Berlin City Tour

What It Is and Where It Operates

Berlin City Tour is the booking site of City Sightseeing Berlin, which runs the red hop-on hop-off buses in Berlin, Germany, and also sells tickets to river cruises and Berlin attractions. The About page says "City Sightseeing Berlin is part of City Sightseeing worldwide," a brand that "started in Seville, Spain in 1999 and has since grown to almost 100 locations worldwide," and calls the Berlin company "the company behind the distinctive red buses that you can see all throughout the city." The homepage adds "We are the original Hop-On Hop-off sightseeing tour in Berlin! Experienced in City Sightseeing since 1995," and says "all buses have convertible roofs" and that it has "the only Open-Top buses in spring and summer in Berlin." Everything runs in Berlin, and prices are shown in euros.

The Bus Routes

The main product is the Hop-on Hop-off Classic tour, sold as a 24 or 48-hour ticket, which the page shows at €24.3 with a 4.6 rating from 35298 bookings. The Classic route has 20 numbered stops, starting at Tauentzienstraße and KaDeWe and running via Lützowplatz, Potsdamer Platz, Gropiusbau, Checkpoint Charlie, Gendarmenmarkt, the Rotes Rathaus, Alexanderplatz, the Lustgarten, Bebelplatz, Unter den Linden, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Hauptbahnhof, Schloss Bellevue, the Victory Column and Zoo/Bikini Berlin to two stops on the Kurfürstendamm. The site says the Classic tour runs from 9:30 to 18:00 with buses every 25 to 30 minutes and the last bus from stop 1 at 16:00; guest reviews on the site put a full loop at about 2.5 hours. A second route, the Trendy East Berlin & The Wall Tour, runs from 10:00 to 18:00 with departures "approximately every 45 minutes," and the last bus leaves stop 1 around 16:00.

The site points out that "there are no bus stop signs on the streets," so guests use the free City Sightseeing Berlin app to find stops and follow the buses on a live tracker. The app also includes information on sights and a free walking tour through the heart of Berlin. Free Wi-Fi runs on all buses.

The Classic tour page frames the route around the city's history, noting that "a little over 100 years ago Berlin was the capital of the German Empire and just 35 years ago the city was split in half." It suggests hopping off for the DDR Museum on the Spree, Checkpoint Charlie, the TV Tower on Alexanderplatz, the Tiergarten, shopping on the Ku'damm and the Art Nouveau courtyards of the Hackesche Höfe. The About page also says that "in Berlin we go one step further, we also have shuttle service," without describing it further.

The site runs a travel blog alongside the tickets. Its "15 fun facts about Berlin" post covers currywurst and döner (claiming about 950 döner skewers are eaten every day), the invention of the postcard in Berlin in 1865, the city's origins as the twin villages of Berlin and Cölln, and its 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Museum Island.

On Board: Audio, Children and Access

The audio guide is GPS-triggered and available in 13 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, Polish, Chinese and Japanese. Free earphones are handed out to keep and reuse, and a free city map with attraction discounts is available on board. Some reviews on the site also mention a live guide on certain buses, but the ticket page itself describes only the audio guide.

A child ticket covers ages 6 to 15, and children up to 5 ride free with a paying adult, "maximum of 2 children per adult." On accessibility, the Classic tour page says "All buses provide a ramp and one space for a wheel chair" and that the buses "are even certified barrier-free with the 'Travel for All' certificate," with a link to more detail and photos.

Combo Tickets, Cruises and Attractions

The site sells a long list of combination tickets, most marked "-20%." They include the Classic plus the Trendy East route (4.6 from 1563 bookings), the Classic plus the Berlin Icebar, the TV Tower, the DDR Museum, Madame Tussauds or The Berlin Dungeon, a Family Ticket, and the Classic plus a Historical City Cruise (marked -10%, 4415 bookings). Standalone tickets cover the Icebar's "Polar Expedition" at -10 degrees, KOERPERWELTEN Body Worlds, Madame Tussauds, the German Spy Museum, the DDR Museum and river cruises.

The Green Spree Tour is a 2-hour river cruise on an electric boat, shown at €25.9, departing from Jannowitzbrücke (Rolandufer 4) with the boat company Stern und Kreisschiffahrt named as the departure point. It passes the East Side Gallery, the Oberbaum Bridge, the Treptowers and the Molecule Man sculpture, with open-air and indoor seating and free access to a bathroom. Children aged 6 to 14 pay a child fare and those up to 5 go free with an adult.

Booking and Terms

Tickets are bought online and delivered to a smartphone. For the Classic bus ticket, the page promises "Free rescheduling or cancellation up to 24 hours in advance." The Green Spree cruise is different: its page states "Tickets cannot be rebooked or cancelled" and asks guests to check in 15 minutes before departure. The menu includes a Groups section. Support is by phone on +49 (30) 70 17 12 50, "From 8.30 - 16.00 CET/CST," and by email, with the promise "We'll reply within 5 working days."

What the Site Leaves Open and Who It Suits

The site does not list payment methods, and it does not show prices for the 48-hour ticket or for most combos on the homepage and tour pages. The Trendy East route's stops are not listed on the Classic tour page. Terms for the attraction tickets differ by product, as the Green Spree's no-cancellation rule shows, so each one needs checking.

Berlin City Tour suits first-time visitors who want to see the main sights at their own pace over a day or two, families with young children who ride free, and wheelchair users who need a ramp and a space on board. Those who want a guide in person rather than an audio track, or a cruise with flexible terms, should read the product details before buying.