Signature Tours with Tom Williamson™
Tom
Williamson,
world traveller, the expat American - Berliner by choice since 2001. Prussian
history and the amalgamation of the German Confederation grabbed his interest
upon his arrival and has kept him learning ever since. A Berlin tourguide, he
revels in lightheartedly preaching Prussian history through anecdotes and
humour. He offers in debt political, historical and special interest tours.
Tours are
customized to individual customer.
In general,
the following tours can be designed for individuals and small groups.
Select
your mode of transportation
Berlin
sightseeing by foot and using public transportation 4 or 8 hours.
Easy yet thorough walking guided tours pointing out all the major interesting
architectural and historical sites. Wear comfortable shoes!
Berlin
sightseeing using private car and driver 4 or 8 hours.
For clients preferred to do sightseeing with some walking and comfort of private
car and driver.
Berlin
sightseeing by bike.
A wonderful alternative to walking is a bicycle tour. Bicycling in Berlin is
easy (it’s a flat city, lots of exclusive bike lanes). Renting them is also
quite easy and uncomplicated, with over 100 places to rent them, most do not
require a credit card, and there is a rental store located close by the start of
all of our tours. A leisurely ride with a guide through Berlin can be the
highlight of your vacation!
Potsdam
sightseeing from Berlin using private car and driver 4 or 8 hours.
Potsdam
sightseeing from Berlin using train to Potsdam and by bike in Potsdam. 5 hours.
The most enjoyable way to bike by 8 palaces, and have a picnic on ground.
8 hour trip
to Dresden and Meissen with Tom using train to Dresden and then public
transportation or taxis in Dresden. Relax at the train with glass of wine or cup
of coffee, watch scenery and converse about German politics and history.
8 hour tour
to Dresden and Meissen by private car and driver .
Larger
groups touring by bus.
A city tour by bus is the most luxurious way to see Berlin. Tom will give you a
full commentary of the city as you relax and watch it pass by your window…We
occasionally stop and allow you to disembark, to give you a better feeling and
understanding of the more important sites.
For cruise
passengers from Rostock or Wardemunde we provide a transportation by private car
and driver or it is possible to take a train and meet your guide in Berlin train
station.
Choose what
you want to see.
Suggested
historical sights
- Wilhelm I Memorial Church
- Kurfürstendamm -
West Berlin’s shopping district
- Tiergarten Park
–beautiful and steeped in history
- Siegessäule
– Victory Monument
- Bellevue Palace
– Berlin home of Germany’s President, Hörst Köhler
- Congress Hall
- Futuristic architecture from the 50’s!
- Chancellors’s Office
- Reichstag
– The German Parliament
- Berlin Wall Site
- Brandenburg Gate
– Berlin’s most famous monument
- Pariser Platz
- Potsdamer Platz
– Fabulous and new. Cutting edge 21st century
architecture
- Hitler’s Bunker Site
– Perhap’s Berlin’s most infamous unmarked sight.
- Air Ministry – (Reichsluftfahrt-Ministerium)
- Gestapo Headquarters
– (Topographie des Terrors)
- Checkpoint Charlie
- Gendarmenmarkt
– A beautiful square with 2 stunning churches and Concert
House
- Bebel Platz
– Site of Nazi Book burnings
- St. Hedwigs Catholic Church
- New Watch War Memorial
– (Neue Wache)
- Armory
– (Zeughaus) New Berlin Historical Museum
- Pleasure Garden – (Lustgarten)
- Museum Island
– Old, New National and Pergamon Museums
- Berliner Cathedral
- Communist Parliament Building
– (Palast der Republik)
- Marx-Engels-Forum
- Red Town Hall-
(Rotes Rathaus)
- Alexander Platz
- TV Tower
Specialty
Tours
We also
offer special interest, with a political/Historical focus. With these tours we
will show you the same sights as in our normal tours, but we put special
emphasis on the historical importance and context of the places shown. These
special tours clearly show the rather young, but quickly changing politcal and
historical developments. The focus is directed mostly at Germany’s recent
history, from the founding of the Republic in 1870 forward.
Some
suggested periods include:
1871 – 1918:
The days of the Empire of the Kaisers, the founding of the modern country of
Germany, and the quick growth of Berlin to be Germany’s most important and
largest city. Also covered are the WWI years.
1919 – 1933:
The Weimar Republic and the first years of Democracy for Germany.
1933 – 1945:
The rise and fall of the Nationalistic party (Nazi), Adolf Hitler, and the
disastrous consequences climaxing in WWII.
1945 – 1989:
One city torn in two and the pressures of being sandwiched between two
super-powers. Including the Berlin Wall Years.
