The Paris Skyline
Your chance to see the fascinating mix of World War II, Cold War and post-Reunification history that this city has to offer. Berlin is a stunning city for modern architecture, and has become a great city for start-up high-tech businesses, as well as a cool city for young adults. It has overtaken Rome as the third most-visited European city (after Paris & London).
We will explore Nazi-era sites, the remains of the Berlin Wall, and contemporary Berlin on foot, by minibus, and through museums. There’s also the possibility to take in the palaces at Potsdam, 20 miles outside Berlin, and learn about Prussia - Berlin’s pre-German-unification story.
Here is an idea of a 3- and possibly 4-day itinerary - do get in touch to discuss a tailor-made itinerary for your group:
By U-Bahn to the Potsdamer Platz area - city centre walking tour (2 km) taking in the route of the Wall, the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, the site of Hitler’s bunker (marked with a board with photos and plan), the ex-Luftwaffe building, and the outside of the Reichstag.
After a snack lunch, to see surviving traces of the Berlin Wall in Bernauerstrasse - the Wall itself, the free city museum about it (the Berlin Wall Centre), and traces of the routes of escape tunnels used in this neighbourhood in 1962-64.
Then to Checkpoint Charlie and the stunning Wall Panorama - an amazing representation of what the Wall was like to live up alongside in the Kreuzberg section of West Berlin in the 1980s.
The Holocaust Memorial
Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam
Inside the modern dome of the Reichstag
Follow the story of the Soviet attack on the city centre in April 1945, looking at one of the axes of their assault. To the daunting Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park - an amazing piece of Stalinist artwork.
Back into the city via EITHER the Stasi (East German secret police) museum OR the Soviet ‘Surrender Room’ Museum at Karlshorst, where the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945.
Enter the city centre down Karl Marx Allee - in good time for a visit to the Reichstag roof with its spectacular city-wide views.
A miscellany - your choice from:
*How we operate
* We organise tours DIRECT with you – we have no public list of tours.
* We handle numbers from 2 to 10 – families, small groups of friends.
* We provide personal guiding, but also organise itineraries, book hotels and site entries, and find you a minibus company if your group is larger than 4 people.
* We step onboard your car / rental car *, or a minibus that we can arrange (but you pay direct to the company, in advance). NB: we do not organise travel to/from the tour start/finish point(s) - eg flights, trains.
* You pay our guiding & organising fee, and then pay as you go for your accommodation, meals and museum entries (and, if you need one, you pay for your minibus direct, in advance).
* Go to our Prices & References page for an idea of cost, then email us at aat@drttours.co.uk
* (happy to drive if you can add us as an Additional Driver)
All text, maps & photos © Dr Thomson’s Tours Ltd.
Website design by Joseph Thomson
Last updated November 2023