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Published: June 30th 2014
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Free walking tour of Historic Berlin: The Mitte
Included Checkpoint Charlie, The berlin Wall, The Holocaust Memorial and much more.
There is so much to do here in Berlin it is a challenge to figure out what to do. This is definitely a tourist city and there are tours of practically everything that charge about 15 Euros each. Taking a tour of everything can break the bank in a heartbeat and… from speaking with other people it seems unnecessary. At the hostel I am at, St. Christopher’s Inn, they have a free walking tour of the historic part of berlin on a daily basis. Before getting too excited, this is put on by a big company in Berlin in order to get you to sign up for their other tours. It’s ok…free is free!
The tour meets up at 10:15 am in the lobby of the hostel—which for your reference is a very happening bar (more on that later). From there a tour guide took us to the U-Bahn station at Rosa-Luxenberg Strasse- the entrance is right across from the hostel. We all fumble around purchasing one day passes for the train. It costs about 1.60 Euro for
one way and about 6.70 euros for a day pass so it makes perfect sense to purchase a day pass----EXCEPT---there are other options. There is a Welcome Pass that the city promotes big time! This pass includes unlimited usage for five days on the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, buses and trams and gives discounts to certain museums etc. The Welcome pass costs around 38 euros, which seems like a good deal until you realize there is also a 7-day pass which is around 28 euros. My friends and I chose the 7 day pass.
We all got on the U2 train and headed to Alexanderplatz, a station one stop from the hostel. From there we quickly followed our tour guide like little sheep through the maze of stairs and shops which makes up the Alexanderplatz station. The next 15 minutes of train rides was a blur. We watched the tour guide carefully to quickly moved from train to train, often only on each train for a stop. It felt much like the game ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ as a kid-except not as much fun! Finally though, we ended up at a destination with hundreds of other tourists. We were
separated into groups and paired with a tour guide.
The tour guide we were paired with was spectacular! He was an Australian guy who has been living in Berlin for a year or so. He mixed his presentation with historical facts, humor, and very funny but insistent pleas for everyone to tip at the end of the tour-they work on tips alone. Oh, and during the one break we took- at a Starbucks of all places- they try to get you to sign up for the company’s other paid tours. There were about 60 of us in the group and I could tell from the beginning that he had gained positive favor with many of the older women amongst us.
The tour lasted about two hours or so. It moved quickly- so if you do one of these free tours be prepared to walk quickly and not dilly daddle. There is no lolly gagging at the sites and exploring. You are quickly making the paces from one historic point of interest to the next. Wear good shoes….and if you don’t want to get wet-bring an umbrella! I have learned it can rain in Berlin at any moment.
I am very geographically challenged. Combine this fact with the feeling of being spun around blindfolded in an underground tunnel- I really had no clue where in the city we were! After completion of the tour I was able to sit down and look at the map and it turns out—we could have easily walked to the meeting place or gotten there with only one transfer of the train! I have since learned to avoid switching trains at Alexanderplatz-we have affectionately renamed this station the ‘stairmaster station’ due to its many stairs.
The free tour was very valuable to go on because you do get your feet wet in the city. You also learn a great deal about the many key historic sites in the city-just enough to get you oriented enough to explore the area again on your own. Attached are pictures I took during the tour and also when I returned to the many sites later on my own. Enjoy!
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