1989 –
Present: The sometimes bitter reunification, mending and the difficult and
costly rebuilding of the Berlin metropolis for the future.
Jewish
Heritage sightseeing
Sample Itinerary for a half day tour (3-4 hours tour) of Jewish and overall
Berlin
- Western shopping areas like the
Kurfuerstendamm avenue and Tauentzien (with KaDeWe)
- Old and new Embassy area in the
Tiergarten
- Cultural Forum with the New National
Gallery, Philharmony, Paintings Gallery, National Library
- Amazingly designed modern
architectural complexes around Potsdamer Platz
- Checkpoint Charlie and remains of the
Berlin Wall
- Open door exhibit: ‘Topography of
Terror’
- Gendarmenmarkt Square
- Brandenburg Gate with Paris Square
(new architecture)
- Great boulevard Unter den Linden with
classical sights like the States Opera, Humboldt University, the Old Armery,
the Berlin Cathedral and Museums Island,
- Old quarter of Jewish Berlin,
including the Old Jewish Cemetery with Moses Mendelssohn's grave, the Jewish
High School, the former Jewish Girl’s School and Ahava House, the New
Synagogue/Centrum Judaicum and the Leo-Baeck-House (former College for the
Science of Judaism, now seat of the Central Council of the Jews in Germany and
the Jewish Press Company)
- New government area with the
Reichstag, the New Chancellery, the House of Representatives (new
architecture)
- Large Berlin inner city park
Tiergarten with the street of the 17th of June, Victory Column, the Old
Congress Center and the Castle Bellevue
- Several memorial sights throughout
the city
- Jewish Community Center
Sample
Itinerary for a day tour (5-8 hours tour) of Jewish and overall Berlin
- Gendarmenmarkt Square
- Great boulevard Unter den Linden with
classical sights like the States Opera, Humboldt University, the Old Armery,
the Berlin Cathedral and Museums Island
- Tour of the old quarter of Jewish
Berlin, including the memorial place of the first synagogue of Berlin, the
Memorial for the Women’s Protest in Rosenstrasse, the Old Jewish Cemetery with
Moses Mendelssohn's grave, the Jewish High School, the former Jewish Girl’s
School and Ahava House, the New Synagogue/Centrum Judaicum and the Leo-Baeck-House
(former College for the Science of Judaism, now seat of the Central Council of
the Jews in Germany and the Jewish Press Company)
- Brandenburg Gate with Paris Square
- New government area with the
Reichstag, the New Chancellery, the House of Representatives
- Large Berlin inner city park
Tiergarten with the street of the 17th of June, Victory Column, the Old
Congress Center and the Castle Bellevue
- Memorial Sight: former
Synagogue/collection camp Levetzowstrasse
- Palais Charlottenburg, Egyptian
Museum, Collection Berggruen (outside)
- Memorial Sight: Platform 17, one of
the former deportation train stations in Berlin
- New Israeli Embassy
- Memorial Sight: ‘Places of
Remembrance’ in the Bavarian Quarter
- Jewish Community Center
- Synagogues (outside)
- Western shopping areas like the
Kurfuerstendamm avenue and Tauentzien (with KaDeWe)
- Embassy area in the Tiergarten
- Cultural Forum with the New National
Gallery, Philharmony, Paintings Gallery, National Library
- Jewish Museum, designed by Daniel
Libeskind (outside explanations or with a guided tour inside)
- Checkpoint Charlie and remains of the
Berlin Wall
- Open door exhibit: ‘Topography of
Terror’
- Amazingly designed modern
architectural complexes around Potsdamer Platz
- Construction sight of the Memorial
for the Murdered Jews of Europe
- Famous Friedrichstrasse
Sample Itinerary for a 1 day trip from Berlin to Wannsee and
Potsdam (4 – 6 hours)
- Guided visit of the exhibit in the
house of the Wannsee Conference (»Wannsee Conference« was concerned with the
organisation and implementation of "The Final Solution")
- Historical City of Potsdam, market
place and old city gates
- Short lunch break
- Dutch quarter
- Alexandrowka, Russian quarter
- Sanssouci castle (outside) and
gardens
- New Palais (outside) and gardens
- Guided visit of Cecilienhof Palace,
venue of the Potsdam Conference in 1945 by the Allies
Please inquire for prices:
specify number of people, mode of transportation, date (first and alternate),
hotel where you are staying. If you are arriving from cruise ship, advice ship
and cruise name and port.
Index
Toll-free
877-466-2934. Phone 727-254-4373
email:
info@JewishTravelAgency.com
www.JewishTravelAgency.com


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