Private Sanssouci tour: two hours with your own guide, palace ticket included
What happens
You come out of Potsdam Hauptbahnhof by the Babelsberger Straße exit and the guide is standing there with your name on a sign. From the station it is a walk into the old town: the City Palace first, rebuilt with its pink façade and now the seat of the Brandenburg state parliament; then the Dutch Quarter, 134 red-brick houses built from 1733 to 1740 for Dutch craftsmen; then Potsdam’s Brandenburg Gate on Luisenplatz, which dates from 1770 and is older than the one in Berlin. From Luisenplatz the Green Gate is 100 m away and you are in Sanssouci Park.
The tour ends at the palace. The ticket is included, so the guide has the slot and you do not go near the Historic Windmill counter. Inside, the visit is audio-guided, as every individual visit to Sanssouci is; there is no standard live guided tour of the rooms. Your guide has walked you to the door and explained the building and the man who built it, and then you walk the ten rooms yourself with the audio tour. Reviewers do not seem to mind. Stefan, from Germany, called it excellent and efficient, informative and interesting. Rob, from the Netherlands, wrote that Stefan is a nice guide who makes people pay attention. Christian found the pace right, instructive and sometimes funny.
Who it suits
Families. Two hours is the right length for children, the route is flat until the park, and a guide who is talking only to your group can pitch it at the youngest person present. The SANSSOUCI app has a children’s version for ages 6 to 13 for the rooms. Prams stay in the pram park at the palace entrance, so bring a carrier for the very small.
Groups of four or more. The tour is priced per group, not per head, so the more of you there are the more sense it makes against the per-person tours. A family of five or two couples travelling together are the obvious cases.
Anyone who wants a guide but not a coach. The Berlin coach tour has a live guide too, for four hours and forty people. This has one for two hours and your party. You give up the transport from Berlin and gain the ability to ask a question and get an answer.
Visitors who need a slower pace or a step-free route. The palace is conditionally barrier-free: wheelchair users can visit with an accompanying person, the step-free approach is via the upper Maulbeerallee rather than the 132 terrace steps, and assistance dogs are welcome. A private guide can take that route without holding up a group. Say so when you book, and read is it accessible first.
What is and is not included
Included
- A private guide in German or English for two hours
- The Sanssouci Palace entry ticket for a timed slot
- The audio-guided visit inside the palace
- The walk: City Palace, Dutch Quarter, Brandenburg Gate, Sanssouci Park
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Not included
- Transport to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (S7 or RE1 from Berlin)
- Food and drink
- The New Palace and the other buildings in the park
- A live guide inside the palace rooms (audio-guided, like every visit)
How to build a day around it
Two hours from the station to the palace door leaves most of the day. Ask for a morning start: the palace opens at 10:00, so a tour that begins at the station around 09:00 has you at the Ehrenhof for one of the easier slots and out by 11:30. Then the terraces and the grave, which the guide will have pointed you to; coffee at the Historic Windmill; and the afternoon for the Picture Gallery next door, or the 2.5 km walk down the main avenue to the New Palace, or back into town for lunch on Brandenburger Straße. The three timings are on how long to visit. If you would rather see the Cold War end of Potsdam, the Glienicke Bridge and Cecilienhof, that is a separate afternoon and the day-trip page fits it in.
Not on a Monday. Sanssouci Palace is closed every Monday all year, and the palace visit is the last third of this tour. If Monday is your only day, the walk still works but the ticket cannot; see opening hours and pick another date.
What works
- Palace ticket and slot handled for you
- Your group only, pace and questions your own
- Meets at the station with a name sign, no finding a bus stop
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, unlike the day ticket
- The highest rating on this site, 4.9
Worth knowing
- Only 42 reviews so far, against thousands for the coach tours
- No transport from Berlin; you take the S7 to Potsdam Hbf
- The palace part is audio-guided, as all individual visits are
- Two hours means the New Palace and the far end of the park are not covered
Compared with the other four options, this is the one I would give to a family or to parents visiting for the first time. The rest are on all tickets and tours, and the tour itself is gone through visit by visit in the private tour review.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sanssouci Palace ticket included in the private tour?
Yes. The palace entry ticket and the audio-guided visit inside the palace are included, so you do not need to buy a slot separately. The guide walks you from the station to the palace door. How the slots work is on the tickets page.
Where does the private tour start?
At Potsdam Hauptbahnhof, Babelsberger Straße exit, where the guide waits with a name sign. From Berlin that is about 40 minutes on the S7 or about 25 on the RE1; see how to get there.
Is the private tour priced per person or per group?
Per group. The larger your party, the better it compares with the per-person tours. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours before.
Does the guide come inside the palace?
The palace visit is audio-guided, as every individual visit to Sanssouci is; there is no standard live guided tour of the rooms. The guide covers the city, the park and the building from outside, and the free SANSSOUCI app covers the rooms. See what to see inside.
Is it suitable for wheelchair users?
The palace is conditionally barrier-free with an accompanying person, with a step-free approach via the upper Maulbeerallee, and a private guide can take that route. Tell the operator when you book. Details on is it accessible.