Tour Berlin on Public Bus
Using Bus 100 to See the German Capital’s Top Sights
Bus 100 is an easy and cost-effective way to see Berlin's top sights including the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, and UNESCO-listed Museum Island.
Berlin, nine times the size of Paris, is best explored on foot with the aid of the city’s excellent public transportation system. Of particular use to first-time visitors is bus line 100, a double-decker bus that passes by the major sights while connecting the two centers of this formerly divided city. Bus stops are numerous but for a good overview of the Mitte central district of Berlin take the bus all the way to the end terminus and alight at interesting sights on the way back.
Bus 100 in West Berlin
Bus 100 departs several times per hour from Zoologischer Garten train station in the heart of the former West Berlin and passes by the Emperor Wilhelm II Memorial Church before heading to Tiergarten, the 714-acre park in the center of Berlin. Inside and on the edges of the park it goes by the Victory Column – moved here by the Nazis in anticipation of victory parades to come – Schloss Bellevue, the modern Chancellery, and the Reichstag (German parliament) with its huge Norman Foster-designed glass dome.
On Bus 100 down Unter den Linden
Traffic no longer crosses into the former East Berlin through the Brandenburg Gate but this famous Cold War symbol as well as the fabulously luxurious Hotel Adlon can be seen from the bus just as it turns onto Unter den Linden, traditionally Berlin’s most fashionable address. Note the Stalinist architecture of the Russian Embassy. It still has some hammer and sickles in the detailing but obviously flies the Russian tricolor rather than the red Soviet standard.
At the far end of Unter den Linden are several classical buildings including those of the Humboldt University (former students include Marx, Engels, and Lenin, while Einstein taught here), the German National Opera (one of three opera houses in Berlin), and the New Guard (Germany’s official memorial for the victims of war and tyranny). The late 17th-century Zeughaus (Armory) is the oldest building on the boulevard and suitably houses the German Historical Museum. Its ultra-modern IM Pei-designed annex has excellent temporary exhibitions.
Bus 100 now enters Museum Island – a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site with some of the finest museums in world. The most popular is the Pergamon Museum. Despite its Renaissance appearance, the Berlin Cathedral is just over a century old. After more than a decade of debate, the copper-colored parliament building of the former communist German Democratic Republic is finally being demolished to make place for a rebuilding of the Prussian kings’ town palace.
Bus 100 in the Heart of East Berlin
Along Karl-Liebknecht Street is the 368-m (1,178-ft) Fernsehturm – a television tower built by the East Germans with Swedish technology in the 1960s. It is the highest structure in Germany and the Telecafé revolving restaurant at 207-m (662-ft) offers the best views of Berlin.
After about half an hour, bus 100’s journey ends at Alexanderplatz, a huge square that was the heart of East Berlin during the communist years but now at times eerily quiet. A new, Art-Deco-Style shopping center with almost 200 shops and restaurants may help to bring live back to the area. The return trip starts in minutes making this a good time to grab the front seats on the top deck for the best views, or change to Bus 200 and follow a slightly different route via Potsdamer Platz and Kulturforum back to Zoologsicher Garten.
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