Make your own way to Zoologischer Garten station (Zoo Station) in the heart of West Berlin to meet your guide and embark on your 4-hour walking tour.
Start with a walk through the government quarter with its huge chancellery and glitzy new government offices. While admiring the buildings, learn about Germany’s political administration, which has been heavily influenced by the country’s tempestuous past.
Continue on to Potsdamer Platz, an important public square that was devastated during World War II and later split in half by the Berlin Wall. Erected during the Cold War, the wall divided the city into two halves (West Berlin and East Berlin) until the late 1980s.
Here, see remarkable new buildings that have filled in gaps produced by years of war and division, and view gorgeous new parks that have replaced industrial wastelands. As you stroll, listen to your guide share stories of the challenges Berlin faced in connecting a city that had been divided for so long.
Next, stroll through the legendary neighborhood of Kreuzberg, the heart of Berlin’s thriving art scene and immigrant community. Admire some of the area’s most renowned street art and graffiti pieces, and see old buildings that have been transformed into artist spaces, studios and exhibition rooms. Stop to visit one of these venues, the Kunstquartier Bethanien, and learn about the old hospital that was saved from being torn down in the 1970s by local citizens.
Your tour ends in the hip Friedrichshain neighborhood near the East Side Gallery.