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bikes, slightly cheaper for longer rentals; electric bikes-€29/day, helmets, daily 9:30-19:00,
Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 8, tel. 030/2065-4730, www.takeabike.de ) . To find it, leave the
S-Bahn station via the Friedrichstrasse exit, turn right, go through a triangle-shaped square,
and hang a left on Neustädtische Kirchstrasse.
Tours in Berlin
▲▲▲ Hop-on, Hop-off Bus Tours
Several companies offer the same routine: a €15 circuit of the city with unlimited hop-on,
hop-off privileges all day (about 14 stops at the city's major sights) on buses with cursory
narration in English and German by a live (but tired) guide or a boring recorded comment-
ary in whatever language you want to dial up. In season, each company has buses running
four times per hour. They are cheap and great for photography—and Berlin really lends it-
self to this kind of bus-tour orientation. You can hop off at any major tourist spot (Pots-
damer Platz, Museum Island, Brandenburg Gate, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, and
so on). Go with a live guide rather than the recorded spiel (so you get a few current asides).
When choosing seats, check the sun/shade situation—some buses are entirely topless, and
others are entirely covered. My favorites are topless with a shaded covered section in the
back (April-Oct daily 10:00-18:00, last bus leaves all stops at 16:00, 2-hour loop; for specif-
ics, look for brochures in your hotel lobby or at the TI). Keep your ticket so you can hop off
and on (with the same company) all day. In winter (Nov-March), buses come only twice an
hour, and the last departure is at 15:00. Brochures explain extras offered by each company.
▲▲▲
Other Bus Tours
City Bus #100
For do-it-yourselfers, Berlin's city bus #100 is a great alternative to the commercial hop-on,
hop-off bus tours—and you can follow along with my self-guided bus tour on here .
Full-Blown Bus Tours
BEX Sightseeing Berlin offers a long list of bus tours (not hop-on, hop-off) in and around
Berlin; their three-hour “Berlin Classic Live” tour is a good introduction (€20; April-Oct
daily at 10:00, Fri-Sun also at 14:00; Nov-March Wed-Sat at 10:00, no tours Sun-Tue; live
guides in two languages, interesting historical photos displayed on bus monitors, departs
fromKu'damm216,buyticketatbus,tel.030/880-4190, www.berlinerstadtrundfahrten.de ).
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