- HIDDEN PLACES!
- 15 - 20 kilometres
- 3.5 hours
This bike tour is something for Berliners and visitors to Berlin who want to get a little off the beaten track. Book online!
Quick Details
This bike tour takes you through three of the most lively, colourful and multi-cultural neighbourhoods in the city. In the twentieth century Berlin has repeatedly been a magnet for people seeking alternative ways of living, and in Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain you will encounter the famed nightlife, the cultural diversity and the energy of these scenes.
The bike tour starts off in the former heart of East Berlin’s counterculture Prenzlauer Berg, now still bohemian but mostly chic and gentrified. We continue to trendy Friedrichshain with its world-famous landmark the East-Side-Gallery, a former stretch of the Berlin Wall that artists turned into an open-air gallery in 1990. Finally your guide will show you the most famous and alternative Berlin district of them all – Kreuzberg. Artists, squatters and immigrants from all over the world have turned this neighbourhood into the center of Berlin subculture.
You will encounter backyard theatres, graffiti art, creative projects, street cafés and hidden gems, as well as the diverse club culture the city is famous for. There are also the traces of Berlin’s and Germany’s recent past everywhere, in the monolithic facades of old East Berlin apartments in Friedrichshain or the graffiti sprayed wildness of the West Berlin enclave of Kreuzberg and its legendary party scene from the 1970s and 1980s.
We also raise some of the social questions facing Berlin today, as the creatives of these neighbourhoods struggle with dramatically rising rents. Yet in the positive energy you will encounter everywhere, amidst the crowds of people gathered on the streets, along the canals and in parks, the anarchic energy of these neighbourhoods live on!
This tour is a celebration of our wonderful home town Berlin and its colourful people, street life and everything else that makes Berlin a great place.
Our guides adapt the Alternative Berlin Bike Tour to weather conditions, participants’ interests, street closures and sometimes their own preferences. Changes and deviations are possible.
The Alternative Berlin Bike Tour starts at the Kulturbrauerei (means “Culture Brewery”) in the Prenzlauer Berg district. The brewery grounds have several entrances, the best way to get to us is through the archway at Knaackstraße 97. From the underground station Eberswalder Straße (underground line 2, three stops north of Alexanderplatz) it’s a 200-metre walk.
For private tours with your own bikes, the start can be arranged individually. Delivery of our bikes for your private bike tour is also possible for an additional charge – but this is usually only worthwhile for larger groups.
The Alternative Berlin Bike Tour takes place in English, German and Dutch on several days each week during our season from March till November.
The average group size is 8 to 12 people, with a maximum of 15 guests. You can join these public Alternative Berlin tours as a family, a couple, with a few friends or just by yourself.
We also offer private Alternative Berlin city bicycle tours: with these your family, friends or colleagues will enjoy the exclusive attention of one of our bike guides. Private tours can be tailored to suit individual needs, including as many breaks as you might wish for, and bespoke catering stops at places requested, as well as detours to particular sites you might be interested in seeing.
In addition to our “main languages” English, Dutch and German, private tours can also be booked in French, Spanish or Swedish.
For the private Alternative Berlin Bike Tours, we ask for a little more advance notice when booking, to give us time to find the right guide for your group. However, you may also be lucky with a request at short notice, e.g. the day before.
Kulturbrauerei – uniquely beautiful starting point in the car-free courtyards of a 100 year old former brewery
Daily public bike tours along several routes, in English, Dutch and German
Specially trained guides – knowledgeable and entertaining team of guides
Personal touch – our bike guides are enthusiastic about Berlin and set their own priorities for individual tours
The real Berlin – in addition to Berlin sightseeing, we show aspects of everyday life in the city
Safety – our chosen bike routes favour the use of bike paths and quieter side streets
Well-maintained bike fleet – 21-speed trekking bikes, as well as backpedal or e-bikes
Ideal for families – children’s bikes in various sizes, trailers, child seats, matching helmets
Easy bike tour booking – online, by e-mail or even by phone
Customer friendly and flexible cancellation policy – free of charge up to 24 hours before the start of the tour
After the bike ride, you can go to the museum, restaurant or beer garden on the brewery grounds