I will be stopping in Berlin for one night. Sadly i am visiting this city 30 years too late but I'd really like to get a feel of how this city was until the fall of the wall. Are there any particular tours and museums that cater for recent political history (WWII to fall of wall)?

I'd appreciate any guidance.

Any comments on this tour?

http://www.viator.com/tours/Berlin/B...88-3933STDBIKE

Understand all facets of Berlin in one bike tour: Berlin's founding, the Prussians, Weimar Republic, Hitler and the Third Reich, as a city divided by the Wall during the Cold War, and the Berlin of today. Tours begin with a brief introduction to Berlin before hopping on the bikes. You will stop every couple hundred yards (meters) to talk about the sights and for photo opportunities. Along the way you will stop at a beautiful beer garden where you can experience Berlin as the locals do!

Berlin Bike Tour Highlights:

Alexanderplatz
Marx/Engels Platz
Palast der Republik (former DDR Parliament)
Museum Island
Checkpoint Charlie
Berlin Wall
Potsdamer Platz
Site of Hitler's bunker
Deathstrip watchtower
Brandenburg Gate
Ride along the Spree River and through the Tiergarten Park
Siegessaeule (Victory Column)
Gendarmenmarkt
Bebelplatz (site of Nazi book-burning)

I don't know if this will help, but my parents are from Berlin and lived there through much of the Nazi era. I have been there with them and there is very, very little left from that period. Both the Russian Army and many of the locals were quite eager to destroy anything that remained or reminded them of the people whose actions brought about the destruction of much of Germany. The sites are still there, but the buildings and/or monuments are mostly long gone.

You can visit several museums, like the Deutsches Historisches Museum or the Stadtmuseum. It depends on their exhibitions. I�m not a big fan of this tours. Most of it you can walk in perhaps 2 or 3 hours, what�s more exciting. Otherwise if you don�t book a tour you (perhaps) don�t have the informations. But visit a Beergarden? Waste of time in my eyes...

To the places:

Alexanderplatz

Not the nicest square in Berlin, it�s the center of east Berlin. I think it�s interesting to visit the Fernsehturm, you have a nice view over Berlin.

Marx/Engels Platz

It�s the Schlossplatz today. Nice place, mostly a construction site

Palast der Republik (former DDR Parliament)

You can�t see anything, bercause it was demolished years ago. It�s teh Schlossplatz today.

Museum Island

Nice place, but you must visit the museums if you really want enjoy it. From outside it�s nothing spectacular.

Checkpoint Charlie

I find it boring, it�s a little guardhouse on a traffic isdland, lots of tourists and a small exhibition. Their is also a Mauer-Museum, but I don�t know it.

Berlin Wall

Their are some remains

Potsdamer Platz

It�s now a site with a shopping center and some tower blocks. Nothing really historic to see.

Site of Hitler's bunker

You won�t see anything, it�s a parking space today

Deathstrip watchtower

I don�t know it

Brandenburg Gate

A must see. You can walk through without a problem and visit the Reichstag near by.

Ride along the Spree River and through the Tiergarten Park

If I only had 1 day I whouldn�t do it

Siegessaeule (Victory Column)

It�s in the middle of a road junktion. Only saw it from outside so far and I think it is enough. Nearby is the russian war memorial, which ich quite interesting.

Gendarmenmarkt

Very nice historic square.

Bebelplatz (site of Nazi book-burning)

You won�t see anything from the book-burnings. You come through if you walk from theAlexanderplatz via "Stra�e unter den Linden" to the Brandenburger Gate. Have a look, enjoy the buildings and go forward.

I whould visit the Berliner Dom (you have a nice view from the roof) and if you like history the Holocaust Denkmal.

Most of the points are in the heart of former East Berlin and could be easliy reached walking or by public transportation. I do not necessarily see the need to do it as a bike tour.

Like offerendum pointed out, to me a few stops does not make much sense, as you could - from my point of view - not see much. It might be of course interesting to hear what the guide will tell you.

Regarding the first post, I suggest
http://www.mauermuseum.de/index.php/en for a insight in the wall and its history

http://www.topographie.de/en/ in regard to the not so nice part of the history of Germany.

