In May 2024, I once again went on a multi-day paddling trip, this time in northern Germany on the Peene river from Anklam to Demmin. The route is around 58 km / 36 mi long and it took me four days (i.e. three nights).

Paddling on the Peene

There are a few things to bear in mind when paddling on the Peene, partly because almost the entire Peene valley is a nature reserve:

• Mooring on the banks, away from official landing stages and jetties, is prohibited
• Navigating side arms and peat bogs is prohibited
• There are many water hiking rest areas (“Wasserwanderrastplatz” or “WWR” in German), some of which allow you to stay overnight (for a fee)
• Stand-up paddling and drones are prohibited
• The Peene is a federal waterway, so mark your boat accordingly

Further information (unfortunately there are no official English pages I know of):

• flussinfo.net with Einsetzstellen (get-in and -out places for canoes)
• falbootwiki.de
• Naturpark Flusslandschaft Peenetal with Verhaltensregeln (basically the rules to follow)
• vorpommern.de (at least some English page)

Tour

The Peene has very little current and can sometimes flow _up_stream in easterly winds. That’s why I did my tour upstream, because I had a lot of wind from the north and east.

I spent the nights at the official water hiking rest areas in Stolpe, Alt Plestlin and Pensin. These are mostly very simple campsites, but more on that in the report below.

Equipment

As with normal multi- and single-day tours, I had the following with me:

• My packraft MRS Nomad S1, paddle
• Change of clothes
• Food, drink, stove
• Tarp, sleeping mat, sleeping bag
• Hat and sunscreen
• Camera, cell phone, power bank

Day 1: Anklam → Stolpe

May 6, 2024

I set off very early on the train and arrived in Anklam at 11:15 AM. From the train station, it’s 1.8 km / 1.1 mi through the town center to the water hiking rest area Anklam, where there is a slipway, boat rental and campsite, among other things. Normally there is a charge for using the jetty and the slipway, but the people at the campsite were kind enough to waive this fee for me and my little packraft. I set off at around 1 PM.

Unfortunately, I had a headwind that day and had to paddle hard. Nevertheless, after about an hour and 4.3 km / 2.6 mi I reached the water hiking rest area Menzlin, which is purely a resting place (i.e. staying overnight is prohibited), but also offers boat rental.

I originally planed to set up camp in Menzlin. However, I overestimated the wind and current, so I decided to paddle on to Stolpe. I didn’t notice a current at all, the wind was much worse.

However, I was already rewarded by nature on this day. In addition to jumping fish, various birds and beautiful natural woodland, I also saw my first white-tailed eagle. As I paddled relatively close to the shore, one suddenly emerged from the bushes. I was really startled and amazed at its size.

It’s another 4.3 km / 2.5 mi from Menzlin to Stolpe, so I arrived in Stolpe at around 4 PM. I was the only guest there at first and registered with the harbour master. The price was 4 € for me, 5 € for the tent/tarp and 2 € for the boat, i.e. 11 € / 12 $. The tent pitch is nice and big, right on the water and away from the road or buildings, so you really have your peace and quiet.

There is also a small kiosk in Stolpe where you can get drinks, snacks, ice cream and sausages. The sanitary facilities are secured with a code, which you get from the harbour master, and were very clean.

Day 2: Stolpe → Alt Plestlin

May 7, 2024

The night was quite uncomfortable. Not only was it quite cold (i.e. 5 - 10 °C or 40 - 50 °F), but it was also windy again and it blew directly into my tarp, so I had to turn it around in the dark. But after a delicious breakfast of oatmeal with cocoa powder and cinnamon, I was relatively well rested and set off at 9:45 AM towards Alt Plestlin. That’s 28 km / 17 mi from Stolpe and I wasn’t sure if I would make it.

Unfortunately, there is no place to spend the night within a suitable distance of Stolpe. Gützkow is about 12 km / 7.5 mi away, too short for a day’s stage, and the next overnight stop after that is Alt Plestlin. You are not allowed to spend the night in Jarmen, Alt Jargenow and Trissow, which are the other resting areas in between. Fortunately, I had a tailwind and made good progress.

