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-   -   Berlin Tour Guide (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/berlin-tour-guide-346833/)

edb1colorado Apr 20th, 2008 01:49 PM

Berlin Tour Guide
 
My friends and I had the privilege of spending a day with Jeremy Minsberg as our private tour guide in Berlin. Starting from the Brandenbug Gate, we luckily had a short line at the Reichstag and an amazing view and scene of Berlin from the new dome. We walked for hours and hours, ate, relaxed, had a drink and were thoroughly immersed in the history, architecture, traditions and stories of old, new, Jewish, gay and modern Berlin from a guide with an encyclopedic knowledge of the city and its history. Little and seemingly insignificant points took on great significance with Jeremy's explanation. We walked by a hospital in the eastern part of the city and Jeremy explained why (rather than a red cross) there was a red box painted on the building some 60 years ago.

Jeremy is easy-going, totally knowledgeable and reliable, and certainly the best tour guide I've ever had the privilege of working with. And, to know that he contributes a portion of what we pay to charity made a wonderful day take on even more significance. Jeremy guided a group of 8 guys with diplomacy, aplomb and kept our interest throughout an 9-hour day. I can't recommend him or his Berlin tour guide services more highly

www.theberlinexpert.com

annhig Apr 20th, 2008 02:51 PM

mmm edb, you do know that advertising is not permitted here don't you?

why not tell us about the rest of your doubtless wonderful trip?

regards, ann

infantinos Jun 13th, 2008 11:15 AM

Thank you for this recommendation! This is exactly what I was looking for.

To annhig - please don't scold this person for posting a recommendation. The reason why people come to these boards is for helpful tips and suggestions.

noe847 Jun 13th, 2008 11:27 AM

Well, people do come for tips and reports, but not for thinly veiled advertisements (which are not permitted here at any rate).

Invariably when a person's first post is a recommendation of a particular business you can pretty much bet that it's an advert.

When are you headed to Berlin infantinos? There are lots of reports and tips on the forums for the city, btw.

infantinos Jun 13th, 2008 11:39 AM

We have a meeting in Berlin in just two weeks. A colleague of mine is looking for a tour to do on her first day and I am doing research for her.

She has not given me her specifics yet - whether she wants a

group tour or solo
walking vs bus
Architectural or Art or Historic

Length
Time of day
Price she wants to spend

If you have any recommendations I would love to hear! Thank you.


traveller69 Jun 13th, 2008 12:10 PM

We are using http://www.afriendinberlin.de/ so don't have a report just read a recommendation on cruisecritic.com. She has been verg cooperative in helping us make arrangements etc. So hopefully everything will go smoothly (we are doing this as a shore excursion so it is more expensive to be picked up at the ship)

infantinos Jun 13th, 2008 12:13 PM

That looks great! And the site is in English so it is easy to read.

Thank you for sharing.

noe847 Jun 13th, 2008 12:18 PM

For my first trip to Berlin, I looked at doing a walkig tour for part of a day. As it turned out, I did not end up taking a tour (most of the things that the intro tours cover I saw in the course of the week I was there).

One guide I saw highly recommended was by Terry Brewer. He is not doing as many tours as he used to, but there are other guides in his company:
http://www.brewersberlintours.com/
Terry himself does a varied tour on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Other companies offering walking tours:
http://www.berlinwalks.de/
http://www.newberlintours.com/nbt/
and
http://www.insidertour.com/

Most of these companies offer a free half day walking tour (I think tips are encouraged).

For the tours that cover a lot of ground, there will be a combination of walking and riding public transporation.

Some of these offer bicycle tours.

Some of the specialty tours look very interesting, and I know that I've seen trip reports on here from people who've done tours. I'll look in my files and report back if I find any of those reports.

carolinetaylor Jun 13th, 2008 01:55 PM

We did the Third Reich tour with Insider Tours and it was very interesting.

I found it well worth the money and the guide very informative, telling us some less well known details about Berlin during WW2

infantinos Jun 16th, 2008 03:14 PM

Thank you to all of you for your suggestions. This is really helpful. I keep on seeing the Third Reich tour pop up in the threads. I think will be sure to show my colleague that one in addition to the other sites.

sheila Oct 2nd, 2008 03:25 AM

Guys, are these all walking tours. We could use a private minibus tour sometime next week. Any recommendations?

sssteve Oct 2nd, 2008 04:02 AM

This turned into an interesting thread, but I wonder where "edb1colorado" disappeared to...

sheila Oct 2nd, 2008 11:38 PM

anyone?

siyathomas88 Dec 3rd, 2010 07:30 PM

When I've visited first time in Berlin, the free walking tour was like an excellent idea to start. We get to know the information, fun sides and stories that really makes Berlin and it's history, live. This tour was one of my best tour I have ever think of.
http://www.europevoyage.net/top-10-t...in-berlin.html


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