Walk 'n' Talk Tours

We can provide you with one of our customised Walk 'n Talk Tour s  which focus on the aspects of the city that interest you. What follows are examples of what you might do.

The Berlin Wall - from Brandenburg Gate to Checkpoint Charlie
The tour starts at Brandenburg Gate - a former symbol of the German Division on account of its location on the borderstrip that divided East- and West-Berlin and a symbol of German Unity today. The guide will walk with you along the former inner-city border and give background information on why the Berlin Wall was put up in 1961, how the border system worked and how it affected people.

You will go past the new urban development at Potsdamer Platz / Leipziger Platz and discover remaining sections of Berlin Wall and a remaining watchtower. The tour also leads past Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin City Parliament (occupying the old Prussian Parliament building) and "Topography of Terror". It ends at former Checkpoint Charlie, where the guide describes in detail what happened in the dramatic days of October, 1961, when American and Soviet tanks faced each other here - fortunately the situation did not escalate any further.

The total tour time is 1,5 hours. It is possible to visit the Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie afterwards.

Tour of the historical centre of old Berlin
The famous boulevard of old Berlin "Unter den Linden" (Under the Linden trees, 1,4 km long) offers a fascinating selection of old architecture: e. g. the Old Arsenal of the Royal Prussian Army (today German History Museum), the German State's Opera, Humboldt University, Catholic St. Hedwig's Cathedral, and this is only the most prominent buildings. The guide will give detailed information on prominent buildings and their backgrounds.

The guide will take you inside a number of buildings - let yourself be surprised! The tour will also lead to Paris Square with Brandenburg Gate, the main symbol of Berlin, and to the square "Gendarmenmarkt" with its magnificent buildings from the 18th and 19th century. On nearby Friedrichstraße there is the fashionable new shopping arcade "Friedrichstadtpassagen" and the Berlin branch of Galeries Lafayettes, inaugurated in 1996. The impressive Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) and the neighboring Museum Island will be described. Its collections are included in UNESCO's list of World Cultural Heritage.

The required time for a walking tour of the historical centre of Berlin is between 2 and 3 hours.

Hackesche Höfe and the historic Jewish Quarter of Berlin
In the northern section of Berlin-Mitte (Berlin's central district) there is one of the liveliest quarters of the city with many restaurants and cafés, clubs and bars. Several old building complexes (late 19th century/early 20th century) grouped around a varying number of courtyards ("Höfe") have been recently renovated and become attractive locations for galleries, fashion designers and restaurants as well as for small theaters. The "Hackesche Höfe" (Hacke Courtyards) in particular enjoy enormous popularity. There is a multi-faceted nightlife in the whole area.

At the same time, the area around Oranienburger Straße and Hackescher Markt, in eastern direction to Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, is the main Jewish Quarter of old Berlin. Today, there is a revival of Jewish life in Berlin, and on the preserved front section of the beautiful New Synagogue of 1866 (now a Jewish Community Centre), the gilded dome, 50 metres tall, has been reconstructed authentically in 1991. There are other sights and many stories as well, and the guide on this tour will take you to interesting back yards that you might have overlooked on your own.

The required time for a walking tour as described is between 2 and 3 hours.

Berlin, the German capital
When Germany was re-unified in 1990, Berlin was made its capital. By 1999, the major institutions of Parliament and Government had been relocated from Bonn to Berlin. On the tour, the guide will explore with you the main Government Quarter also referred to as the "Spreebogen" (because it is an area neighboring a marked river bend of Spree river). The guide will shed light on the past and present of the area as well as of the government institutions and their functioning. The development of the urban design for the new Government Quarter will be explained. You will stand in front of the Reichstag building - it contains the new plenary hall of German Parliament "Deutscher Bundestag" - and learn more about its spectacular new glass dome, designed by the famous British architect Lord Norman Foster. You will look at the parliamentary office quarters Paul-Löbe-Haus, Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus and Jakob-Kaiser-Haus. Discover the "Reichstagspräsidentenpalais" (that is the old building which was formerly the seat of the Chairman ("President") of the old parliament "Reichstag"), the new kindergarten of the Government Quarter, and the Swiss Embassy.

The guide will relate the overall urban design concept "Band des Bundes" (Federal Belt), that has been (partly) realized according to plans of the Berlin-based architects Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank. The same architects designed the new Chancellory, seat of the German Chancellor (head of government) - which is located in the Spreebogen as well.

The tour takes between 1,5 and 2 hours. It is possible to include in the walking tour visits to nearby Paris Square with Brandenburg Gate, and to the former main street of government Wilhelmstraße. This requires additional time.

Modern Architecture in Berlin - re-uniting East and West
At Potsdamer Platz (Potsdam Square), at the heart of Berlin, an entire new city quarter has developed since the mid-1990s. The old buildings in that area were mostly destroyed in WW II, then the Berlin Wall was built right across Potsdamer Platz, dividing the city centre of Berlin. On the West-Berlin side, there was only a wasteland of huge dimensions. But this area has been intensely redeveloped by committed corporate investors such as DaimlerChrysler and Sony, who commissioned the erection of an entire new city quarter. Famous architects such as Renzo Piano/Christoph Kohlbecker, Helmut Jahn, Hans Kollhoff, Richard Rogers, Lauber & Wöhr, Josè Rafael Moneo, Arata Isozaki/Steffen Lehmann contributed their designs. At certain periods, over 5.000 construction workers were employed at the same time. Construction work was begun in 1994, and is partly still on-going.

You will get information about the past and present of Potsdamer Platz - a prominent commercial and entertainment centre at the heart of Berlin. The guide will describe the "fujiyama" roof construction of the Sony Center as well as the movie theatres used to hold the Berlinale international film festival every year and the film museum with its Marlene Dietrich Collection. The guide will point out remaining and re-established traces of old, pre-war Potsdamer Platz. The tour will also cover the new Beisheim Center and the redevelopment of adjacent Leipziger Platz.

The walking tour will last between 1,5 and 2 hours.

If you would like to book your tour or require further information, don't hestitate to contact us. Simply fill in the tour section of the Request form.