I’m here to update my Berlin guidebook chapter and also to scout for a new TV show. The city is as vibrant and exciting as ever. But it’s too ripped up for TV. Massive projects combined with massive delays and uncertain funding mean the city will be a construction site for the rest of the decade (at least). That’s no problem for a traveler visiting. It’s just a huge disappointment for a TV producer who wants to show the city both looking good and appearing as it will in the future. Construction on a new subway line means much of Unter den Linden — Berlin’s main drag — is torn up. The Humboldt-Forum project and the new entry to the Pergamon Museum will make Berlin’s Museum Island a construction zone for years to come. But all of that adds to the zest and energy that makes Berlin one of Europe’s hottest destinations. Locals are bragging that it just surpassed Rome as the third most-visited city in Europe.
This was one of many such watchtowers built in 1966 for panoramic surveillance and shooting (note the rifle windows, allowing shots to be fired in 360 degrees — that’s both West and East). It was constantly manned by two guards who were forbidden to get to know each other (no casual chatting) — so they could effectively guard each other from escaping. This is the last such tower still standing (about a block from Potsdamer Platz, on Erna-Berger-Strasse).
Believe it or not, there are still enough idiots on the street to keep the conmen with their shell games in business. Don’t be foolish enough to engage with any gambling on the street. But it’s fun to watch. They always have a crew of nervous no-necks posted to keep an eye out for approaching cops — and for tourists like me photographing them. I had a guy on me within a minute of raising my camera.
You’ll see companies advertising supposedly “free” introductory tours — which originated in Berlin — all over Europe these days. They are designed for and popular with students (free is good). The system is about the same everywhere: English-speaking students (often Aussies and Americans) memorize the script, then recite it before a huge crowd lured in by the promise of a free tour. What the customers don’t know is that the company actually charges the guide about €3 per person, so the guide has to hustle for tips to make it profitable (and could actually lose money). To make it worth the guide’s time, they expect to be “tipped in paper” (€5 minimum per person is encouraged). The “free” intro tour is then used to push other tours that cost. While the guides can be highly entertaining, few are serious historians — those who’d prefer to go beyond the basic, memorized script typically move on to more serious tour companies before long. These tours are fine for poor students with little interest in real history. But as in many things, when it comes to walking tours, you get what you pay for. What’s your experience with these “free” tours?
In Berlin, look for the dueling human hotdog stands. Grillwalkers was the original. Grillrunners is the copycat company. Study the ingenious contraption: a harness to cook and sell tasty German sausages, cheap.
Rick, thanks for your post. Berlin is on our wish list.
We’ve done two of these “Free” walking tours. Barcelona was our first. We actually thought the tour was excellent, and longer than advertised. Our guide was “From” Ireland and very enjoyable.
Just last week we were in Montreal (okay, not exactly Europe!), and took a “Free” walking tour. Again, the tour was longer (and more interesting) than we expected. We tipped “Well,” and waited until we were the last there to ask our guide a few questions which were graciously answered. He recommended a specific pub for a late lunch and the food was okay but the home brews were superb.
there is a con for every sucker. reminds me of selling magazines door to door.
Was in Berlin this past May. Lots of construction – true – but “too ripped up for tv”? C’mon, show some cranes, no big deal – it’s part of what is transpiring. There is so much to see and do there and lots of undisturbed sites to include in the show. Don’t wait until 2020 to do the next one on Berlin!
Rick, I think you’re being a little hard on the free tours. I’ve been on several, and generally, they’ve been about as good the tours featuring more “professional” guides. In fact, the two tours we took in Jerusalem last fall with New Europe were clearly staffed by experts who were much better than the highly recommended private guide we took to the West Bank, which may have featured the least knowledgable guide we’ve ever had. I think any tour is a bit of a gamble–just the nature of putting yourself in the hands of a single human being for a couple hours. At least with the “free” tours, you pay what you think it was worth.
Rick, thank you so much for your very informative website and blog. I have received invaluable information from your shows and guidebooks over the years. However, I respectfully also disagree with your statement about free walking tours. Perhaps I just got lucky, but the free tour in Sofia, Bulgaria was excellent and one of the most informative I have been on in many years of travel throughout 6 continents. It was more interesting, professional and helpful than the one I took two days later with my tour group. We of course generously tipped our student guide and appreciated his knowledge and cheerful, helpful manner.