There’s no other city in the world like Berlin, Germany, from its incredibly rich and dramatic history to the subcultures which thrive within the metropolis, today.

As versatile and complex as it is, there isn’t an incorrect way to experience it, though it does deserve more than just a surface look. I think it’s best to be discovered with a local guide at the helm, who knows this special place like the back of their hand.

That’s why I’ve come up with a curated guide to the 5 top Berlin city tours out there, that are well worth your time and money. Let’s dive right in!

Best Tours of Berlin City

	Private Berlin Highlights and Hidden Sights Walking Tour	Berlin City Tour in a Mini Hotrod	Private Walking Tour: World War 2 and Cold War Sites in Berlin
Location:	Hotel pickup and drop-off included	Revaler Str. 99, 10245 Berlin	Hotel pickup and drop-off included
Start:	Between 8:00 AM & 5:00 PM	Between 8:00 AM & 7:00 PM	Between 8:00 AM & 4:30 PM
Duration:	3 to 4 hours	1.5 hours	3 to 4 hours
Includes:	Professional expert local guide, customizable private walking tour	Use of helmet, driver/guide, Use of Hot Rod, Petrol/Gas, liability insurance	Professional guide, roundtrip transportation, customizable tour
	Tour Information & Booking	Tour Information & Booking	Tour Information & Booking

Quick Answer: The 5 Best Rated Berlin City Tours For 2025

1. Private Berlin Highlights and Hidden Sights Walking Tour
2. Berlin City Tour in a Mini Hotrod
3. Private Walking Tour: World War 2 and Cold War Sites in Berlin
4. Berlin Private Custom 3-Hour Tour by Car
5. Private Tour: Berlin by Trabant Stretch-Limousine

Berlin City Tour Reviews

1. Private Berlin Highlights and Hidden Sights Walking Tour

There’s something to be said for having a truly personalized, private exploration of Berlin – a rare opportunity to experience some of the city’s most iconic sites along with plenty of the more hidden treasures.

The Private Berlin Highlights and Hidden Sights Walking Tour offers all that and more, with this in-depth immersion into Berlin’s fascinating past, dynamic present, and electric culture all led by an expert guide.

You can select between various start times to ensure it works with your existing schedule, as well as either the 3-hour or 4-hour walking tour. They largely cover the same sites, though the latter goes a bit more in-depth – particularly to sites relevant to WWII and the Reichstag.

So, if you’re a WWII buff like I am, I highly recommend you choose the latter – you’ll cover so much in that extra hour! If this is your first time in the city, I highly recommend this tour as you really dive into the deep end here.

The tour starts with a convenient hotel pickup so no worrying about finding meetup points or anything like that. He took us right into important WWII spots like Checkpoint Charlie, the East Side Gallery, and the Berlin Wall Memorial – we even got to see where Hitler’s bunker was (hint: you can’t really see it today as the city didn’t want the “wrong” kind of tourism).

I really appreciated the respectful way in which our guide approached the subjects, as you will talk a lot about touchy matters, considering it has to do with countless victims.

We of course got to see the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag Building, the stunning Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (one of my favorite pieces of architecture), and so much more.

As this was a completely private tour, our guide even asked at the beginning if we had any specific interests or desired attractions we’d like to add to our list, which made it doubly intriguing.

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience

2. Berlin City Tour in a Mini Hotrod

If you don’t have much time in Berlin and really want to maximize your sightseeing, you’re in luck with this next tour. The Berlin City Tour in a Mini Hotrod is a one-of-a-kind way to ride through the center of the German capital.

With the freedom of being in an open-air vehicle, you’ll feel more connected to your surroundings while being able to navigate much easier than you would in a coach or even a regular car!

Clocking in at just 1.5 hours, the tour is a quick one with plenty of start times available to make it ultra-easy to fit into your schedule. However, just because it’s a shorter one doesn’t mean it’s in any way lacking in sightseeing!

Combining efficiency with authenticity, you’ll get to either drive or sit in the back of a fun roadster for a perspective you can’t get anywhere else.

We started off by meeting up with our guide to get situated in our roadsters and don our helmets, setting off towards the famous Television Tower, passing by the Unter Den Linden – one of the oldest intersections in the city.

Driving past the huge Brandenburg Gate was something special, taking a break to learn how it once symbolized division, and now unity of the city. We had plenty of time to take photos here as well as Potsdamer Platz, which is a great spot for you to grab some food or do some shopping during the rest of your time in Berlin (I always pick up some clothes here at a great price).

No tour is complete without a trip to what’s left of the Berlin Wall at the infamous East Side Gallery, perfectly encapsulating Berliners’ resilience, creativity, and culture. After, you have the rest of the day to explore or go back to spots you found particularly interesting!

