 to €20.
Kanu Kajak Fährallee 19 in Rauchfangswerder is the cheapest of the nine, at €9 an hour for a solo kayak and €40 for the day, with paddle, buoyancy aid and a water map included; a waterproof barrel is €5 extra. It sits on the Zeuthener See, opens Wednesday to Sunday, and runs to the end of November — the longest published season of the nine.
Spreepoint has two jetties and charges €12 an hour or €45 a day for a solo kayak, €15 and €50 for a two-seater. It takes no deposit at all, unusual among the nine, but wants valid ID and cash — card payment is not possible. Note the difference between its sites: Friedrichshagen opens daily 09:00 to 19:00, Rübezahl weekends only.
Kanuverleih-Berlin.de, run by the Rahnsdorfer Wasserfreunde on the Müggelspree, has the most forgiving pricing of the nine: €15 for the first hour, €10 for the second, then €5 an hour after that, with €40 capping the day. If you are slow, indecisive or simply enjoying yourself, this is the one that punishes you least.
Flotte Dahme at the Möllhausenufer is the dearest by the hour of the nine at €20, but it publishes the clearest price ladder of the nine — €35 for two hours, €50 for a half day, €65 for a full one — and includes a buoyancy aid and a briefing. Bootsverleih Oase at the Dammbrücke is the blunt one: rowing boats and kayaks listed together from €10 an hour, a €50 day ticket, and a flat refusal to take reservations — come by, or do not.
Nobody wants the two-seater to themselves. The second seat is the whole problem with kayaking, and it is the one thing MITRA is for — name the lake and the hour, and let someone claim the seat. Get MITRA on Google Play · Download on the App Store
Wannsee: fixed slots and big water
Kanuverleih Wannsee at Am Großen Wannsee 60 works differently from everywhere else on this list. It sells time in three-hour units with fixed start times — 10:00, 13:15 and 16:30 — rather than by the hour. A unit is €19 in a solo kayak, €23 in a two-seater and €34.50 in a three-person Canadian; a full day is €45, €50 or €70. Come back late and you pay €11, €15 or €20 for each part-hour.
It is walking distance from S-Bahnhof Wannsee on the S1 and S7, which makes it the easiest of the nine to reach without a bike, and it opens for the season from 1 May. The boats are steerable, which matters when the wind gets up on open water, and the published tours run round the Wannsee island, out to the Pfaueninsel and as far as Potsdam. If the lake is the draw rather than the boat, our guide to the best lakes in Berlin covers where to swim instead.
Treptow and Rummelsburg: turning up without a booking
Rent a Boat Berlin, at An der Abteibrücke by the Zenner beer garden, is the easiest kayak on this list to get into on impulse: no reservations, open daily 10:00 to 20:00, a short walk from S-Bahnhof Treptower Park. A solo kayak is €20 for the two-hour minimum and €8 for each hour after, or from €40 for a day running until an hour before sunset. The deposit is €50 plus an ID document — and a health insurance card, student card, keys or phone will not do. It cannot take cards, so bring cash.
Ahoi Ostkreuz on the Zillepromenade is the other one to remember if you decide at lunchtime that today is the day. Its own summary is arrive, borrow, get in, paddle off. The minimum hire is two hours at €25, then €30 for three, €35 for four and €50 for the day, paddle and buoyancy aid included. Bring photo ID and a €30 deposit per kayak. Reservations are narrow: Monday to Friday for departures between 10:00 and 13:00, and at weekends and on public holidays only for the 10:00 departure.
Spandau: day rates only, and it shuts on 30 September
Der Bootsladen on the Brandensteinweg, out at Klein-Venedig, does not rent by the hour at all. A plastic solo kayak is €28 on a weekday, €30 at the weekend or on a public holiday, and €130 for a week; a two-seater is €36, €38 and €150. Paddle, buoyancy aid and a waterproof container are included, and a hire beyond one day needs a €150 cash deposit per boat.
Two hard rules. Boats can only be reserved by telephone, and nothing goes on the water after 17:00. Through September it opens Friday 12:00–19:00 and Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 10:00–19:00, closed Monday to Thursday. Then it stops, shut for the winter from 1 October to 31 March. The last weekend of September is the last one you get.
Paddling after October
Most Berlin rentals are summer businesses, and published season dates are thin — only three of the nine give a closing date. Flotte Dahme runs April to October, Fährallee 19 from March to the end of November, and Der Bootsladen closes on 30 September. The rest publish opening hours but no closing date, so ring before you travel in late autumn.
One operator we looked at outside the nine states that it is open year-round. kanutouren.berlin works on a different model — its boats are not kept at the water, so it delivers them or you collect. Its FAQ says it is open all year and that between November and April you should give three to four days’ notice. Prices are for multi-day hire rather than an afternoon: €45 a day for a solo kayak over two days, dropping to €30 a day from three days, or €135 for a week. You paddle unaccompanied — the company briefs you on the boat and the route rather than guiding you. Its price list quotes €55 to €65 a head for Berlin and Potsdam tours, though the Köpenick route is listed at €40. If the water has closed for the year, the indoor list is the honest fallback.
The season closes in weeks, not months. Der Bootsladen shuts on 30 September and Flotte Dahme at the end of October — pick a jetty, name an afternoon before then, and post it on MITRA. Get MITRA on Google Play · Download on the App Store
What to bring
- Cash. Spreepoint and Rent a Boat Berlin state they cannot take cards; Fährallee 19’s terms require the hire in cash and a €150 deposit; Der Bootsladen wants its deposit in cash too.
- Photo ID. Ahoi Ostkreuz, Spreepoint and Rent a Boat Berlin all require one. Rent a Boat specifically refuses insurance cards, student cards, keys and phones.
- Sun cream and a hat. There is no shade on open water, and September sun off the Müggelsee burns.
