Big Bus Berlin: routes, stops and tickets

Route and stops

Big Bus tickets in Berlin

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  免费取消

  Big Bus Berlin Hop-On Hop-Off Tour with optional River Cruise

  0.5-2小时4.1(973)·Big Bus Berlin

  低至US$33

• 

  免费取消

  Big Bus Berlin Panoramic Night Tour by Open-Top Bus

  1小时15分钟3.5(12)·Big Bus Berlin

  低至US$33

• 

  免费取消

  Big Bus Berlin Hop-on-Hop-off Tour with River Cruise

  1-2小时4.3(3)·Big Bus Berlin

  低至US$63

Want to see every hop-on hop-off bus in Berlin, not just this one? Compare hop-on hop-off tours in Berlin.

What riders say

Across these tickets travellers rate Big Bus Berlin 4.0 out of 5 from 988 reviews.

It was good going on the hop on hop off so we could see a lot instead of going on foot or taking buses to the different sites. Happy there was an optional cruise, although I had thought that what I had purchased, already covered the cruise. It was very informative. Glad I did it.

On the big bus hop on hop off tour, you will see all of the great downtown site of Berlin. There are plenty of sites around 18 or 19 stops and the audio is excellent and let you know in English where you are and the significance of the stock… Highly recommend if you're in Berlin ....

Easy to find and hop on and off. Excellent information about Berlin past and present. We had perfect weather so that was awesome.

Best time to ride

Late spring to early autumn gives the best conditions for an open deck, with long daylight, though summer afternoons can be busy at the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag. Winter rides can be cold and dark early.

Who it suits

Families

The Red Route passes the Tiergarten, Siegessäule and Reichstag, and hop-on hop-off lets children stretch their legs at the stops.

Couples

Gendarmenmarkt, Museum Island and the East Side Gallery suit a slow day of hopping on and off.

Seniors

Hop-on hop-off lets riders choose a few stops across a large city. Check the operator for current accessibility details before booking.

First-time visitors

The Red Route covers the best-known landmarks, while the Blue Route adds the East Side Gallery and Karl-Marx-Allee.

Tips before you go

• Alexanderplatz is Stop 1 on both routes.
• You can hop on and off at any stop unless it is a non-stop panoramic tour.
• Departure times differ between operator pages, so check the live timetable.
• The Blue Route is listed as running on selected days, operated by Stromma buses.
• Stop numbering varies between operator pages; rely on stop names.

Sights along the way

Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamer Platz, Gendarmenmarkt, Siegessäule, East Side Gallery.

Top-ranked in Berlin: Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor), Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Holocaust Memorial), Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, Topography of Terror. All things to do in Berlin.

Why take the bus in Berlin

The case for a bus here is distance. The central cluster of the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, Gendarmenmarkt and Potsdamer Platz is compact enough to walk, and a good walk is often the better choice there. The bus pays off when you want to link that cluster with places that are far apart: Alexanderplatz in the east, the Tiergarten and Siegessäule, and the Kurfürstendamm in the west.

It also suits the first day in a city you do not know. An open-top ride gives you a sense of how Berlin is laid out, with wide avenues, parkland and the contrast between east and west, before you decide where to spend real time. Berlin's history is easier to place once you have seen the geography.

Walking or the metro is better when you have a single target, such as the Reichstag or a museum, or when you want to explore the café streets of Kreuzberg, Neukölln or Prenzlauer Berg, which reward wandering rather than a fixed loop. A guided walking tour typically gives you a guide's stories and a small group at a slower pace, usually focused on one theme such as the Wall or the Third Reich. The bus gives you commentary at a distance and the freedom to get off where you like. Many visitors combine the two: the bus for orientation, a walking tour for depth.

If you are comparing products, note that several operators run hop-on hop-off services in Berlin. Some products add a river or boat cruise, and others bundle the bus with an attraction or a second activity. The ticket page for each one describes its own route.

How the routes work together

Think of the two routes as a main circuit and a short eastern add-on. The Red Route is the main circuit, with 16 stops. From there it heads out past Hauptbahnhof and Schloss Bellevue to the Siegessäule in the Tiergarten, continues to the Ku'Damm and KaDeWe, and then turns back through Lützowplatz, Potsdamer Platz, the Berliner Mauer stop, Checkpoint Charlie and Gendarmenmarkt before reaching Rotes Rathaus.

The Blue Route is much shorter, with four stops: Alexanderplatz, Karl-Marx-Allee, the East Side Gallery and Ostbahnhof. It covers ground the Red Route does not, namely the broad socialist-era boulevard and the long mural-covered stretch of Wall.

In practice that means the Red Route handles the classic sights and the Blue Route handles the east.

Two sights sit a little off the stops. The Topography of Terror is about 450 metres from the Red Route's Checkpoint Charlie stop, and Bebelplatz is about 450 metres from the Gendarmenmarkt stop. Both are easy short walks once you are off the bus.

A sample day on the bus

For a half-day, start in the morning at Alexanderplatz and ride the Red Route toward Museum Island. Stay on until the Brandenburg Gate and get off there. This is the heart of the visit, so give it the most time. Walk to the Reichstag, which has its own stop, and then spend time around the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is part of the same walkable cluster even though no stop is close to it.

In the afternoon, rejoin and get off at Potsdamer Platz, then at Checkpoint Charlie. From Checkpoint Charlie, the Topography of Terror is a short walk, and the same stop is a good base for a loop on foot. Finish at Gendarmenmarkt, one of the city's most pleasant squares, with Bebelplatz a short stroll away.

Add a walk along the murals, and you have covered the east without rushing.

This plan suits two days better than one. If you only have one day in Berlin, choose either the full Red Route circuit or the central cluster on foot, not both.

Booking advice

Start by deciding what you want from the ride.

Next, look at the route. Because the Red Route and the Blue Route cover different ground, check which one the ticket you are considering uses. Stop numbers vary between operator pages, so rely on stop names when comparing, and make sure the stops you care about are on the route described.

Check the commentary languages if that matters to you, and look at whether the ticket is a straightforward bus loop, adds a river or boat cruise, or bundles in an attraction. These are very different products, and a bundle suits you only if you actually want the extra element.

Finally, think about the season. Late spring to early autumn is best for an open deck, while winter rides can be cold and dark early. Book a ticket that fits the weather you are likely to get, and compare options on the ticket page before you commit.

Sights worth the stop

The Brandenburg Gate is the obvious first stop, and the Reichstag is right beside it. Both have a Red Route stop on site, so there is no walking between bus and sight.

Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdamer Platz also have stops right at them, and Gendarmenmarkt is a stop in its own right. These make easy places to get off and have a look before rejoining.

History-minded visitors should plan time for the Topography of Terror and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The first is a walk from the Checkpoint Charlie stop, and the second sits in the central walkable cluster with no stop close by. The Führerbunker is also in that area, though no stop is close to it.

For the Wall, the East Side Gallery is the stop to use on the Blue Route, with the Berlin Wall about 350 metres away.

The Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen is a separate trip outside the city centre and no bus stop is near it, so treat it as its own outing.

More on Berlin sightseeing

• Big Bus Berlin FAQ: Routes, Stops and Tickets

Questions about Big Bus Berlin