Best Walkins Tour in English

Hi;

I%26#39;m going to Berlin with a friend for a weekend (Nov 21-24) for the very first time!

We want to do a Walking Tour in English to see the main sights of the city (not a theme tour).

On the visitberlin web site there are quite a lot of different tours and companies to chose from. I have also sen the company %26quot;Insider Tour %26quot; being mentioned on a few threads on this forum.

I would appreciate any recommendations on which tour/tour company we should chose as first timers to Berlin?

Thanks!

/sun

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Unlike many others, I have the opportunity to compare and can say without hesitation that Insider Tours are really the best. However, it is always the question of who is guiding you - even that company that gets tepid reviews here, has some good guides, only that statistically most good guides work for Insider Tour, few for Berlin Walks and there is of course Terry Brewer himself (not his company), who is said to be a very good guide. At the end, it all boils down to who is your guide.

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Have had a look at the description of the tour now and I think we%26#39;ll go for Insider Tours.

I agree the guide is always important - I%26#39;m sure we%26#39;ll have a good one!

Thanks lylou!

/sun

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I really liked the New Europe Tour which meets near the Brandenburg Gate, the guides were friendly and informative, and they do it for tips. It%26#39;s a free tour but if you like it they welcome tips, but you can pay nothing if you wish. :D It%26#39;s a 3 hour tour that takes you to some great places, and gives you a real feel of the city. The one in Munich was great too! www.neweuropetours.eu

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%26quot;you can pay nothing if you wish%26quot;

As widely discussed in this forum, in this company, the guide has to pay EUR5 (perhaps they have even upped it) for each person leaving the tour with them, whether they leave a tip or not. So, if one wouldn%26#39;t leave a tip, or leaves a tip of less than EUR 5, it is actually counter-effective for the guide and (unintentionally), an abuse. For EUR 9, you can get a better tour, which is ran by companies not making such demands of their guides. The fact that a certain company advertises itself as %26quot;free%26quot; doesn%26#39;t really mean that the tours are actually free. No free lunches...

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To me, the cost is not the big issue. We are in Berlin for just three days and this is a tour we%26#39;ll probably do just once - so the important thing is that it%26#39;s good!

But I do understand that chap or %26quot;free%26quot; alternatives can be an option, specially if you are traveling on a tight budget.

We have booked the Insider Tours (4 h) and it%26#39;s € 12. I think (and hope) this is the tour we are looking for ...

Promise to get back here with a short report after our stay!

/sun