- Shoes you can soak. Every rental here launches from a jetty or slipway.
- A dry bag. Kanuverleih Wannsee and Der Bootsladen include a waterproof container; Fährallee 19 charges €5 for one.
How we chose these
The list is limited to operators inside Berlin’s city limits that rent a kayak to a private individual and publish a price on their own website. That last condition removed the most.
Cut on purpose: Kanu Connection, which turns out to be a shop selling boats rather than renting them; several Brandenburg operators that market themselves as Berlin; Müggelbay, whose prices sit behind a JavaScript booking widget we could not read reliably; and 13Kanus in Spandau, whose site is currently serving injected spam links. Every superlative here is scoped to these nine — €9 an hour is the cheapest of the nine above, not a claim about every jetty in the city.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to go kayaking in Berlin?
A solo kayak starts at €9 an hour at Kanu Kajak Fährallee 19 in Rauchfangswerder and €12 an hour at Spreepoint. Full days run from €28 at Der Bootsladen to €65 at Flotte Dahme. Prices are per boat, not per person, so splitting a two-seater is the cheaper way to paddle.
Can you kayak on the Spree through the middle of Berlin?
No. Under § 21.24 of the Binnenschifffahrtsstraßen-Ordnung, small craft travelling without an engine are banned on the Spree-Oder-Wasserstraße from the Kanzleramtssteg (km 14.10) to the Oberbaumbrücke (km 20.70), including the Spreekanal — the Museumsinsel and government quarter. There is no seasonal or hourly exception.
Where can you legally kayak in central Berlin then?
The Landwehrkanal, which runs past the Technikmuseum, the Neue Nationalgalerie, the zoo and the Tiergarten. The only part of § 21.24 that reaches it is the rule against towing or coupling sport boats together, so paddling is fine. West of the Kanzleramtssteg the Spree is open again, and everything east of the Oberbaumbrücke — Treptow, Rummelsburg, Köpenick — sits outside the banned stretch.
Do I need a licence or any experience to rent a kayak in Berlin?
No licence. None of the nine rentals here asks for one. Deposits vary: Ahoi Ostkreuz wants photo ID and €30 per kayak, Rent a Boat Berlin €50 and an ID document, Spreepoint no deposit at all, and Der Bootsladen €150 per boat beyond one day. Kanuverleih Wannsee states that it assumes every paddler can swim.
Can I kayak in Berlin in October or November?
Yes, but the list shrinks. Der Bootsladen closes on 30 September and reopens on 1 April. Flotte Dahme runs to the end of October, Fährallee 19 to the end of November. kanutouren.berlin rents all year, though from November to April it asks for three to four days’ notice.
Can I rent a kayak in Berlin without booking ahead?
Yes. Bootsverleih Oase in Köpenick and Rent a Boat Berlin in Treptow both state that they take no reservations at all — you simply turn up. Ahoi Ostkreuz is built around walk-ups. Spreepoint says spontaneous visits are fine but that only a reservation guarantees a boat. Der Bootsladen and Fährallee 19 are the opposite: phone reservation only.
Where can I rent a kayak in Treptow?
Rent a Boat Berlin, at An der Abteibrücke by the Zenner beer garden, a walk from S-Bahnhof Treptower Park. A solo kayak is €20 for the two-hour minimum and €8 for each hour after, or from €40 for the day. The deposit is €50 plus an ID document, it takes no reservations, and it cannot take cards.
What should I take in the kayak?
Something to keep your phone dry — Kanuverleih Wannsee and Der Bootsladen include a waterproof container, Fährallee 19 charges €5. Sun cream: there is no shade on the water. Shoes you can soak. And cash — Spreepoint and Rent a Boat Berlin both state card payment is not possible.
Want to keep reading?
- Best lakes in Berlin — where to swim once you are off the water.
- Paddleboarding in Berlin — the standing-up version, often at the same jetties.
- Rowing in Berlin — clubs and rentals for a longer boat.
- Rent a boat in Berlin — pedal boats, motorboats and what a licence-free hire costs.
- Sailing in Berlin — the Wannsee option that needs a bit more commitment.
- Berlin in September — what closes this month and what is still worth catching.
Kayaking is one of the few Berlin activities where going alone is plainly worse — not for safety, but because the two-seater is cheaper per head, easier to steer and considerably less silent. The boats are there from €9 an hour. The harder part is the other seat.
That is the whole list — nine rentals, from €9 an hour. MITRA is for the next bit: pick a jetty, name an afternoon, and find someone to take the second paddle. Berlin first, other EU cities on the roadmap. Get MITRA on Google Play · Download on the App Store
Sources
- https://www.kanu-faehrallee-19.de/preise.htm
- https://www.kanu-faehrallee-19.de/
- https://www.kanu-faehrallee-19.de/agb.htm
- https://bootsverleih-oase.de/preise/
- https://www.spreepoint.de/
- https://ahoi-ostkreuz.de/
- https://rent-a-boat-berlin.com/
- https://www.spreepoint.de/boote/kajak-1er
- https://www.spreepoint.de/boote/kajak-2er
- https://www.spreepoint.de/faq
- https://www.kanuverleih-berlin.de/
- https://kanuverleih-wannsee.de/preise/
- https://kanuverleih-wannsee.de/
- https://flotte-dahme.de/kayak-mieten-koepenick/
- https://ahoi-ostkreuz.de/preise-touren/
- https://der-bootsladen.de/kanuverleih/
- https://kanutouren.berlin/
- https://www.elwis.de/DE/Schifffahrtsrecht/Binnenschifffahrtsrecht/BinSchStrO/Zweiter-Teil/Kapitel-21/21-24/21-24-node.html
All prices and hours checked September 2026. Operators change prices without notice.
