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Potsdam outside visits of Cecilienhof and the park of Sans Souci Palace
· On the N-S route there are possibilities for lunch on the motorway between Berlin and Dresden – the first is 62km south of Berlin Brandenburg International. In reverse, your best bet is lunch in the centre of Potsdam, a town which is certainly worth a look at in any case. This will however of course take a little bit of time.
· If your group wants an inside visit at Sans Souci then you must call as early as possible to try to reserve a tour in English.
· The (non-Autobahn) route between Berlin and Potsdam will take you alongside the Wannsee and across the Glienicke Bridge which was made famous by East-West spy exchanges and which features in “Bridge of Spies”.
Cecilienhof – photo stop
Park in the coach park in the wood 50m from the Manor House. Give them time for photos and postcards. After the photo stop, drive through the Russian colony Alexandrowka to Sans Souci. Your driver may have to pay for parking here.
NB: It is possible to visit inside. (€12/ students €8, with audio-guide. Allow min 20 mins. They pay. Adjust above timings.)
Sans Souci Palace – visit of the park
Set down in the coach park behind Sans Souci palace. There are pay toilets at the ticket office close to the coach park. (If you have arranged an inside visit, pay for tickets and meet your guide at the ticket office below the windmill close to the coach park. They are very strict about timings, so you must enter the palace at exactly the allotted time.)
Take the group round to the front of Sans Souci palace and onto the terrace overlooking the park. Walk them down to the first pool to get the best view back up the terraces towards the palace. It depends on the weather and the energy of your group how far you want to explore the gardens. You should at least encourage them to walk down to the Chinese Teahouse if at all possible. Return to the coach park.
If your group wishes to spend more time here – and are good walkers – then you could walk with them to the Neue Palais. This is a distance of 2.5km so you should allow a good 1½ hours for the visit. Ask your driver to meet you by the Neue Palais in this case. On leaving Sans Souci it is worth making a detour through the centre of Potsdam. 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).
