Weekends away from London: Beelitz Heilstätten and Krampnitz

Admin building at Beelitz Heilstätten

I’m confident this installment will be a nice mix of my “Weekends away” series and my regular theme of slightly unusual trips. A while a go I stumbled upon a blog post talking about a set of abandoned hospital buildings south of Berlin in a town called Beelitz Heilstätten. They were originally a set of TB hospitals which were then converted into military hospitals during the first world war (Hitler received treatment in one of them) and then Sanatoriums after the war. Eventually they were re-purposed again by the Russians when they occupied East Germany after the second world war.

Bobsledding in Sigulda, Latvia

I was recommended this activity with the phrase “It’s the most terrifying thing on earth”, and this came from someone with experience of some pretty sketchy situations! I knew immediately I had to do it as if I didn’t I’d just be annoyed with myself. All I knew initially is that the bobsled run was within the vicinity of Riga and after a quick google found various English language websites offering tours to the place for £125 if two of us went (£80 each for 4 people or more), pretty steep but I was determined to go.