This 6-hour tour with a vehicle takes you to the heart of Potsdam’s UNESCO-listed palace gardens to see the pomp and grandeur of the Prussian monarchy and also explores the origins of the Cold War.
Potsdam was a city of kings – a German Versaille where the Hohenzollern monarchy of Prussia constructed lavish palaces in which they could spend their summers. It was also the setting for the Potsdam Conference, where geopolitical giants Josef Stalin, Harry Truman and Winston Churchill met in the summer of 1945 to seal the post-war fate of Germany and Europe.
Your professional, local guide and a driver will meet you in Berlin, either at your hotel or a pre-arranged meeting point. You will then drive to Potsdam via Wannsee (circa 45 minutes to 1-hour) to cross the Glienicke Brücke, the ‘Bridge of Spies’, where the US and Soviet Union swapped captured agents during the Cold War.
From here you will head into the New Gardens to see the Marble Palace across the Heiliger See lake. Next is the British country house-inspired Cecilienhof Palace, to see where ‘The Big Three’ finalised the division of Europe and Germany, and where the Cold War began, at the Potsdam Conference. You will then drive to Potsdam’s downtown, entering the historical centre through the gothic-revivalist Nauen Gate, walking via the Dutch Quarter to Potsdam’s Brandenburg Gate – built to celebrate Frederick the Great’s triumphs in the Silesian Wars.
From the Brandenburg Gate the tour enters the lavish Sanssouci Gardens through the Church of Peace, burial site of various Prussian monarchs, and passes the Picture Gallery. You will then approach Frederick the Great’s iconic Sanssouci Palace, the heart and soul of Potsdam, from the bottom of its magnificent tiered vineyard. Walking round the entirety of the palace you will see the grave of Frederick the Great – and learn why locals pile potatoes on top of it instead of flowers – the Ruinenberg, and the historic windmill. Lastly you will drive on to the Neues Palais, to marvel at the most grandiose of all the palaces on the Potsdam palace grounds.
At the end of the tour your guide will accompany you back to Berlin to drop you off at your hotel or a pre-arranged drop-off point. There will be regular bathroom and refreshment breaks throughout the tour.
Sights included: Glienicke Brücke (‘Bridge of Spies’), New Gardens, Marble Palace, Cecilienhof, Nauen Gate, Dutch Quarter, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Brandenburg Gate, Church of Peace, Picture Gallery, Sanssouci Palace, Grave of Frederick the Great, Ruinenberg, Historic Windmill, Neues Palais.
