Take advantage of your Warnemünde port call with our private full day shore excursion – a fast transfer from the Baltic coast to the German capital and back, and six unforgettable hours exploring Berlin in the company of a historian.

From Berlin’s humble beginnings in the swamplands of Brandenburg, through Prussian imperialism and the raucous years of the Weimar Republic, the tragedies of the Second World War and the intrigue of the Cold War, to German Reunification and the vibrant & cosmopolitan city today – almost 1,000 years of history in a single day ashore.

A cruise rarely leaves much time ashore, and Berlin lies three hours from the coast. Most port excursions spend the day on a coach, shepherding a crowd from stop to stop. This one is yours alone – a private van, a private guide, and a day planned around the people in it, and around your ship.

The start and finish of the day depend on when your ship docks in Warnemünde and when it sails again: your pickup is timed to its arrival, and your return to its all-aboard time. Your driver will be waiting in the arrivals area of the Warnemünde Cruise Center with a sign bearing your name. From there it is around three hours to Berlin in a private, air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz or Volkswagen van with an English-speaking driver, and your guide meets you in the city.

Within the six hours in Berlin, with time for a lunch break along the way, you will cross the city from west to east – from Charlottenburg Palace and the Kurfürstendamm, through the Tiergarten to the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate, over the line of the Berlin Wall into the historic heart of the city, and on to Alexanderplatz and the East Side Gallery. Some sites are best seen from the van; at others we step out and explore on foot.

Certainly, it was far from evident from its humble beginnings – a minor trading town settled in an unforgiving backwater – that Berlin was destined for the world stage. Yet eras have begun and ended here: the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire, the nerve centre of Hitler’s Third Reich, a city carved up and occupied on the frontline of the Cold War, and today the capital of a reunited Germany.

As with every one of our private tours, the itinerary is yours to shape. Tell us which sites matter most to you – and which you have already seen on an earlier visit – and we will build the day around them.

At the end of the day your driver brings you back to Warnemünde – again around three hours – well before your ship sails. When you book, you give us the name of your ship; we check its docking and departure times and plan the day around them. If your ship berths somewhere other than the Warnemünde Cruise Center, let us know and your driver will meet you there instead.

The day suits families with children, and travellers who would rather not walk far: much of Berlin can be seen from the comfort of the van. Lunch, drinks and personal expenses are not included in the price.