Walking Tours

For an excellent introduction to Berlin and its history, try one of the walking tours offered by Berlin Walks (tel. 030/3019194). Discover Berlin is a 3-hour introductory tour that takes you past the New Synagogue, the Reichstag, and the Brandenburg Gate, among other major sites. This walk starts daily at 10am and 2:30pm (in winter at 10am only). Infamous Third Reich Sites focuses on the sites of major Nazi buildings in central Berlin, such as Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry and Hitler's New Reichschancellery; it starts Wednesday and Sunday at 10am and Saturday at 2:30pm in summer, less frequently in the off season. Jewish Life in Berlin takes you through the prewar Jewish community; sights include the Old Cemetery and the former Boys' School. The tour starts May to September Monday at 10am. One of the most intriguing tours is Berlin -- Nest of Spies, which takes you to some of the most infamous sites associated with both the Nazis and the Communist takeover of East Germany. Lasting 4 hours, this tour is conducted May to September only on Tuesday and Saturday at 12:30pm. For all tours, reservations are unnecessary -- simply meet the guide, who will be wearing a Berlin Walks badge, outside the main entrance to Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten (Zoo Station), at the top of the taxi stand. Tours (in English) last from 2 1/2 to 6 hours, and cost 12€ ($16) for those 26 and over, 10€ ($13) for those 14 to 25; free for children 13 and under (with an adult). Berlin Walks also offers a tour to Potsdam, starting every Sunday at 10am from May to September. Discover Potsdam lasts 5 to 6 hours, and costs 15€ ($20) for those 26 and over, 12€ ($16) for those 14 to 25; free for children 13 and under.

Safari Tours in That Sardine Can on Wheels

A trend devoted to Communist kitsch is sweeping this once-divided capital. Germans call it Ostalgie, meaning nostalgia for the East during the Cold War. They celebrate it as Americans do the '50s. Years after the fall of the so-called German Democratic Republic, East Berlin is making a comeback. One social critic called it "a profound longing for a golden time that never was." Some Berlin entrepreneurs are even offering self-guided "safari tours" in the Trabi, that "sardine can on wheels," built in East German factories between 1955 and 1991. The car was constructed mostly of plastic. The Trabi Safari starts at Gendarmenmarkt and Markgrafenstrasse, costing from 25€ to 35€ ($33-$46) per passenger for a tour that lasts 1 1/2 hours. You're taken to the famous Cold War sites of East Berlin, most of which are off the beaten path. For reservations, call tel. 030/2759-2273 or visit their website.

Bus Tours

Berlin is a far-flung metropolis with interesting neighborhoods that are often separated by extended areas of parks, monumental boulevards, and Cold War wastelands. Because of these factors, organized bus tours can be the best way to navigate the city.

Some of the best are operated by Severin+Kühn, Kurfürstendamm 216 (tel. 030/8804190; U-Bahn: Kurfürstendamm), located on the second floor of a building across from the Kempinski Hotel. This agency offers a half-dozen tours of Berlin and its environs. Their 2-hour Berlin City Tour departs April to October daily every half-hour from 10am to 6pm. Tickets cost 20€ ($26) per person. The tour passes 14 important stops in Berlin, including the Europa Center, the Brandenburg Gate, and Potsdamer Platz; provides taped audio commentary in eight languages; and offers the option of getting on and off the bus at any point during the hour. Retain your ticket stub to reboard the bus.

Severin+Kühn also offers the 3-hour Big Berlin Tour, which departs daily at 10am and 2pm and costs 22€ ($29) per person. This tour incorporates more sites than their 14-Stops-City Tour. All tours include a live guide who delivers commentaries in both German and English.

One of the more intriguing tours visits Potsdam, site of the famed World War II conference and of Sans Souci Palace, former residence of Frederick the Great. The price is 37€ ($48) per person. Departures are Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 10am; May and October, there are additional departures Friday to Sunday at 2:15pm.

Boat Tours

It may not be the obvious choice for transportation in Berlin, but a boat ride can offer visitors a good change of pace. The networks of canals that bisect the plains of what used to be known as Prussia were an engineering marvel when they were completed in the 19th century. Today, transport through the lakes, locks, and canals around Berlin retains its nostalgic allure and affords unusual vistas that aren't available from the windows of more conventional modes of transport. Berliners boast that their city has more bridges than Venice. Local waterways include the Spree and Havel rivers -- ranging in size from narrow channels to large lakes -- as well as many canals. You can take short tours that offer close-up views of the city or daylong adventures along the Spree and Havel; the latter often turn into beer-drinking fests.

The city's best-known boat operator is Stern und Kreisschiffahrt, Pushkinallee 15 (tel. 030/5363600). Since Germany's reunification, this company has absorbed the piers and ferryboats of several of its former East German counterparts. The resulting entity is ready and able to take you on waterborne cruises that incorporate sights that were once restricted to Berlin's eastern zone.

The most popular of the cruises, "Historische Stadtfahrt," takes you for a 1-hour ride along the banks of the Spree, the river that helped build Berlin. Departing at 30-minute intervals March to October daily between 10:30am and 5pm, they take in river-fronting views of the city's central core, beginning at a point in the Nikolaiviertel, close to Berlin's imposing 19th-century cathedral, on the Am Palast Ufer (U-Bahn: Nikolaiviertel).

More comprehensive are the 4-hour tours along the river Spree and some of its canals. Originating at the Treptow quays (S-Bahn: Treptow Park), they depart late March to October daily at 9:45am and again at 2pm. These trips offer good views of the exteriors of the Reichstag, the Pergamon Museum, the Königliche Bibliothek (Royal Library), and the monumental heart of what used to be known as East Berlin.

Tours depart from the Jannowitz Brücke (U-Bahn: Jannowitz Brücke). Reservations are usually necessary for all boat rides described above. Rides operate only from late March to late October, depending on the tour, although there might be a special river tour offered around Christmas if demand warrants. Tours lasting 1 hour cost 8.50€ ($11) per person; tours lasting 4 hours cost 16€ ($21) per person. Students and children between the ages of 6 and 15 receive discounts of 50%, and children under 6 ride for free. Prices and actual itineraries change seasonally; call for more details.