Start your trip outside Berlin’s Hackescher Markt Station. Join up with your guide and take a 15-mile (24km) train journey outside the city center to Potsdam, once the home to German royalty.
Stop by the palace of Cecilienhof, the site of the famous 1945 conference between the United States, Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, where Truman, Churchill, and Stalin would seal Germany and Europe’s fate for the 20th Century, laying the groundwork for the Cold War. Continue to King Frederick William II’s Marble Palace, with its recreated Greek temple and scenic lakeside setting. From there, make your way through the 18th-century Nauener Gate and into Potsdam’s quaint Dutch quarter.
Break for lunch at your choice of several cafes in Potsdam’s town center. Stop off for a German beer or try some traditional coffee and cake. Once you’ve refueled, make your way through Potsdam’s own Brandenburg Gate (built before Berlin’s) to a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Frederick the Great’s Sanssouci Palace and Gardens.
Your walking tour finishes next to the Sanssouci Palace. Your guide then takes you on public transportation back to Berlin or, if you prefer, you can stay in Potsdam on your own to enjoy more of the gardens, visit the inside of one of the palaces, or even stay for dinner.
