Full Day In Berlin - All The Major Highlights!

Full Day In Berlin - All The Major Highlights! Photo #1 of 2 Photo copyright ShoreTrips.com.

Overview

Enjoy a whirlwind visit to Berlin's must-see sights.

Your expert guide will bring the city and its vivid history to life, as you experience Berlin's many "must-see" sights. Berlin has many layers of dynamic history and you will experience its medieval origins, its Prussian and Nazi past, its legacy as a divided city, and the constant change that is New Berlin.

Your guide will be a real character of the city, someone who studied history or architecture, has years of experience in guiding, and is eager to show you his hometown in a vivid and in-depth conversation. If there is something specific you would like to see or a part of history you are keen to learn more about, please let us know beforehand or tell your guide upon your arrival.

You will first drive through the East of Berlin, where you will meet your guide. Discover with him Karl-Marx-Allee, former Stalin-Allee, the must-see central boulevard of the former GDR, erected in the unique Soviet "sugar bakery" style.

You will see Alexanderplatz and the Berlin TV Tower, which was built by the East German government from 1965-1969. Continuing at Marx-Engels-Forum, where the eponym and his "brother in spirit" Friedrich Engels still sit in bronze and watch over German social affairs. This imposing square with its huge industrially-produced concrete buildings provides a tell-tale window on East German Communist aspirations and realities. At the Nikolaiviertel, the historical heart of Berlin, reconstructed by the GDR on the occasion of Berlin's 750th birthday with prefabricated concrete slabs, we will explain the rise of Berlin from a merchant town along the Spree into a European power.

You will drive along the famous boulevard Unter den Linden and see the old Prussian buildings and palaces, have a look at the new governmental district, and learn about the Brandenburg Gate, the quintessential symbol of Berlin, built in 1789.

The Reichstag, next to Sir Norman Forster’s daring glass dome is your next stop.

Now would be a good time to stop for lunch, your guide will be happy to make lunch suggestions depending on your tastes that day.

After lunch, we will take a close look at Berlin’s Nazi history starting at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This somber spot occupies a space the size of a football field, and its information center brings this tragic period in history to life, revealing fates of individuals and entire families. We continue at the site of Hitler’s former bunker, the old SS, SA, and Gestapo headquarters, and Göring’s former ministry.

Here we may make a short break. For a marvelous bird’s-eye view of the city, take an optional ride in a hi-flyer balloon.

After having a look at some remaining parts of the Berlin Wall and the Gendarmenmarkt, one of the most beautiful places in Berlin, we will turn to Potsdamer Platz and experience the innovative state-of-the-art architecture, Berlin’s sole skyscrapers, which transformed the skyline of an area that was bombed during World War II, and lay desolate just west of the Berlin Wall for the entire period of the city’s division.

From there, we'll drive to West Berlin, along the Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s answer to Paris’ Champs Elysée. The boulevard ends at the Emperor William Memorial Church, commissioned in 1891 by William II, Germany’s last emperor, in memory of his grandfather, Emperor William I. The magnificent church was damaged in the war and stands as a ruin today, reminding one of the war and how West Berlin rose up from the ashes. During a brief stop at KaDeWe, the largest department store in continental Europe, you will be dazzled by the display of food and delicacies from all over the world.

- Your guide will be accompanied by a pre-selected driver with a taxi vehicle. The driver will be with you for the entire tour.

- Lunch is not included in the price of this tour. Please talk with your guide about lunch recommendations. If you wish to have lunch at the Reichstag, you must notify us ahead of time. By having lunch at the Reichhstag, you must also furnish all of your passport information when the booking is made, bring your passport along with you on the tour and pay a minimum of €40 per person for lunch. These are all required by the Reichstag itself, no exceptions.

Days offered: 7 days a week

Departures:

• 07:30 AM, duration: 6 hours
• 09:30 AM, duration: 6 hours