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience

3. Private Walking Tour: World War 2 and Cold War Sites in Berlin

Calling all history buffs – specifically those who have a special interest in World War 2 and the Cold War! This next tour should head straight to the top of your list, taking you through the city’s turbulent past with a highly curated itinerary designed by private expert guides.

The Private Walking Tour: World War 2 and Cold War Sites in Berlin is customizable, so you’re practically guaranteed to have a few hours seeing purely things you are interested in and leaving out the rest.

With the flexibility of a private tour, you can decide on the perfect start time for you and your party’s schedule and be picked up from your hotel whenever’s best for you.

Expect far beyond any type of generic, uninspired tour – you’re in the hands of a local expert who explains Berlin’s resilient modernity and the rough past with a more nuanced understanding of how it’s evolved through wars and division.

We first saw the Reichstag Building and learned about Albert Speer’s (the first architect of the Third Reich) plans for Germania, as well as the struggle from Stalingrad through the fall of the Third Reich’s Capital.

We went through the Brandenburg Gate before making the short walk over to the sobering Holocaust Memorial, taking time to walk through it and really soak in the feelings of great loss and inhumanity caused by these atrocities.

We made a few other relevant historical stops before arriving at the infamous Checkpoint Charlie, learning about the division of East and West Berlin and how its citizens had no warning – literally waking up one day to find their city divided.

This caused countless stories of consequential espionage, crazy escape attempts (learn about the family who basically ziplined across the wall!), and the separation of families and friends.

You’ll visit plenty of other important hotspots like the East Side Gallery and the Topography of Terror (I recommend spending some more time here later), but one of the highlights for me was visiting the old NKVD (which came before the KGB) prison.

I hadn’t seen this on any other Berlin city tour, and it was very interesting – albeit a bit disturbing – to learn about their more advanced methods of extracting information.

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience

4. Berlin Private Custom 3-Hour Tour by Car

In a city as dynamic and multifaceted as Berlin, one of the most convenient ways to explore is through the luxury of flexibility with a local expert who can lead the way.

The Berlin Private Custom 3-Hour Tour by Car feels a bit more luxe than the rest, as it’s an exclusive experience purely catered to you and your personal interests relating to the city.

Whether you’re super into art, history, architecture, or food, or simply want to check out those hidden gems off the beaten path, this tour delivers it all in a well-organized, seamless event.

This tour kicks off with a convenient pickup right from your hotel lobby in a comfortable air-conditioned minivan around 8:30 am, so you’ll be back in time for lunch. While I think walking tours are perfect for this city, you really do cover more ground when taking a car tour.

Not to mention, it’s a fantastic alternative for those who can’t feasibly do the walking tour – or if you want to avoid the heat during the summertime. As it is entirely private, you get to decide where you go and don’t go, or simply leave it up to your guide to curate a tour for you.

We chose the latter, with more of a specific focus on architecture, seeing everything from the Reichstag Building and Brandenburg Gate to the Holocaust Memorial and Gendarmenmarkt. Gendarmenmarkt is a wonder for those who really appreciate incredible art and architecture, and I’d say it’s easily the most visually stunning square in the entire city.

We also went to the Kaufhaus Des Westens which is ideal for shopping for yourself or for gifts, and made a stop at Museum Island, which houses various museums (check out the Neues Museum if you have time later on).

Our guide did a wonderful job of explaining both the east and west to us, making all kinds of fun and unique stops along the way which only further enriched our time together. I’d recommend this one for families with kids, specifically, as it’s just so convenient and the guide is great at keeping their attention!

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience

5. Private Tour: Berlin by Trabant Stretch-Limousine

If you want to really travel around Berlin in style, look no further than the Private Tour: Berlin by Trabant Stretch-Limousine. It’s a fun few hours perfect for friend groups who are out celebrating, or simply enjoy the finer things in life!

There’s nowhere else in the world where you’re going to see a Trabant Stretch-Limousine, either, as the style of original car were very popular in East Germany when the city was divided, and today is considered an iconic symbol of Berlin.

You get to pick your start time and decide when you’ll be picked up from your hotel, though morning tours always seem to be a bit more convenient as the sites are usually less crowded.

Our driver/tour guide was super friendly and very well-versed in just about everything “Berlin”, and as he had a mic, we heard all of his educational commentary and anecdotes amplified throughout the limo.

The limo itself was very comfortable, with air conditioning, bottled water, and even some light snacks were provided! Our guide did a great job of enthusiastically explaining the different sites and related history, and we made plenty of stops along the way to get out and take photos, and explore.

This is one tour I’d truly recommend to anyone of any age or background, with our guide making sure nothing was ever boring or rushed. If it’s your first day in Berlin and you want to get a lay of the land, this is the tour for you!

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience