Line series · Part 1
Buses 100 and 200: a city tour for an AB ticket
Two ordinary BVG lines run from Zoo to Alexanderplatz past almost everything other people book a sightseeing tour for. The 100 takes the route through the Tiergarten and along Unter den Linden, the 200 the one via Potsdamer Platz and through the Nikolaiviertel. We go through both routes stop by stop and tell you how far each sight is on foot.
Bus 100 Hertzallee to Memhardstraße, 19 stops, 31 minutes on average according to BVG
Bus 200 Hertzallee to Michelangelostraße, 28 stops, 47 minutes on average according to BVG
Ticket AB is enough; for stops and the return trip, the 24-hour ticket
Walking times Measured on OpenStreetMap footpaths
The line series
- Part 1: buses 100 and 200
- Goes well with: the Ringbahn series
How to ride the loop
Both lines start at the Hertzallee stop behind Zoologischer Garten station and share the route as far as Breitscheidplatz. Then they split: the 100 runs through the Tiergarten, past the Reichstag and along Unter den Linden, the 200 along Tiergartenstraße, via Potsdamer Platz and Leipziger Straße. They meet again at the Marienkirche and both stop at Alexanderplatz. The 100 ends there, while the 200 carries on past Volkspark Friedrichshain into Prenzlauer Berg. It is best to ride out on the 100 and back on the 200, so you see both sides of Mitte.
The best seat for this ride is upstairs in the front row. On its sightseeing page, however, BVG only mentions double-deckers for the 200. According to a 2022 report in the Berliner Zeitung, the 100 runs with ordinary buses because the tunnel under Unter den Linden can no longer carry the heavy double-deckers. If you want to sit upstairs, take the 200.
A normal BVG ticket for fare zone AB is all you need. A single ticket is valid for two hours in one direction; changing is allowed, a return trip is not. For the loop out on the 100 and back on the 200, getting off along the way, take the 24-hour ticket. How tickets work is explained in Understanding the BVG. There is no recorded commentary, so we provide it here.
100 · 200 Breitscheidplatz · Worth getting off
The second stop after the start, right in the heart of City West.
about 2 minutes on foot from the stop
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
The ruined tower of the old church was left standing as a memorial after it was destroyed in 1943, and Berliners call it the "hollow tooth". Next to it, Egon Eiermann built the new church in 1961, whose walls of blue glass glow from inside.
about 3 minutes on foot from the stop
The zoo's Elephant Gate
Two stone elephants carry the roof over the entrance on Budapester Straße. Even if you are not going into the zoo, it is worth stopping for a photo.
On the 100 through the Tiergarten
After Lützowplatz the 100 turns into the Tiergarten. From here one sight follows the next.
100 Großer Stern · Worth getting off
about 4 minutes on foot from the stop
Victory Column
Directions in Google Maps · More on berlin.de
285 steps lead up to the viewing platform directly beneath the golden figure Berliners call "Goldelse". There is no lift, and according to berlin.de admission is cash only. You reach the column in the middle of the roundabout through a pedestrian underpass.
100 Schloss Bellevue
about 1 minute on foot from the stop
Official residence of the Federal President
The white palace on Spreeweg is the official seat of the Federal President. You cannot go in, but you can see the façade from the bus.
100 Haus der Kulturen der Welt · Worth getting off
about 3 minutes on foot from the stop
The "pregnant oyster"
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
The American architect Hugh Stubbins designed the building as a congress hall, a gift from the United States for the 1957 International Building Exhibition. Because of its curved roof, Berliners call it the "pregnant oyster". The roof collapsed in 1980, and the building reopened in its original form in 1987. Today the Haus der Kulturen der Welt shows exhibitions and concerts, and from the riverbank in front you look across the Spree to the Chancellery.
100 Reichstag/Bundestag · Worth getting off
about 2 minutes on foot from the stop
Reichstag dome
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
The glass dome above the plenary chamber is free, but only with registration with the Bundestag, ideally online and well in advance, and with ID. It may close in very hot weather.
100 S+U Brandenburger Tor · Worth getting off
about 5 minutes on foot from the stop
Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz
The bus stops on Unter den Linden, and the gate stands at the end of Pariser Platz. It is quietest here early in the morning.
about 7 minutes on foot from the stop
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
2,711 concrete slabs designed by Peter Eisenman, freely accessible since 2005. Between the slabs it grows narrower and quieter the further in you go.
100 Staatsoper · Worth getting off
about 1 minute on foot from the stop
Neue Wache
In this small building by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, beneath a round opening in the roof, stands Käthe Kollwitz's Pietà, a mother holding her dead son. Since 1993 the Neue Wache has been Germany's central memorial to the victims of war and tyranny.
about 4 minutes on foot from the stop
Bebelplatz
On 10 May 1933 students and Nazis burned books here. In the middle of the square you look through a glass panel into an underground room with empty white shelves: Micha Ullman's "Library", the memorial to the book burning since 1995.
100 U Museumsinsel · Worth getting off
about 2 to 3 minutes on foot from the stop
Berlin Cathedral, Lustgarten and Humboldt Forum
Around the stop are Berlin Cathedral, the Lustgarten in front of the Altes Museum and, opposite, the Humboldt Forum in the rebuilt palace. Museum Island with its five museums has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999. Many Berliners take their lunch break on the Lustgarten lawn.
On the 200 via Potsdamer Platz
The 200 runs along the southern edge of the Tiergarten, through the Kulturforum and then right across the Friedrichstadt. Fewer postcard views, more 20th-century history.
200 Philharmonie · Worth getting off
about 3 minutes on foot from the stop
Philharmonie
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
Hans Scharoun completed the yellow home of the Berlin Philharmonic, with its tent-like roof, in 1963. It was the first building of the Kulturforum.
about 4 minutes on foot from the stop
Neue Nationalgalerie
A steel roof over a hall of glass: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe completed the museum in 1968, his last major building. Inside hangs 20th-century art.
about 4 minutes on foot from the stop
T4 memorial
Directions in Google Maps · More on berlin.de
At Tiergartenstraße 4 the Nazis planned the murder of sick and disabled people; in "Aktion T4" more than 70,000 patients were killed with gas in 1940 and 1941. Since 2014 a 24-meter blue glass wall next to the Philharmonie has commemorated the victims.
200 Leipziger Str./Wilhelmstr.
about 8 minutes on foot from the stop
Topography of Terror
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
From 1933 to 1945 the Gestapo, the SS leadership and the Reich Security Main Office were based on this site. The exhibition explains what was planned here, and admission is free. A section of the Wall still stands along Niederkirchnerstraße.
200 U Stadtmitte · Worth getting off
about 8 minutes on foot from the stop
Gendarmenmarkt
The Konzerthaus stands between two almost identical church towers, the German and the French Cathedral. For us, one of the most beautiful squares in the city.
The classic
Checkpoint Charlie
Five minutes from the stop, with the guard hut, photo spots and big crowds.
Kieznah tip
The Topography of Terror
Get off one stop earlier: free admission, a real piece of the Wall and an exhibition that changes how you see the city.
200 U Rotes Rathaus · Worth getting off
about 2 minutes on foot from the stop
Red Town Hall
The red-brick town hall is the seat of the Governing Mayor and the Senate.
about 4 minutes on foot from the stop
Nikolaiviertel
The Nikolaikirche is considered Berlin's oldest surviving church building, begun around 1230. It was destroyed down to its foundations in the war, and for the city's 750th anniversary in 1987 the GDR rebuilt the church and the quarter around it. Many of the old-looking houses are therefore replicas. Today the church is a museum of the Stadtmuseum Berlin.
Both lines at Alexanderplatz
100 · 200 Spandauer Str./Marienkirche · Worth getting off
about 2 minutes on foot from the stop
Marienkirche and the Dance of Death
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
The church is first mentioned in 1292 and is the only medieval parish church in central Berlin still used for services. In the tower hall, a wall painting about 22 meters long, dating from around 1484, shows Death leading people of every rank in a dance.
about 3 minutes on foot from the stop
Neptune Fountain
Between the Marienkirche and the Red Town Hall, Neptune sits above four female figures representing the great rivers of Prussia.
100 · 200 S+U Alexanderplatz/Memhardstr. · Worth getting off
about 4 minutes on foot from the stop
TV Tower
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
At around 368 meters, the TV Tower is the tallest structure in Germany, opened on 3 October 1969. From the stop you have it in view the whole time.
about 6 minutes on foot from the stop
World Clock
The meeting point on Alexanderplatz, where you can read the time in other cities around the world. This is where the 100 ends.
On the 200 into Prenzlauer Berg
Beyond Alexanderplatz things get quieter as the 200 passes Volkspark Friedrichshain into the residential neighborhoods.
200 Am Friedrichshain · Worth getting off
about 3 minutes on foot from the stop
Fairy Tale Fountain
Directions in Google Maps · More on berlin.de
At the entrance to Berlin's oldest public park stands the Fairy Tale Fountain by city architect Ludwig Hoffmann, here since 1913, with 106 stone figures from fairy tales such as Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel. The Berlin Monuments Authority counts it among the most magnificent late Art Nouveau works in the city.
about 12 minutes on foot from the stop
Großer Bunkerberg
Beneath the park's two hills lie bunkers from the war that were blown up. From the top of the larger one you look out between the trees across the rooftops.
200 Bötzowstr.
about 10 minutes on foot from the stop
Bötzowviertel and Arnswalder Platz
The neighborhood is named after an old brewery and has quiet streets of old buildings and cafés. Walk through them to Arnswalder Platz in the middle of the Kiez. More in the Kiez atlas. After that the 200 runs six more stops to its terminus at Michelangelostraße, where there is little reason for visitors to get off.