Private Cold War Berlin Tour

Once again, we had Rohan as our guide, and we could not have asked for anyone better! Rohan met us right at our hotel and immediately made this feel like our tour rather than a predetermined itinerary. He gave us three different directions we could take based on our interests, and from there we were able to tailor the experience around what we most wanted to understand and see. If you have a lot of history you want to cover, a private tour is definitely the way to go. And I cannot say enough about Rohan. He is extremely knowledgeable, passionate about his craft, and genuinely loves sharing what he knows. He also loves to talk, but that is an inside joke! :) He is simply a great guy and a fantastic guide. Because we had already spent another day with him at Sachsenhausen, this private tour also gave us the opportunity to get to know more about Rohan himself and some of his own history, which made the day even more enjoyable. Berlin has endured an extraordinary amount of destruction, division, and turmoil, and there are so many layers to the history of this city. The detail and complexity of the Cold War alone are astounding. Understanding the dynamics of East and West Germany, East and West Berlin, how Germany was divided among the Allies and the Soviet Union, and ultimately how and why the Berlin Wall came to exist gave me a completely different perspective on events I thought I understood. For me, there was also a very personal connection to this period of history. I was in high school during the years of turmoil leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. It occupied an unusual place in my education because it wasn’t really “history” yet. It was happening in real time. I was old enough to know what was happening, but too young to truly understand the politics, complexities, and consequences behind what I was seeing on television. Standing in Berlin all these years later, walking through the places where those events actually happened and finally understanding the pieces that connected them, was incredibly eye-opening. Throughout our week in Berlin, I also began noticing how the city’s history continues to influence the way people think about things such as propaganda, political extremes, media, and the information they consume. Learning the Cold War history gave me a greater appreciation for why these subjects can carry such significance here today. That connection between history and the present was something I hadn’t expected to take away from our trip. This is exactly why having someone like Rohan matters. He doesn’t simply point to a location and tell you what happened there. He gives you the context necessary to understand why it happened, how the pieces fit together, and why that history still matters. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide. After spending two very different days with Rohan, one in a group and this one privately, I can confidently say he is exceptional at what he does. His knowledge, passion, personality, and ability to make incredibly complicated history understandable made both experiences unforgettable.

We wanted to do a tour to learn more about the Cold War and make sure we saw the relevant parts of the city - when you are limited on time, a guide is a must as the city is huge with landmarks spread throughout. Our guide was Glen and he was extremely knowledgeable and more importantly quite obviously very passionate about what he was talking about which inspired some good questions and lots of stories that you just wouldn’t get from a virtual tour or just visiting sights yourself. We went to places that I would not have thought to go myself but were fascinating and gave a real understanding of what life was like for the people particularly in East Germany throughout the Cold War right up to today and the long reaching repercussions. Thanks to Glen and insider tours for a very memorable morning.

Artie, our guide, was friendly and professional. His narrative was comprehensive and thorough, he gave a solid historical background to WW2 and Cold war origins. We really loved it and recommend the tour for anyone interested in German history.

Xavier was very knowledgeable and very personable during our tour. We really appreciated his use of images and stories from his iPad during that time to really bring the story of the Cold War to reality.

Nikolai was a wonderful guide and is incredibly knowledgeable and tailored the tour to the questions of the group. We maybe could’ve benefitted from a longer toilet break.