Driving a Trabi car was on our agenda in Berlin so today we went to the Trabi World for a Trabi Safari tour. We signed up for the 11.30am tour and we are lucky there wasn’t many signed up (probably because the weather wasn’t great but it wasn’t raining too much which was good for us). We had chosen the 1hr 15mins tour (49 Euro each person) which is about 1hr driving with 15mins for briefing. There was 6 trabi cars including the instructor’s car in our tour.
We were given a chance to practice with the gear shift on a mock up before the tour starts. Our guide, who was formally living in East Germany, was really good at explaining how the car works, and what we need to do and not do during the tour. He’s pretty humorous too. We can pick a car of our choice if we are quick enough but we settled on a car that looks alright cosmetically. Unfortunately one of the cars broke down during the trip and they had to get a replacement car so there was a bit of waiting time, but our guide smartly filled the waiting time with explaining to us the Trabi engine which kept a lot of us interested. We also drove through many other places with the guide giving us a commentary through the radio. The guide is always looking out for all of us and making sure we stay as a group, and making frequent stops if any Trabi gets left behind. During the trip, the last Trabi car missed a turn and got separated from the group and the driver radioed the guide. The guide immediately told the lost Trabi to stay where they are and he drove to pick them up and bring them back to the group. As he explained it, he is the mother duck and we are the ducklings and he will make sure we are all safe and accounted for.
I think if you are comfortable with driving a manual gear shift you should give the Trabi Safari tours a go as they take very good care of their customers and it is great fun driving the car (confirmed by Craig). They even handed out a “driving passport” post the tour – something which is like a driving licence in the Cold War days in East Germany.
video on the Trabi car before taking off
The prices are a bit dear and that’s why we opt for the 1hr 15mins route. There are toilets onsite for 0.50 Euro per use. You can also visit the Trabi Museum down the road for 50% discount. For both of us, it was 5 Euro (2.50 Euro after 50% discount). The Trabi Museum is a very small one but for 2.50 Euro it is ok.
Our next stop is the “How could it Happen Hilter” Museum. This is a museum about Hilter’s life and why so many people supported Hilter and his party. The museum is in the actual bunker used during WW2 and the connection with the Anhalter Bahnhof train station. It exhibits about Hilter’s life as a child, his pre-politician life, how he got into politics, and how he became the Chancellor, the leader of the Nazi party and driving the war and how his life ended.
Summary:
Admission: 12 euro/adults
Combination Tickets with Berlin Story Museum: 13.50 Euro
Audio guide (device): + 1.50 Euro
Opening hours: 10am – 7pm
WC/Restrooms : Yes (Free)
Photos: Not allowed
Location: S1, S2, SS25 Anhalter Bahnhof.
U2, U3 Mendelssohn Bartholdy Park, Gleisdreieck,
U1, U2, U3 Gleisdreieck,
U1, U3, U7 Mockernbruke
We didn’t get the ticket to Berlin Story Museum and lucky for us, we only finish the “How could it Happen Hilter” Museum around 6.30pm (so we spent a total of 3.5hrs there). It is very interesting to see the actual bunker and to see the photos exhibited. If you have enough time in Berlin this is one recommended place to visit.
