Meet your expert guide in the morning at our East meeting point and start your half-day walking tour through this eclectic city.
Head to the gentrified neighborhood of Mitte, located in the historical city center along the River Spree, and see old buildings beautifully restored from their previously neglected state after the fall of the Berlin Wall. As you explore the winding courtyard passages, your guide will point out examples of the post-unification cultural scene and inform you about this hub where art, consumerism and technological innovation flourish.
Next, visit Prenzlauer Berg, a formerly working-class district now transformed into a vibrant area with its influx of young families, entrepreneurs and fashionable trendsetters. Visit the Kulturbrauerei (Culture Brewery), a well-preserved 19th-century brewery complex renovated into a cultural arts center that includes cinemas, theaters and clubs.
Learn about East Berlin’s demographic upheaval as you listen to your guide chronicle historic changes that led to the city’s cultural transformation. Then, head to Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, fascinating districts formerly divided by the Berlin Wall, where the residents’ traditional left-wing politics are now challenged by new influences.
Visit the East Side Gallery, a half-mile (1.3-km) section of the Berlin Wall displaying more than one hundred original mural paintings expressing freedom and reconciliation. As you stop to admire the images, you’ll discuss the origins and political messages of Berlin's street art scene with your guide.
The tour ends with a crescendo at the infamous Turkish Market, an outdoor bazaar on the banks of the beautiful Landwehr canal. The weekly market has grown beyond its origins of fresh produce, authentic Turkish cuisine and bolts of brightly patterned fabric, today you can find Berlin artisans, local farmers and impromptu live music too, truly a representation of city's diverse population.