The river Elbe is the third-largest river of Central Europe. Its flood plains and numerous tributaries are home to many particular plants and animal species. Acknowledged part of a biosphere reserve by the UNESCO in 1979, it was extended to become the Elbe River Landscape Biosphere Reserve in 1997. Today it is the largest inland, transnational Biosphere Reserve in Germany and one of the last natural river landscapes in Central Europe.
The part in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania encloses 460 square kilometers. It ranges over a length of about 65 km: From Boizenburg in the north, down to the town Dömitz in the south.
Visitors can experience extended walking tours to inland dunes, cycling tours through polders and on dikes as well as excursions by ship on the river Elbe. The indicated cycling routes, adding up to 265 km, present the opportunity to spend holidays from spring to autumn in close connection with nature. Even the time from October to March is full of attractions in the Elbe riverside landscape and in the surrounding area: flooded riverside regions, sunsets on the river, ice floes being carried on the river or resting bird flocks captivate you.