Berlin suggested itinerary

Tailor-made tours for small private groups - friends, families & social groups

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:

Day One The Nazi era to the heart of the Cold War


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

Day Two 1945 fight for Berlin; East Berlin; 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.


Day Three (and possibly a Day Four if you want many of these)


A miscellany - your choice from:


  • Visit to the Jewish Museum. 
  • A walk up the remains of one of the huge flak towers built to protect the city from air attack; 
  • Time in the art galleries on Museum Island. 
  • A visit to the excellent Museum of German History & the nearby project rebuilding the Schloss (chateau) in the heart of the city.
  • Potsdam (20 miles outside Berlin): visit the Cecilienhof, site of the 1945 Potsdam Conference, Sansoucci Palace Gardens, and the city centre itself [half day+ needed].
  • The Allied Museum in the former U.S. sector telling the story of the 1948-49 Airlift and the continuing Allied presence up to the withdrawal of all troops in 1994. Back via Templehof Airfield to walk on the runways: now a very successful public park.

*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)

Dr Thomson’s Tours

Private Guide & Tour Organiser


All text, maps & photos © Dr Thomson’s Tours Ltd.

Website design by Joseph Thomson

Last updated November 2023

Bethany, 37 The Crescent

Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7AW

England


+44-7885-662714

aat@drttours.co.uk