This 8-hour walking tour takes you to the heart of Potsdam’s UNESCO-listed palace gardens to see the pomp and grandeur of the Prussian monarchy and also delves into the origins of the Cold War. As part of the tour, you will be able to explore inside both the Cecilienhof and Sanssouci Palaces.
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 will meet you in Berlin, either at your hotel or a pre-arranged meeting point. You will then travel together to Potsdam via public transportation (circa 45 minutes to 1-hour).
We arrive in Potsdam at the Glienicke Brücke, the ‘Bridge of Spies’, where the US and Soviet Union swapped captured agents during the Cold War. From here you will cross the border from former West Berlin into former East Germany and 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.
From Cecilienhof the tour continues into Potsdam’s downtown. You will enter the historical centrer of Potsdam through the gothic-revivalist Nauen Gate, walking via the 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 pristine Sanssouci Gardens through the Church of Peace, burial site of various Prussian monarchs. You will then pass the Picture Gallery to 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.
Please note that time is put aside on this tour to enter two palaces of your choice. Please be aware that palace entry fees are not included in the cost of the tour, and that palace entry is subject to availability. Sanssouci requires reservations to be made online. Inside the palaces you will be provided with an audio guide to aid in your explorations. Your guide will not guide inside the palaces.
At the end of the tour your guide will accompany you back to Berlin.
Please note: this tour requires the use of public transportation. These costs are not included in the price of the tour.
Sights included: Glienicke Brücke (‘Bridge of Spies’), New Gardens, Marble Palace, Cecilienhof, Dutch Quarter, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Brandenburg Gate, Church of Peace, Picture Gallery, Sanssouci Palace, Frederick the Great’s Grave, Ruinenberg, Historic Windmill.
