44902NOR
Excursion
Cecilienhof (possible) picture stop
Sans Souci outside or inside visit & walk through the park
· Make sure group leaders are aware what is or is not included. If they want an inside visit of Sans Souci, you should try to book an English tour as far in advance as possible.
· The notes below explain the procedure where you are taking a full half day trip from Berlin. If you are visiting Potsdam on the way to another destination, you will be more limited with time and will not stop at Ceclilienhof.
· If you have a touring bus, you could give free time for lunch in
Potsdam before returning to Berlin or heading on your onward journey.
Berlin – Potsdam 22km 45 – 60 mins (traffic may be heavy)
08.30/ 13.30 Depart Berlin
09.15/ 14.15 Arrive Cecilienhof
09.30/ 14.30 Depart Cecilienhof
09.45/ 14.45 Arrive Sans Souci Palace
12.15/ 17.00 Depart for Berlin
13.00/ 18.00 Back in Berlin
08.30 Departure from your hotel. Follow signs for Charlottenburg and
Potsdam. The (non-Autobahn) route will take you along the Wannsee and across the bridge which was made famous by East-West spy exchanges. Follow signs to Cecilienhof if you have time.
09.15 Park in the bus park in the wood 50m from the Manor house.
Walk to the Northern side of the house – by the lake, give
commentary here. Give them time for photos and postcards.
You may have to pay for parking if you have a local bus(€10). NB: It is possible to visit inside: €12 (€8 students) with audioguide. Allow 20 mins. They pay. Adjust above timings.
09.30 Departure from Cecilienhof. Drive through the Russian colony Alexandrowka and follow the signs to Schloss Sans Souci. Set down at the bus park, which is clearly signposted.
There are two ways of organising the visit. If you have an inside tour, it is probably best to leave the bus in the bus park and to meet it again here. You lead the group to the ticket office below the Windmill, where you pay for tickets and meet
your guide. There are WCs here. They are extremely strict about timings and you will have to enter the palace precisely at the designated time. At the end of the inside tour, the guide is often happy to walk a short loop with you down the wine terraces to the large fountain, through the gardens, up past the Orangerie to your left and back to the ticket office. This makes a very pleasant 2 hour long visit in total.
If you are not visiting the palace inside, you will need to make much more of the grounds. Arrange for your driver to meet you at the bus park at the New Palace, and be sure the group is aware that they will not be returning to the same place.
Stop for photos outside the front of the palace, visit Frederick the Great (and his dogs’!) simple tomb on the terraces and lead them down the wine terraces to the large fountain. From there cross the park to the New Palace. It is a very pleasant 2.5km walk – follow signs and the map below.
12.15 Leave the bus park and drive back to Berlin. If you have some time it is worth making a detour through the centre of Potsdam. There are many superb restaurants in the Dutch Quarter. In the Havelbucht you will pass the pump disguised as a mosque (Wasserwerk) and as you leave the centre, the film museum (Marstall) and the Babelsberg Villas (the Beverley Hills of Berlin’s Hollywood of the 30’s). Crossing the bridge back to former West Germany you have a splendid view of Babelsberg Castle.
