Best of Berlin

by coach & on foot

This experience is a compilation of the best sightseeing attractions Berlin has to offer. This experience is designed to offer you a relaxed day in Germany’s capital, taking in the top sights, some through the window of the coach, others with the opportunity to step off to take photos.

Departing from the port, relax during the approximately three-hour unguided journey to Berlin. Onboard your coach, you will be accompanied by a local escort who will provide you with practical information and a light breakfast snack.

Upon arrival in Germany’s capital, you will be joined by your Berlin tour guide. One of the first photo stops will be at original remnants of the Berlin Wall. In the early 1960s, with the approval of the Warsaw Pact, East German soldiers occupied the Soviet sector of Berlin and started sealing it off from the west. After being a barrier that divided the city and its people for almost 30 years, the wall was finally opened in 1989.

Another photo stop will be made at Checkpoint Charlie, possibly the world’s best-known Allied Checkpoint for Allied military, foreigners and diplomats passing between East and West Berlin. Your journey then takes you to Bebel Platz, where in 1933 the Nazis ordered the book burning by National Socialist students who burned the works of hundreds of free authors, publishers, philosophers and scientists.

A lunch stop will be made at a local restaurant for a 1-course traditional German lunch with an included beer or soft drink.

Following lunch, you will pass by the Potsdamer Platz, formerly a no-man's land between East and West where the first gap in the Berlin Wall was made in 1989. A few blocks away from here, close to the site where Hitler’s bunker was hidden, a sombre memorial commemorates the Jews who perished in Europe during the Second World War. At the Holocaust Memorial you will have the opportunity for another photo stop before making your way over to the famous Brandenburg Gate that more than any other site, symbolizes Berlin’s history.

Close by, you will have the opportunity to see the Reichstag building which is Germany’s seat of Parliament and today is well known for having the world’s largest glass dome, designed by the famous architect, Sir Norman Foster.

Those with a fondness for Prussian history will enjoy the outside visit to the Charlottenburg Palace – here you will have a few moments for a photo stop of the oldest surviving Prussian palace that reflects the former splendour and grandeur of the Hohenzollern dynasty.

A drive into the former western part of Berlin, will take you along the Kurfuerstendamm (Ku-Damm), which is also West Berlin’s most famous street. Here you will pass by the Emperor William Memorial Church which has, since the Second World War, served as a stark reminder of the damage caused by the war.

A short drive will then bring you to Gendarmeries Market Square, a beautiful ensemble of two cathedrals and Berlin's concert house.

At one of the scheduled stops during the experience, you will have some free time to shop for souvenirs. The location of this stop will depend on the route taken by the driver and guide on the day and can vary depending on traffic and availability of stopping or parking.

Following your exploration of Germany’s capital, your Berlin guide will leave you before the approximately three-hour unguided return drive to Wismar. Your local escort will once again accompany you on the coach journey.