Walking tour of Berlin - with google maps

Berlin, a city of epic history and ultra trendy watering holes! Being the last stop on our mini Euro-Rail trip and running low on spending money I opted to create a cool wee walking tour that took in some of the city most famous sights with a finishing point in a bar where each table has its own beer tap!

If your heading to Berlin why not download my Google Map way points and you too can check out these awesome sights, or if you're feeling brave try the Epic Tour which really takes in pretty much ever sight Berlin has to offer. Remember you can download Google maps for offline use so you can avoid this rip off data charges!

First off if you are feeling super adventurous then try out my epic bike tour, I had great hopes of doing this myself but crumbled on the day since it looked like way too much effort.

Epic Bike Tour (or 2/3 day walking tour) 

• Google Maps - Way points and directions

Walking Tour

• Google Maps - Way points and directions

The walking tour starts at the Zoo (you can get a over ground/underground train there - Berlin Zoologischer Garden Station) or you could just pick up the tour at any point you wish. Here are some of the top sights along the way. If you do start at the zoo, pop into the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, instead of re-building the church after the war they instead opted to leave what remained and build an incredible memorial church next door using glass from the original church.

From here take a walk through the park until you reach the Victory Column and then onwards through the park until you reach the Brandenburg Gates.

Next if you swing a left you can walk around the Reichstag building which housed the original political party of the German Empire prior to being set alight in 1933 (no one knows why) but this fire damaged the building allowing Hitler and the Nazis to push through there own political rules and gain more power.

Take a walk right round the building and you will end up at the back of the Brandenburg gates, built in the 1800's by a Prussian King and formed part of a series of gates to fortify the city. It became even more famous after the second world war where it became part of the belie wall and no longer served as a gate. Today you can walk freely through the gate and it's hard to not take a moment to imagine how much history the ground below the gates holds.

Moving on to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe you will find yourself in a very uncomfortable memorial, with the stones not representing tombstones but of anarchy and disarray by all being different sizes and none sitting straight. You can visit the museum here for free and I highly recommend you do, it's hard to display the magnitude of the suffering places upon Jews and minorities during the war but the museum does well to illustrate personal stories from people who were part of it.

OK so it might be time for something a little more positive on this tour, so next were off to Check Point Charlie. A famous gate point between east Germany and west Germany, here you will find a replica check point with costumed American soldiers a little down the road of where the original stood (if you want to see the original you can find it re-built in the Berlin Wall museum).

Stop off at Charlies Beach for a quick drink before heading onwards to Bebelplatz Square where you will find a subtle memorial to the burning of books. A small glass window on the ground shows an empty library to signify the burning of all books by Jewish written during the second world war.

How about a coffee stop and ever wonder what those big bright pipes are located all round the city? Well wonder no more, no there not art work or some sort of trick, there just water pipes and instead of having them underground they have put them over ground.

Heading closer to the centre of Berlin you will find Museum Island, I would recommend picking your fav one and coming back the next day to save time during this tour. We went back to the DDR museum, its one that contains communist propaganda and shows life in East Berlin.

Nearing the end of the tour you start to see the TV Tower which built in the 1960's was a great spot for communist police to keep an eye on the people of East Berlin. Today you can head up for a great view of Berlin or have dinner on the 360 deg rotating restaurant. We had dinner at the top of the tower (book here) and although expensive (€85 each) it was well worth it for the views, its also worth Googling what time sunset is at and booking a table then to really get some incredible views of Berlin at sundown while you eat.

Last stop on the tour is an awesome burger and beer bar (the pub) where each table has its own tap where you can pull your own pints (and pay by the ml). With a nice atmosphere, great food and as much drink as you can manage this place is a must stop even if you don't take the whole tour.

Well I hope you liked this tour and enjoyed reading the little bits of history I learned when I was there. Let me know if you can recommend any other places for my next visit to this awesome city!