Berlin in Depth 2025

At 6:45 PM, departure from Toronto to Amsterdam with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Arrival at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport at 6AM, and connecting flight to Berlin, Berlin, departing at 8:55 and arriving at 10:15. (Please note that all times are local times!) Transfer by private coach to the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst for a visit to the building that served as HQ to Marshal Zhukov during the last days of WW II  and hosted the final and unconditional German capitulation on May 8, 1945, now the German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst. We continue towards the historical city centre, known as Mitte, via the huge Soviet War Memorial in Treptow Park; the attractive Oberbaum Bridge across the Spree River; East Side Gallery, a collection of about 100 works of art painted directly on a preserved section of the Berlin Wall; and the long boulevard known as Karl-Marx Avenue but formerly named after Stalin, to Alexanderplatz, formerly the beating heart of  East Berlin. Crossing the historical city centre, known as Berlin Mitte, to be explored in detail later, we arrive at our hotel, the four-star/first-class Hotel Lindner Ku’damm, ideally situated in the heart of what used to be “West Berlin,” right on the most elegant stretch of the famous Kurfürstendamm Boulevard. Check in, and free time to settle in and get some rest. Before dinner in a restaurant near our hotel, there should be time for a short introductory walk along the lively “Ku’damm” with its elegant shops, restaurants, and interesting sights such as the Emperor William Memorial Church.

This morning, after breakfast, you will receive a pass for unlimited use on the city’s excellent public transportation system, including the efficient subway, the so-called U-Bahn.  

We start today’s program with a bus ride and leisurely walk through the huge Tiergarten Park, Berlin’s answer to New York’s Central Park or London’s Hyde Park, with sights such as the Victory Column (Siegessäule), Bellevue Palace, residence of the German president, the House of World Cultures, the Chancellor’s Office, and the Reichstag, the German Parliament; that imposing edifice was burned down at the time of the Nazi takeover and heavily damaged during the war; renovated in its entirety, the Reichstag now features an amazing glass cupola created by the famous architect Sir Norman Foster. On to the Brandenburg Gate, as emblematic of Berlin as the Eiffel Tower is of Paris. We end our walking tour at Pariser Platz (Paris Square), featuring famous buildings such as the French and US Embassies, the DZ-Bank (designed by Frank Gehry), and the prestigious historic Adlon Hotel, a favourite of politicians, journalists and spies in the Nazi era. We end today’s sightseeing program with a visit to the nearby Holocaust Memorial, virtually sitting on top of the underground bunker in which Hitler committed suicide! Return to the hotel by city bus in late afternoon. Dinner in a typical restaurant.

We continue our exploration of this great city with a bus ride back to the Brandenburg Gate and Paris Square. We stroll along the elegant Unter den Linden Boulevard,

via the Wilhelmstrasse, where Hitler’s Reich Chancellery used to be located, and past the monumental Russian embassy, to the city’s historical cradle, bursting with important sights: Humboldt University; the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great; the unusual memorial of the Nazi book burnings; the venerable old State Opera; the New Guardhouse (Neue Wache) with the moving war memorial designed by Käthe Kollwitz; the Arsenal (Zeughaus), now a museum of German history; the huge Lutheran Cathedral;  the Pleasure Garden (Lustgarten); and Palace Square, where the former imperial Schloss (palace) has recently risen from its ashes. On to the statue of Marx and Engels, the charming old Nicolai District, and Berlin’s old “Red City Hall.” We finish at Alexander Platz, the previously mentioned heart of former East Berlin, and its 365-meter-high TV-Tower. From here we return to our hotel via the S-Bahn, the excellent above-ground municipal and suburban railway system. A classical music concert is on our program for this evening.

