City-Circle Stadtrundfahrt

Eigentlich wollten wir mit den roten Bussen fahren, die wir aus anderen Städten kannten. Aus verschiedenen Gründen wurden es diesmal diese. Wir dachten «die Touren sind alle gleich» doch weit gefehlt. Was bekommt man hier? Furchtbare Musik wenn man die Kopfhörer zum laufen bekommt. Infos zu Gebäuden, die nicht komplett sind und mittendrin enden. In einem anderen Bus gab es andere Infos … Was soll das? … Lange Wartezeit im Bus ohne Info warum. Sehr Schade. Die Touren in anderen Städten (Amsterdam, München, Barcelona) sind besser gemacht. Hier wurde viel potenzial verschenkt.

Just what we wanted for a half day tour of Berlin.
Without getting off at stops, it would have been a two hour tour. With got off three times, making it a five hour circuit. Buses consistently came within ten minutes, we always got seats on the top level, and never an hassle, although taking the tour midweek in April probably worked to our advantage.
When you pay you get a cheap set of ear phones. On each bus the seats have connections for audio guides, in about 20 languages. You press the number for your language and sit back and enjoy. Well done.

We had limited time and had kids in tow, so we decided to see the main sights via the hop-​on hop-​off bus. During the peak summer season, it was mostly a positive experience except for excessive lines at a few of the more popular stops. Checkpoint Charlie was an absolute zoo.
It is always challenging deciding whether you are being too pushy or too passive trying to wrangle seats. The bus drivers did not allow standing in the aisles, so it was difficult keeping our family together at times. It would definitely be easier as a single or couple.
Because we were traveling with children, we did get a good deal for a one-​day family pass. This was negotiated with a ticket agent at our embarkation point. We didn’t have any issues with the headphones and the English language commentary was fine.
We took the entire City Circle Yellow Tour and stopped at most locations. But based on crowds, in some cases we decided to walk to the next pick up spot. For example, it is enjoyable to take breaks and stroll along Unter den Linden. You do need to pay attention to when the last bus of the day will reach certain stops. We almost missed last call which didn’t seem terribly late.
We explored more of East Berlin by river, so it was a good mix to take the bus tour that focused on Western and Central Berlin.

This is the worst bus tour I have ever been on. I have taken tours in Rome, Madrid, London and Paris as well as the USA. I should have known it would be a disaster when upon getting on the bus the driver shut the door and started up without giving us an opportunity to be seated. Then our earphones, that only had sound in one ear would not stay plugged into the socket so we had to hold them in in order to hear. Most of the time only music played on liu of information about the sites we were passing. We passed many places of interest that were never identified. Most of the windows did not open and because the plastic top was installed it was very warm. Several men attempted to open various windows to no avail.
DO NOT MAKE OUR MISTAKE! TAKE A DIFFERENT TOUR COMPANY.
When I complained to the tour office, Mr White just suggested to take another bus. Not satisfactory!!!

There are a number of bus tours around the city but we opted for the City Circle Tours because of the stops. We chose the two day option so that we could make the most of the two different loops to get the most out of the city. There is just so much to see in Berlin!
Bus tours are a great way to get around to all of the must see places in a short amount of time. Saves you trying to figure out how to get from one place to another on public transport. Also, it is great to have the headsets to give you some good audio information about the city, and places of interest. Something you wouldn’t get if you were walking around on your own.
Our first day was a Sunday. On Sundays, a lot of things (shops, places etc) are closed and so we found that the bus tour got us around much quicker than on the Monday as the traffic wasn’t too bad. I can imagine though, this tour would be awful if there is a lot of traffic. Also, at the more popular places (and at the beginning of the day) the buses can be full, so it is first in first served. We decided to walk a few stops instead, and by the end of the day we often had the bus to ourselves!
We liked that we could hop on and off as we pleased. This meant that we could see what we wanted when we wanted to. Some places we were happy enough to see from the bus so saved us some time. Overall, we were pleased with the tour. I can still hear the audio music …

Me. Charlene. walking around aimlessly in Berlin. So much to explore, so little time. but wait, what are these giant yellow double decker buses that I keep seeing all over the city?! It’s the City-​Circle tour bus, of course! Almost every other block, I saw a sidewalk hustler or a kiosk selling these tickets. Pay your fee, get some headphones in exchange, and hop on a bus that comes ever 10 mins!
It’s awesome, because you get to see the city, and hop on and off as much as you want. but wait, it gets better. all tickets are valid for TWO WHOLE DAYS! For me, it even got better. when I paid for my ticket, I was only charged student pricing without even asking. benefits of looking like I’m a child… thank you Asian genes! :)