Tropical Islands Resort in Airship Hangar-Brandenburg, Germany

Who said we can’t have summer and winter at the same time?

If you are in Germany in winter time and dream about having a coctail in a tropical beach you only have to drive about 60 km southeast of Berlin to reach something never before seen in northeast Germany: the Tropical Islands Resort,  a tropical paradise!

The huge hangar was originally built by CargoLifter AG to house airships and costed €78 million but their dirigible was never developed, and the company went bankrupt in 2002. The following year, Malaysian Tanjong company purchased the gigantic building and turned it to an indoor, artificial tropical resort, called Tropical Islands.

It is the world’s fourth largest building, and is the world’s largest single hall without supporting pillars inside.

The hangar is so big – 360 metres long, 210 metres wide and 107 metres high- the Statue of Liberty could stand up inside of it, the Eiffel Tower lying down, or all of Potsdamer Platz including skyscrapers.

Tropical Islands, which first opened in 2004 can host up to 7,000 visitors at once, and it has a staff of about 500.

The resort is surrounded by snow but inside the hangar, conditions are totally different…. 25 °C……exotic environment with rain forest, beach, artificial sun, palm trees, orchids, and bird soundtrack.

It presents authentical tropical vegetation with 500 different plants and allows insights into the cultures of Brazil, Bali, Thailand, Malaysia and Kenya.

Tropical Islands also features the world’s largest indoor rain forest (50,000 plants) and Germany’s highest waterslide (82 feet) and provides 42 mph slide experience.

The resort offers restaurants, shopping, tanning, stage entertainment, and overnight camping on Paradise beach. Admission is 18.50 Euro (about $23) on weekdays, and 23.50 Euro (about $29) on weekends, which includes an unlimited stay including all shows. Much like a real tropical island, Tropical Islands Resort is open around the clock, every day of the year. They also offer two other services which make for a brilliant combination: a day care center, and seven fully stocked bars.

Sounds amazing but for me (as all people from Thessaloniki claim) there is no better place on earth than Halkidiki 🙂

pictures: Sean Gallup/Getty Images