An insight in the time of the cold war and before gives you a guided tour through http://berliner-unterwelten.de/home.1.1.html

The first two suggestion could be easily combined with a visit a Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, Gendarmenmarkt and Alexanderplatz. Tiergarten with Siegess�ule is close to Brandenburger Gate, but I would skip them if you are running short of time.

Thank you all for the advice offered. I think you are right I can walk around the main sights as you suggest. I will be staying at the intercontinental hotel (BUDAPESTER STRASSE 2, BERLIN, 10787) so not sure where this is in relation to all of the sights.

It�s not perfect for this sites because it�s near Kurf�rstendamm, the heart of west Berlin. But it�s still fine and well connected with public transport. You can take the tube to Alexanderplatz and walk via Kurf�rstendamm. From Brandenburger Gate you can take public transport to your hotel or more preferable take a walk (30 to 45 minutes) through the Tiergarten /Siegess�ule etc. to your hotel. It shoudn�t be a problem.

1 day? Pick and choose. Be aware of lots of construction especially on Unter den Linden.

Do some research first. What do you want to see? I thought the Berlin Wall Memorial (Nordbahnhoff station) was well worth the time as is the DDR Museum. Then spend the rest of the time walking around, taking the 100 Bus (you'll see so much on that route and not pay something outrageous for a tourist bus), and enjoying a cafe outside. Beware of the yellow jacket bees; those things are aggressive.

We went to the Stasi Musuem which was fascinating, definitely an insight into life in East Germany (admittedly a rather negative one). Togography of Terror is fascinating too and only about a five minute walk from Checkpoint Charlie.

I would recommend a bus tour. Doesn’t have to be an expensive one either. I went to Berlin solo last year and went back this year with the Mrs. We booked through here because they gave a discount for Welcome Pass users: http://www.berlin-city-tour.de/

They start the tour at Brandenberg Tour. Before you hop on, you can knock out the gate, Reichstag, Hauptbahnfof, Spree, American Embassy, Tiergarten and the Jewish Memorial. The classic tour knocks out most of the other highlights with stops. (I.E. Checkpoint Charlie, Fassbender & Raucsh, Zoo, Alexanderplatz/Ferhnseturhm, Topography of terror, etc.) When the tour concludes, I’d head over to the East Side Gallery just because I think it looks cool and you get to see how imposing the wall was. You will also get a good view of O2 there. Then I’d head over to Hack. Markt. For dinner. (Although, I can’t recommend Prater enough for their schnitzel and beer if you want to get out of the tourist area and over to Prenzlauer Berg)

If you want to walk a bit, it’s about 45 minutes down UDL from Brandenberg Tor to Alexanderplatz. You will pass by Bibelplatz and Karl Marx Allee complete with a statue in the park. I’d do this at night to get a day/night perspective.

If you didn’t eat at least one donor kebab in Berlin, you wasted your time there. I think it was Curry 66 that we ate at? You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see the line. Get a spaghetti for dessert.

I recommend to visit the Berliner Mauer Gedenkst�tte as Analise suggested ...
See: http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/
Next to the memorial itself is a dedicated information center with a related bookstore.
Lots of books/DVD�s on-topic - not only in german but English versions as well !
It�s just a few steps from Nordbahnhof S-Bahn station.
The real Nordbahnhof (literally "North Station") at this location that lend the name for the S-Bahn stop was scrapped decades ago btw ...

We were going to go to Sachsenhausen this past week, but it was raining that morning, and since it is all outdoors, we decided to do it another time. The nonprofit group, Mosaic Tours, leads the tour and they meet at Alexanderplatz, so you just show up and pay them your 12 Euros for the tour.

Instead, we walked from the Hilton to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, which was very informative. But the highlight of the day was the visit to the Reichstag dome. Just amazing. We made a reservation online a couple of weeks before, requested several times, then got a confirmation to print out and take to the entrance outside of the Reichstag building. Berlin is very walkable...we must have walked five miles, but saw lots to interest us.

I visited Sachsenhausen; I had never been to concentration camp until two weeks ago. I had no idea that the Soviets idea of "liberation" was to continue the horrors of the concentration camp until 1950.

FYI...you don't need to be part of a tour group. The audio guide was very useful. I recommend getting it.

FYI -- The NY Times just did a stry on Berlin in its 36 hours series. 36 Hours in Berlin