Exploring Berlin By Bike
New bicycle tours devised an alliance of bicycle-friendly hotels in Berlin gives tourists plenty of routes to choose from
October 19th, 2014
Many tourists are likely to find a bicycle a more enjoyable option than using public transport to view the sightseeing spots. Now an alliance of bicycle-friendly hotels in Berlin have devised and mapped out a number of bike tours around the city. These hotels provide the bicycles for a small fee and keep them roadworthy.
There are around 41 different tour routes to choose from. They are all on Berlins City Tourism website so that you can plan your tour before you arrive. Most of the tours go through the old historic centre of Berlin and past the primary tourist spots like the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. There are some alternative routes however, that take tourists to often missed destinations like Teltow and Spandau.
Some more interesting sights include the futuristic-shaped Haus der Kulturen der Welt, dubbed by many Berliners as the “pregnant oyster”. The building is a venue for exhibitions, concerts and other cultural activities. The “Bureaucrats’ Snake” is another ironically named building on some of the tours. The building was originally constructed for parliamentary deputies to live in following the shift of the German capital to Berlin following reunification. Most deputies however, chose to live elsewhere, so the building was opened for non-deputies.
Christoph Hecker, office manager at the Mercure Hotel Berlin City said that the tours were devised because guests regularly asked about bicycling. Hotels realized there was a new and important service they could give to guests, so they devised the new tours. The tours aren’t “the usual city map that everyone has,” said Hecker.
Berlin has many bike-paths and Berliners themselves regularly ride, which makes it the perfect option for adventurous tourists. Tourists appreciated discovering sights that make their own stay in Berlin special. These new bikes tours are a great way for tourists to differentiate their stay from any one else’s tour.
References and Links
- For more info: http://www.iol.co.za/travel/world/europe/exploring-berlin-by-bicycle-1.1797064#.VJQmgbgAA
