Today is our last day in Berlin and we had decided to sign up for a walking tour by the “Insider Tour”. There are many options to choose from and we opted for the “Famous Walk” one which is 4 hours long and it starts at Hackescher Market near Alexanderplatz. There are 2 timeslots at 10.30am and 2pm. We had gone for the first one so we will have the rest of the day to do other activities.
There is no prior registration needed and we paid cash, which is 14 Euro each pax, on the spot (we did arrived at least 15mins earlier). The nearest toilet I found is the one in Starbucks which is 0.50 Euro per person. I recommend going to the WC before the tour because the only break was about 2 hours later into the tour.
Ronan was our guide and he’s an Irish man who studied history and who has been living in Berlin for about 10 years. He’s very knowledgeable as well as humorous which made the walking tour much more enjoyable. He’s also always giving us the chance to ask questions which shows he’s quite confident of his knowledge of Berlin and its history.
We covered a wide area of the heart of Berlin, from Alexanderplatz -> Museum Island -> Berliner Dom -> Bebelplatz -> Gendarmenmarkt -> Checkpoint Charlie -> Topography of Terrors -> Site of Hilter’s Bunker -> Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe -> Brandenburg Gate which is where we finished up.
Because it is also 3rd Oct Germany Unification day, roads to Brandenburg Gate are blocked off. The road Strasse des 17 in the Tiergarten leading to the Brandenburg Gate was closed off to have carnivals, food and beer tents, pop up shops and also mini DJ stations.
I would definitely recommend going on the Famous Walk walking tour and if you get Ronan for your guide you will be lucky.
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Next, we took the S-bahn to the Berlin Central station to catch a river cruise by Reederei Riedel at the Pier Hauptbahnhof. The City Centre daily cruise departs every half an hour from this pier and it goes for 1hr returning to the same spot again. The weather while cold on the above deck was pleasant without any rain. During the cruise, someone will come and take your order for drinks if want any, and someone will come and take photos of you for later purchase if you wish. There is an English and German audio commentary played during the cruise although it can be a bit out of sync. The daily cruise is 15 Euro per pax and runs from 10am – 6pm. There are free toilets in the cruise boat and while I didn’t purchase any drinks, the prices looks reasonable (0.5L beer for 5Euro).
After the cruise, the sun actually showed its face for a while, so we decided to head towards Tiergarten and head back towards our hotel. It was a good choice because we made it to the carnival and settled dinner there with couple of bratwursts and Christmas has come early as I treat myself to a gluehwein and Craig got himself a freshly made crepe for dessert.
