Walking Tours in Winter

They run year-round, in almost any weather. Whether you should take one is a different question.

What It Is Actually Like

A Berlin walking tour is two hours mostly standing still outdoors. At −5°C with wind, that is a genuinely demanding way to spend a morning, and guides will tell you people drop out at the halfway point.

This is not a reason to skip Berlin in winter — the city is excellent then, quiet and atmospheric — but it is a reason to plan the tour differently.

If You Are Going Anyway

• Overdress substantially. More than the temperature suggests: you are not generating heat.
• Hat and gloves, and a waterproof outer layer — Berlin winter is often wet rather than crisp.
• Proper boots. Cold feet end tours.
• Take the morning slot, which is usually the warmest part of a short day.
• Ask the guide about warm stops at the start; most build one in if asked.

The Indoor Alternatives

• $19 — Reichstag, dome and government district, 20,846 reviews. Substantially indoors and the dome is spectacular in low winter light.
• $19 — plenary chamber and cupola, 8,983 reviews.
• $21 — Berlin Story Bunker, 7,278 reviews. Entirely indoors.
• $24 — a one-hour boat tour, 6,972 reviews. Heated, seated, and a good view of the centre.

The Upside

Winter Berlin has no queues, cheaper accommodation and much smaller tour groups — the free tours in particular shrink from 35 people to eight, which transforms them. Christmas markets run from late November, and the city’s museums, which are world-class, are the obvious wet-afternoon answer.

If your trip is flexible, late February and March give you the quiet without the deepest cold.

See tours with indoor stops →