I then took a break at the Pentin and Gütkow Fähre water hiking rest areas. At the latter there is also a slipway and I had a nice chat with an older gentleman who had also stopped there on his bike tour.

The next major stop was then in the rural town Jarmen, where there is also a rest area, but where you are also not allowed to spend the night. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of it, but it’s also just a simple rest area where you wouldn’t want to spend the night anyway: jetty, benches, country road next to it, on the edge of a harbor quay, sign with rules and map. No sanitary facilities or other amenities.

The rest area at Alt Jargenow, on the other hand, is nicer and you have peace and quiet in the middle of nature again. As you can see in the picture below, people have set up a bench and a fire pit there. Of course, this invites you to make a cozy campfire here, but this is not allowed! Especially in summer, you are surrounded by dry grass and lots of dead wood - not a suitable environment for a campfire!

I came across maybe four other paddlers that day, two anglers and the water police twice. The latter gave me a friendly wave and didn’t stop me or anything. So my boat marking, visible on some photos below, seems to work and be OK (remember: the Peene is a federal waterway).

I arrived in Alt Plestlin at around 6:45 PM, pretty exhausted and with limp arms. The site is relatively remote, which is why the harbour master only comes by once in the morning and evening and was already gone by this time. The sanitary facilities were … adequate. There was a toilet, washbasin and shower, but only cold water. Apart from that, the site is very nice, has several piers, a slipway and a small meadow for tents. I wasn’t alone there either, there were two other paddlers, a couple of boaters and an elderly couple with a caravan. My tarp was a good conversation starter, because you’re relatively unprotected outside.

Day 3: Old Plestlin → Pensin

May 8, 2024

The harbour master came in the morning and I had to pay a whopping 19 € / 21 $ for the one night! I can understand that the maintenance of the place is more expensive because it is rather remote, but I still think the price is too high. The boat drivers, for whom it was even more expensive, also talked about it.

At 10:45 AM I continued upstream to Pensin in a relaxed manner. As I had done the day before, I stopped at most of the water hiking rest areas, including Sophienhof and Loitz. You can also spend the night at both places, although the rest area in Loitz is within the town and therefore not very close to nature.

After a lunch break in Loitz, I continued straight on past the Zeltlow rest area (where I didn’t stop) to Pensin. As the stage on this day was only 14 km / 8.5 mi, I arrived early at 3 PM.

The water hiking rest area Pensin is a nice size, has an old ferry pulled ashore as a monument and picnic area, a nice jetty, a swimming area with tiny beach and a toilet block. However, there is no shower, only toilets and a tap for drinking water. Besides me, there were five other paddlers there, as well as a father who was camping there with three children and was stressed about unloading his van full of equipment to set everything up. I spent the afternoon and evening chatting to two guys from southern Germany who also go hiking a lot, so we had a good chat. There was also probably some kind of festival in the village, which is why some of the village youth came to the water, but behaved very nicely and left in the evening.

Day 4: Pensin → Demmin

May 9, 2024

As I wanted to take the train back home from Demmin, I had to hurry and was back in the water by 6:30 AM. That’s too early to wait for the harbour master, but luckily there’s a cash box where I was able to pay my fee of just 6 € / 6 $. You can see that the prices vary greatly from place to place.

It got really cold again during the night (I estimate around 5 °C / 10 °F), which is why not only my clothes were all wet in the morning, but the landscape was shrouded in fog and a lot of steam was rising from the river.

In Demmin itself there is also a water hiking rest area, but I took the boat out of the water at a small jetty shortly beforehand to save some time because of the train.

Conclusion

All in all, a really lovely tour!

Nature has a lot to offer and if you’re not traveling during the summer vacations in the absolute high season, you’re completely alone for a large part of the time. However, contrary to my original hopes, there is no feeling of wild camping when you spend the night at the rest areas; you feel more like you’re sleeping on a normal campsite. On the other hand, there is almost no disturbance from traffic, shipping, settlements or people in general along the river.

I can therefore highly recommend the area for multi-day paddling tours, as you can experience really peaceful and almost untouched nature here. I think I saw as many white-tailed eagles as ducks - absolutely amazing!

P.S.: I’ve also been recommended the stretch between Kummerower lake and Demmin several times, so I might do that as well some time.