Müritz National Park

The park covers about three hundred and twenty square kilometres east of the Müritz, Germany's largest lake lying wholly within the country, with more than a hundred smaller lakes, bogs and beech forest; the Serrahn section was added to the UNESCO listing of ancient European beech forests in 2011. Germany holds the largest osprey population in central Europe and many nest here, often on electricity pylons, which power companies fit with platforms. In autumn tens of thousands of cranes stop on the shallow lakes on migration, roosting in the water at night and feeding on stubble by day, watched from hides.

What you actually see

• The crane gathering - tens of thousands stopping on migration each autumn.
• The ospreys - nests on pylons and trees across the park.
• The Serrahn beech - UNESCO-listed old-growth forest.
• The lake network - the Müritz and over a hundred smaller waters.

When to go

May to October generally; October is the peak for cranes, with organised evening watches at the roosts. Cars are excluded from much of the interior.

Honest expectations

Core zones are closed and access is on marked routes only. Crane watching requires early or late hours and a hide. Bicycles are the practical transport.

Nearby

Neustrelitz lies south; Neubrandenburg is east.