Start the tour

Self-guided free tour

Historic Mitte: From the Brandenburg Gate to the Reichstag

Free · no booking Loop route

Duration
2 h 30 min approx.
Distance
5.8 km on foot
Stops
10 stops

A loop through the historic heart of Berlin: the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust memorial, the Gendarmenmarkt, the square of the book burning, Unter den Linden, the Humboldt Forum, the cathedral, Museum Island, the Palace of Tears and the Reichstag. Kings, dictatorship, the Wall and reunification in ten stops. Almost six kilometres and two and a quarter hours, not counting time inside the buildings.

Start and end Brandenburg Gate & Pariser Platz

Get there

The route

The 1 marks where the tour starts and ends.

The 10 stops

At each one, a story of about two minutes.

  1. 1

    Brandenburg Gate & Pariser Platz Start

    330 m · 5 min on foot

  2. 2

    Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

    1.2 km · 18 min on foot

  3. 3

    Gendarmenmarkt

    410 m · 6 min on foot

  4. 4

    Bebelplatz & the Empty Library

    270 m · 4 min on foot

  5. 5

    Unter den Linden & the Neue Wache

    430 m · 6 min on foot

  6. 6

    Humboldt Forum

    260 m · 4 min on foot

  7. 7

    Lustgarten & Berlin Cathedral

    480 m · 7 min on foot

  8. 8

    Museum Island

    790 m · 11 min on foot

  9. 9

    Tränenpalast, the Palace of Tears

    1.1 km · 16 min on foot

  10. 10

    Reichstag

    460 m · 7 min back to the start

  11. Back at Brandenburg Gate & Pariser Platz

    The tour ends where it started.

How it works

  1. 1. Get to the start

    Head to the starting point and tap “Start the tour”.

  2. 2. Listen

    At each stop, tap “I'm here” and listen to the story.

  3. 3. Follow the map

    Follow the map to the next stop. No rush.

Before you set off

Bring headphones and a charged phone: audio and map use up battery.

  • It is a loop: you finish where you started.
  • Stop whenever you like. Your progress is saved on this phone.
  • The route and the texts load when you start, so it keeps working with patchy coverage.
  • The walk stays outdoors. The time does not include going inside the buildings.
  • Available in Spanish and English.
Photo credits
  • 1. Brandenburg Gate & Pariser Platz: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 2. Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe: Mario Duhanic · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 3. Gendarmenmarkt: Ansgar Koreng · CC BY 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons
  • 4. Bebelplatz & the Empty Library: A.Savin · FAL · Wikimedia Commons
  • 5. Unter den Linden & the Neue Wache: Ansgar Koreng · CC BY 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons
  • 6. Humboldt Forum: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel... · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 7. Lustgarten & Berlin Cathedral: JoachimKohler-HB · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 8. Museum Island: Bernt Rostad, https://www.flickr.com/... · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 9. Tränenpalast, the Palace of Tears: Krueger · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons
  • 10. Reichstag: Jörg Braukmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons