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Explore Germany’s capital with Berlin’s top rated bike tour operator! Our fantastic guides make Berlin's history come alive through lots of knowledgeable and fascinating anecdotes about past and present day Berlin.  From our most popular tour, the Berlin City Bike Tour, to our many topic tours, we cover all aspects of this city’s unique history at a relaxed and comfortable pace. We also offer private tours, tours for school groups and bespoke tours on request. And don’t miss out on our Berlin Food Tour by Bike! 

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A Fat Tire Tour Along The Berlin Wall

• Post author: Wendy
• Post published: November 7, 2019
• Post category: Germany / Uncategorized
• Post comments: 16 Comments

November 9, 2019, will mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I knew that during our visit in late October, we needed to honor this special occasion with a unique tour. The Fat Tire Tour along the Berlin Wall fit the bill! What better way is there to cover such a large area in just half a day?

Even before I arrived in Berlin, I knew that what remains of the wall is spread out across many miles. In fact the original wall was 27 miles long . Seeing the remains of the wall and related historical points would be difficult on a walking tour.

So I registered me, Jason, and our 21-year old son, Ryan, for our first ever bicycle tour and off we went to explore the Berlin Wall. In my humble opinion, this is definitely one of the top things to do in Berlin!

Table of Contents

A Brief History of the Berlin Wall

It may have been a few years since your high school history class, so let me remind you how the Berlin Wall came to be. After World War II ended, the U.S., Britain, France and the Soviet Union divided Germany into four zones. Berlin, despite its location in the Soviet sector, was also divided into four zones. 

Unfortunately for the Soviets, living in East Germany was very unpopular and many of its citizens fled to West Berlin. In 1961, this prompted the Soviet Union to begin construction of a wall that enclosed West Berlin which then blocked East Germans from fleeing. (See the map of the Berlin Wall below.) It began with barbed wire and grew to a complex security zone over the next twenty-eight years.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, East Germany began to reconsider the travel restrictions imposed on its citizens. They had hoped to lift these restrictions slowly over a period of months, but thanks to a badly executed press conference, East Germans believed that the restrictions had been lifted immediately. On November 9, 1989, men, women and children flooded the gates along the wall and soon the beleaguered guards let them through. Around the world this situation made the news and soon after it was announced that the Berlin wall had fallen.

Fat Tire Bike Tours Along the Berlin Wall–Part One

In a small park near the Fat Tire Tour offices, our guide, Jeff, began our tour by drawing a simple map of Germany with chalk on the sidewalk. From this map he shared the story of the creation of the Berlin Wall beginning with the end of World War II. I kept this map in mind as the story of the wall unfolded over the next four hours at eight different stops.

Our first stop was across the street from the German Parliament, or Bundestag, where there is a small memorial to the first people killed trying to escape after the wall was established. The first man killed was Günter Liftin as he attempted to swim across the river. He was shot and killed.

Our next stop was in a cemetery where a portion of the inner wall still remains. Over time, the East Germans made the wall increasingly secure. Many parts of the Berlin Wall were actually two walls, separated by a dead zone. As would be defectors became more creative in their escape attempts, the Soviets and East Germans responded with a more complex and deadly space.

The Berlin wall was protected by a total of 302 watchtowers , each staffed by heavily armed border guards. Most of these towers were destroyed after the wall fell, but during our tour we had the opportunity to see Führungsstelle Kieler Eck Watchtower --one of the few remaining towers. This tower was unique in that it was a command post for several nearby towers. Border guards were very tempted to defect, so a system had to be developed to keep a close eye on them.

The Berlin Wall Memorial

Located in the middle of the city is the Berlin Wall Memorial, a 1.4 kilometer space designed to share the stories of both East and West Berlin and its residents. Our next few stops took place in this memorial park. Very little of the original wall exists here, but there are several interesting exhibits.  At one point visitors will see stones marking the former location of a tunnel built by students in the West. It was through this tunnel that 57 East Berliners escaped . Many tunnels were attempted over the wall’s history, but most did not succeed.

Also located in the Berlin Wall Memorial is a preserved “secure zone.” An elevated viewing platform across the street allows visitors to look into the secure zone which included two walls separated by a “dead zone” and lined with lights for use at night. Observing this menacing space gives us a good understanding of the fear instilled into anyone considering defection.

At the end of the memorial is a famous photo by Peter Leibig painted on the side of a building. The scene is a young East German police officer, Conrad Schumann, escaping to the West by running over the recently installed barbed wire. This event made it clear to the Soviets that much more than barbed wire would be needed to contain East German citizens.

The Berlin Bike Tour Continues

After leaving the Berlin Wall Memorial we continued to a famous house of worship once located in East Berlin, Zion Church . This church has a long history of resistance dating back to the early days of the Third Reich, but during Soviet occupation, this became a popular place for environmentalists to gather secretly. East German factories were polluting the air, but authorities refused to acknowledge it. Concerned citizens began to gather and share literature about the environment and discuss ways to improve it.

Our final stop was in front of the Stasi Records Agency . The Stasi were the East German secret police, similar to the KGB. Here secret files were kept on millions of East Germans . As the wall came down, the Stasi attempted to shred these files, but citizens stormed the building and saved many of the files. Today Germans can request their file to see what type of information was gathered on them.

Preparing for a Fat Tire Tour

Fat Tire Tours range from 3 to 6 hours . Berlin is a fairly flat city, so the riding is pretty easy, but it is important to be able to operate a bike safely for the duration of the tour. We opted for the Berlin Wall tour which lasted four hours and included a 30 minute break. The cost is $35 per person and can be booked here .

We found ourselves quite hungry by break time, so be sure to bring cash for food and drinks. (Not all German shops accept credit cards, so always have some Euros available.) 

Carefully consider the weather before your tour and dress appropriately. Fat Tire Tours run rain or shine, so come prepared. The weather was quite chilly on the day of our tour, so we all dressed in layers. I kept all my layers on for the duration, but my son gradually took off his outer jacket. Be sure to wear closed toed shoes. Helmets are optional in Berlin, but Fat Tire does make them available.

I was pleasantly surprised at the range of ages on our tour. I estimate that ages ranged from 10 to 60 in our group. Smaller bikes are available for children. So if you can ride a bike, then this is for you!

Where Else Does Fat Tire Tours Operate?

This was our first time booking with Fat Tire Tours, but it won’t be the last! They operate in eight cities in Europe; Rome, Milan, Florence, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Barcelona, and London. In the U.S. there are currently four cities offered; New Orlean, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Chicago. In some locations Segways tours are also available. So if you’ll be in one of these cities soon, be sure to book your tour soon.

Where To Stay In Berlin

During our recent trip we stayed at the Motel One Berlin Alexanderplatz and were really pleased with it. Alexanderplatz is centrally located in Berlin and the home to a large public transportation hub. The rooms were small, but very clean. The hotel rates are definitely affordable.

And the best part? The Fat Tire Tour office is just a five minute walk from the hotel! 

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This post has 16 comments.

This sounds like such a cool experience! When I was in Berlin a few years ago, I told my friend (who lives in Berlin) that next time I visit I want to bike the perimeter of the former wall. Unfortunately, I haven’t been back. Yet. Soon, I hope!

I have to admit that I don’t usually seek out bike tours, but I’m glad I made an exception for this one. Biking the wall was a great experience.

I remember when the “wall fell” and when it actually came down. Epic times in history for sure. What a wonderful way to experience the history of the wall. Thanks for sharing, great post.

I’m glad you enjoyed the article! And experiencing the wall by bike really was great.

Very interesting. I have a few friends (former co-workers) that grew up in East Berlin before the wall came down. What a frightening time in our history. Thanks for sharing about the tour. It sounds like a perfect option to see everything.

Yes, it certainly was a frightening time in history. The bike tour was an ideal way to see so much of this important historical sight.

Thank you for all the information- I would love to go on this tour. I have heard great things about Fat Tire Tours, so they’ve been on my radar for awhile. We love riding bikes, so they’re really perfect for us. We hope to go to Germany soon, and as a history lover and teacher, this Berlin Wall tour would be really significant to me. There is so much history there.

I hope you’ll have a chance to take this tour in Berlin! My 21 year old son is also a history lover and he enjoyed every minute of this tour.

This sounds great! I took a tour of the Berlin Wall Memorial and I’ve taken Fat Tire tours in Paris — so the combination of both must be perfect! The layout of the wall surprised me, as I envisioned a straight wall before I was there and studied it more. I think everyone should visit to understand it better!

I couldn’t agree more! I know we learned about the Berlin Wall in school, but seeing it up close really brings history to life.

Wish I knew about this when I visited Berlin. This sounds like great fun! I was a bit underwhelmed with Berlin, yet everyone I meet raves about it so feel I may have missed something somehow. Next time!

I must admit that we were a bit underwhelmed by Berlin at first. However, after a few good tours we learned to appreciate this city. It’s definitely different than other European capitals.

I haven’t been to Berlin but if I do go I will be sure to do this tour as it is such a great alternative way to get around and see the wall.

I highly recommend the Fat Tire Tour of the Berlin Wall! Hope you’ll get to do it yourself soon.

You have a way of making history interesting that’s a real knack. It was interesting to get a greater understanding of the zones and why the wall was built and how quickly it came down. Of course I’ve always known about it and can still remember the news cycle about the fall at the wall, but I didn’t really have any detailed level of understanding. It always amazes me how fastidious governments were about keeping records especially during wartime. I haven’t been to Berlin yet but one day for sure I will. And a tour of the wall seems like an essential Activity to help put this wall into historical perspective.

I’m so glad you enjoyed reading this Jay! And I do hope you’ll make it to Berlin one day–its chock full of history.

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There are many ways to explore the sights of Berlin, including by boat, on foot or in tourist busses. Yet each of these forms is limited: the boat, for example, only shows you life on the banks of the canals and rivers, walking means your radius can be limited, and tour busses stick to the main routes and sites of the city.

A Berlin Bike Tour guided by locals is different. There are less limits on what you can see, and it is an ideal way to explore the vastness of Berlin, experience its colours and sounds and smells, with the wind in your face, your senses alive. You can experience the path of the Berlin Wall, then still make it to the tourist highlights at the centre of the city and beyond, to discover Berlin’s alternative and more hidden places .

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We give you a behind the scenes look at the decaying facades of Kreuzberg , not to mention the grandiose baroque Prussian palaces in Berlin’s city center, Third Reich Germany, the Berlin Wall and Cold War times and many more. On a variety of bike tours in different languages each day, our bike guides inspire and entertain guests with Berlin’s spectacular history, lifestyle and landcapes. An average distance of 17km makes our Berlin Bike Tours easy to handle for all ages and physical conditions.

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Kulturbrauerei – uniquely beautiful starting point in the car-free courtyards of a 100 year old former brewery

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After the bike ride, you can go to the museum, restaurant or beer garden on the brewery grounds

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Berlin on Bike offers daily public bike tours in English, Dutch and German. You can choose from several themed bike routes in our program and usually register at short notice. The average group size is 8 to 12 people, with a maximum of 15 guests. The bicycle tours take place when a minimum of 4 participants registers.

We also offer private bicycle tours: with these your family, friends or colleagues will enjoy the exclusive attention of one of our bike guides. Private tours can be tailored to suit individual needs, including as many breaks as you might wish for, and bespoke catering stops at places requested, as well as detours to particular sites you might be interested in seeing.

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All Berlin on Bike public bike tours start at the Kulturbrauerei (means “Culture Brewery”) in the Prenzlauer Berg district. The brewery grounds have several entrances, the best way to get to us is through the archway at Knaackstraße 97. From the underground station Eberswalder Straße (underground line 2, three stops north of Alexanderplatz) it’s a 200-metre walk.

For private tours with your own bikes, the start can be arranged individually. Delivery of our bikes for your private bike tour is also possible for an additional charge – but this is usually only worthwhile for larger groups.

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On average our group bike tours consist of between eight and twelve participants. On our regular bike tours, fifteen people per group is our maximum. If there are more registrations, we provide more guides, to ensure that groups remain manageable in size, for the sake of safety and for the enjoyment of our guests.

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In the case of private bike tours, we recommend that groups do not exceed fifteen guests at a time. Larger groups will be divided up, with more guides allocated to the tour.

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We had a very nice tour. A friend of mine already had a tour from here a couple of years ago. But even this time she has heard and seen new things. Very nice. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. Definitely recommend!

We did the Berlin Wall tour in English and it was absolutely outstanding. The guide provided us not only with the usual historically landmarks but also with a lot of social history, which was extremely interesting. The biking itself was also great as it took us to some back streets and nice neighbourhoods. Highly recommended for all ages (we had a teenager with us who loved it...).

We did the Best of Berlin tour today with James and thoroughly enjoyed it. We saw all the major sites in the city including the wall, Brandenburg gate, checkpoint Charlie and more. Our 3 children ages 15, 13 and 9 enjoyed it too and we all learned a great deal. Berlin is a large city and going by bike is a great way to see it all in a reasonable amount of time. Highly recommend this tour!

Over 3.5 hours cruising along on good bikes with highly informative guide, who also gave good ideas on where to go at end of tour. So it was a good value fun tour. We only had one day and this 11am tour was the best thing we could have chosen to do.

I had an amazing time during my Bike Tour with Lauren! She was really passionate about this beautiful City and shared with us the nicest spots, while telling us all about it's history! There's no way to get emotional when visiting the Wall. Thanks again, Lauren, for such an amazing tour!

Tolle Tour mit Ulf, bei der auf individuelle Fragen eingegangen wird, sowohl für Gross und Klein (10,14) geeignet und entsprechende Desinfektionsmaßnahmen. Das haben wir bei anderen Anbietern auch deutlich anders erlebt…Sehr lobenswert.

Went on the Alternative Berlin tour with our guide George. He was very knowledgeable and treated us as friends. We saw an incredible amount of the city in a few hours, many parts we would have never seen on our own, and even had time to paint the wall at Mauerpark and have a beer by the Spree. Would highly recommend the trip, and George specifically. He's our friend from Berlin now.

Simon was the perfect guide: very kind in speaking and answering our questions, careful in guiding the groups through the streets. I learned so much about the Wall history and would like to recommend to everyone this tour and with Simon as guide!

We did an alternatieve bike tour with Lauren & Simon around Berlin. It was a very interesting tour with entertaining storytelling . Tour guides were very knowledgeable. Highly recommend tour.

We are in low season till 11th March 2022! Regular tours will take place every Wednesday, Friday & Saturday at 11am. Opening times for private tours and bike rental : Monday – Saturday between 10am and 4pm.

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