welltraveledbrit

We are off to Berlin for 8 days next week and several friends have recommended we take a walking tour but none of them can remember the company they used, very helpful!. We are interested art, history architecture etc which seem to the the main topic covered in these things. Does anyone on the board have a company, guide or tour they would recommend. We've used Context in the past in both Rome and London, in fact we used them back when they were still known as Scala Reale!

We also be interested in a Street Art Walking Tours as we've taken some good ones in Berlin and London.

Anyway we are probably interested in a small group format rather than a private tour. Has anyone used these guys?

http://www.slowtravelberlin.com

Thanks for any help it is much appreciated.

Mainhattengirl

I have been on 5 different tours with Insider Tours and always recommend them. If you do want a private tour though, then check out Jeremy, the Berlin Expert.

Jeff801

We had very good trips with Berlin Walks, an affiliate of London Walks.

welltraveledbrit

Thanks very much for the recommendations, I'll take a closer look at these two.

I must admit given all the buzz we've heard about Berlin for years and years I'm surprised how little discussion there is about it as a destination on Fodors.

dfourh

Distances can be a bear in Berlin (that is their mascot, don't you know) - - if easy biking on easy, comfy bikes with huge tires is a possible option for you you might consider a bike tour instead: http://berlin.fattirebiketours.com/

macanimals

Last Fall we spent 6 nights in Berlin and enjoyed it thoroughly. Upon arriving we took an Insider Walking tour, there are several with different themes. We appreciated the several hour overview of some of the main monuments and history behind them. We were then able to follow up with visits to the individual sites. Its a fascinating city and we highly recommend the Insider tours.
You will understand the 'buzz' once you have experienced the vibrancy and multi-cultural aspects of this very historical city which is not hiding its past.

welltraveledbrit

Thanks for the tips. The bike tour sounds very practical but I'm too uncoordinated to even try. Last year I drove an electric bike right into a brick bollard at Bagan in Burma. It fell over and I almost died laughing, I'll probably stay away from bikes for a while!

The overview walking tour sounds like a great introduction to the city. We are very excited to finally be making it to Berlin. I'm embarrassed it has taken me this long to visit Germany.

welltraveledbrit

For a variety of reasons I don't know if I'm going to get around to a Berlin trip report as I'm still catching up with London on my blog. But I though it might be useful to report on my Berlin walking tour experience, in essence answering my own question!

We took three walking tours over the eight days and I can highly recommend

http://www.slowtravelberlin.com

First we took their Street Art Walking Tour which I highly recommend. WE very much enjoyed this tour and the guide was fabulous, so generous he spent hours and hours with us because we were enthusiastic.

http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/tour...eet-art-scene/

and then a Literary Walk which covered Brecht, Benjamin and a number of more recent authors.
http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/tour...terature-tour/

I would have loved to have taken some of their neighborhood walks which seem to cover urbanism, city planning and history but either they clashed with other plans we had or weren't running. You can see all the ones they offer here

http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/tours/

I can't say enough good things about this company. These are small group walks, reasonably priced and well done, overall highly recommended. This is an experience that goes beyond a purely commercial endeavor. You get a good sense for who they are on their website which also has lots of Berlin recommendations.

The third tour we went on was also very good, a tour of Christopher Isherwood's Berlin. Great for anyone interested in Isherwood or LGBT history. We really enjoyed it, it's a well organized walk and Brendan has it down to a science. He really is THE expert, the archive on his website is full of fantastic stuff. A very good deal at 12 euro each.

http://www.cabaret-berlin.com/?p=482

Hope this helps anyone heading to Berlin.