This morning we resume our exploration of Berlin, starting with a bus ride to Potsdamer Platz. Before the war this was the busiest intersection in Europe, but after 1945 it became a bombed-out wasteland bisected by die Mauer, the Wall...The neighbourhood was revived in the 1990s as a dazzling complex of shops, restaurants, and the headquarters of Sony and other global corporations, featuring ultra-modern architecture by the likes of Renzo Piano. From here we stroll to the Wilhelmstrasse, once the nerve centre of Nazi power with buildings such as Göring’s Air Ministry, which is still there; so are the ruins of the infamous Gestapo headquarters and prisons. On via a preserved piece of the Berlin Wall to Checkpoint Charlie, where tourists used to cross the Berlin franchise of the Iron Curtain. Nostalgic for the bad old days of the Cold War? Visit the museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie! Continuing along the revived Friedrichstrasse, with its very high-end shops and department stores, we reach the trendy historic Gendarmenmarkt, a magnificent square featuring monuments such as the Berlin Konzerthaus with the statue of the poet Friedrich Schiller. You may want to stay in this attractive district for lunch and further exploration, enjoy a boat tour on the Spree River, or return by subway or bus to “West Berlin” in order to check out the fabulous department store KaDeWe, where the food section is claimed to be the world’s finest... 

Full-day excursion by private coach to the Prussian town of Potsdam, situated in an idyllic setting of forests and lakes on former East-German territory, for visits to the Versailles-style palace of King Frederick the Great, Schloss Sanssouci, as well as the Cecilienhof villa, site of the 1945 Potsdam Conference. On the way to Potsdam, we will view the Olympic Stadium, venue of the 1936 Olympics, cross the resort of Wannsee with its memories of the infamous conference of January 1942, where Himmler outlined Hitler’s plans for the Holocaust, and stop to photograph the notorious Glienicke Bridge, where captured spies used to be exchanged. Today, group lunch in Potsdam OR dinner in Berlin.

After breakfast, visit to the German Historical Museum, located in two architecturally remarkable buildings, the historic Arsenal (Zeughaus), and , which is being renovated for the next few years, and the modern exhibition hall by world-famous Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei. The rest of the day is free to explore the German capital on your own. How about a boat tour on the Spree River or a visit to the Reichstag, where you can enjoy a fabulous panoramic view of the city from the glass dome designed by another great architect, Sir Norman Foster, and perhaps stay for lunch in its rooftop restaurant?

This morning you will receive a Museum Pass, to be used during the next three days for visits to over 30 museums and monuments! (Many of these offer audio-systems, with explanation also in English; with the pass, you also avoid any lineups at the entrances.) After a general introduction to the Berlin museum scene, we travel by bus or subway to the so-called Museum Island in the historical city centre. The greatest stars of the Berlin museums are concentrated here, including the Old Museum, bursting with Greco-Roman antiquities; the New Museum, whose Egyptian Collection includes the world-famous Bust of Nefertiti, queen of the enigmatic Pharaoh Akhenaton; the Old National Gallery, focusing on 19th-century art, including French impressionists; the Bode Museum, highlighting Byzantine and Renaissance art. The Pergamon Museum, fabulous not only on account of the great Hellenistic Pergamon Altar but also other amazing monuments such as Babylon’s Ishtar Gate, is also located here but is unfortunately closed for major renovations until 2027. 

On these three days you may of course also simply “do your own thing” and visit any of the 30-plus museums, covered by your museum pass, at your leisure, such as such as the German Museum of Technology, the Jewish Museum (with Daniel Liebeskind’s fabulous architecture), or the Käthe Kollwitz Museum near our hotel. 

< Bust of Nefertiti (Wikimedia Commons photo by Philip Pikart)  

Your last day in Berlin is entirely at leisure, except for this evening’s Auf Wiedersehen-dinner in a typical restaurant.

After an early breakfast, transfer to the airport and return flight to Toronto, via Amsterdam. Departure from Berlin at 10:10AM and arrival in Amsterdam at 11:35AM; departure from Amsterdam at 1:25PM and arrival at 4:40PM.