Last updated on 10/20/2026
Discovering Berlin away from the well-worn tourist trails works especially well with the right tours. On the Teufelsberg in Grunewald you walk through the former NSA listening station, which sits on 26 million cubic metres of wartime rubble. Secret Tours Berlin opens up the hidden courtyards of the Spandauer Vorstadt at Hackescher Markt, from the eight Hackesche Höfe to the Otto Weidt workshop for the blind. If you would rather see the city from the water, you can paddle with Kayak Berlin Tours from the Urbanhafen in Kreuzberg along the Landwehrkanal. There is also a canoe tour through Kreuzkölln, a sightseeing trip in a VW Samba bus from 1965 and a ghost tour that only starts after dark. Each of these tours tells a different story of the city. Which of them would you set off on first?
Ellen Mehrhoff-Roddewig
I know Berlin well and still enjoy being shown around, because every tour opens up a new perspective. I found the descent with the Berliner Unterwelten and the kayak trip along the Landwehrkanal the most exciting, because half the city suddenly looks different from below. For this list I mainly looked for tours that dare to leave the usual routes behind.
art:berlin has been guiding through the city since 1991, with a team of around 60 city guides. The neighborhood and discovery tours go to Rummelsburg, through Wedding along the Panke, and to the villa colonies in Grunewald and by Lake Wannsee. For a special city tour in Berlin, this means: the route ends where most guests never get to.
The former NSA listening station, where around 1,500 people worked until 1992, stands on 26 million cubic meters of war rubble. The 'Mythos Teufelsberg' tour lasts one and a half hours and ends on the viewing platform between the three white radomes. A special city tour in Berlin that shows the city's layout from above.
Secret Tours Berlin starts at Hackescher Markt and leads for two hours through the courtyards of the Spandauer Vorstadt, from the eight Hackesche Höfe from 1906 to the Rosenhöfe and the Otto Weidt Workshop for the Blind. For 20 euros, this special city tour in Berlin reveals a district that is completely overlooked from the street.
Starting from the blue kayak truck on Carl-Herz-Ufer in Kreuzberg, the tour goes along the Landwehrkanal, which Peter Joseph Lenné designed to resemble a natural river. The tours last two to three hours, cost from 25 Euros, and pass the spot where Rosa Luxemburg was murdered in 1919. This special city tour in Berlin takes place entirely on the water.
Stadt im Ohr produces audio walks featuring figures like Claire Waldoff, Heinrich Zille, and architectural critic Bruno Flierl. Six audio tours lead through Friedrichshain, Mitte, Wedding, Friedenau, and queer Berlin, each for 11.99 Euros. As a special city tour in Berlin, this one requires no appointment and no group.
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For almost 20 years, Alternative Berlin Tours has been leading from the TV Tower, past the occupied Köpi house and SO36, to Holzmarkt 25. The guides for the Street Art Tour are artists themselves and explain the works of crews like 1UP and Berlin Kidz. This special city tour in Berlin lasts three hours and is conducted exclusively in English.
Starting from Canoa Beach on Sonneninsel in Neukölln, the canoe tour proceeds along the Neukölln Shipping Canal and the Landwehr Canal to the Oberbaum Bridge. Two and a half hours, 39 Euros, guide and life vest included. At Osthafen, this special city tour in Berlin reveals the preserved remains of the old border control facility from the water.
T1 Berlin operates an original 1965 VW Samba Deluxe with a split windshield, accommodating seven people. The tour starts at Berlin Cathedral, the grand tour lasts a good two hours and costs 39 Euros. Tours are guided in German, English, or Spanish. As a special city tour in Berlin, it turns into side streets that no coach can access.
The Berliner Unterwelten e.V. (Berlin Underworlds Association) manages 14 predominantly underground locations and rediscovered the air-raid shelter under Gesundbrunnen station in 1998, which was only preserved because an explosion would have endangered the subway tunnel. This special city tour in Berlin takes you underground for 90 minutes instead of along facades.
Mysterium Tremendum starts at the Klosterruine (monastery ruins) in Klosterstraße and performs the horror tour as live outdoor theater, with a costumed guide. In 90 minutes, it takes you through the Nikolaiviertel to execution sites, a death omen, and a mummy's curse. This special city tour in Berlin only begins after dark and costs 20 Euros.
