In this guide
💡 The Short Version: A 1-hour Spree cruise is €22.50 with Stern und Kreis, €21.90 with Reederei Riedel from Hauptbahnhof, and from €17.60 on the cheaper boats; it covers Museum Island, the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower. A city tour of a little over 2 hours is €30.50 and adds the government district and the central station. The 3-hour bridge trip is €35.50 and the solar-boat cruise to the East Side Gallery from €26.50. In November and December the boats thin out: Riedel runs Thursday to Sunday only. The bridge trip takes a modified route from 19 October to 1 November 2026. Or book ahead: the 1-hour city tour by boatad is €22.50, the operator’s own price, and a 1-hour bilingual boat with a live guidead is from €18 (GetYourGuide).
The boats, compared
Prices are the operators’ own “from” prices; GetYourGuide sells several of the same boats at the same price.
A cruise boat on the Spree beside the Federal Chancellery. Photo: Dguendel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
| Boat | Length | From | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stern und Kreis, historical city tour from Friedrichstraße (C4) or Alte Börse (C5) | 1 hour | €22.50 | Evening sailings of both at €22.50 |
| Reederei Riedel, Hauptstadt Spreefahrt from Hauptbahnhof | 1 hour | €21.90 | Five departures a day to October |
| Reederei Winkler, “Die schöne Spreefahrt” (City-Tour 4) | 2 hours | €26.00 | From Schloßbrücke in Charlottenburg; ends 1 November |
| Stern und Kreis, green Spree cruise on the SunCat (C12) | 2 hours | €26.50 | Solar-powered; the evening version is €20.50 for 1 hour 30 |
| Stern und Kreis, city tour from Friedrichstraße (C8) | 2 hours 15 minutes | €30.50 | The operator’s bestseller |
| Stern und Kreis, evening city tour (C2) | 2 hours 15 minutes | €31.50 | |
| Stern und Kreis, bridge trip from Jannowitz Bridge or Treptow (C1) | 3 hours 15 minutes | €35.50 | Live commentary; modified route 19 October to 1 November 2026 |
The 1-hour boats
Stern und Kreis, historical city tour
€22.50 · 1 hour · Friedrichstraße or Alte Börse
The 1-hour cruise passes the City Palace with the Humboldt Forum, the Nikolaiviertel, the Berlin Cathedral, the TV Tower and Museum Island (sternundkreis.de). It leaves from the pier at Friedrichstraße (tour C4) or from Alte Börse, by Hackescher Markt (tour C5), and each has an evening sailing at the same price. GetYourGuide’s Berlin: 1-Hour City Tour by Boat including Audio Guidead is the operator’s own product at €22.50 (18,022 reviews).
Reederei Riedel, Hauptstadt Spreefahrt
€21.90 · 1 hour · boards at Hauptbahnhof
Riedel’s capital cruise boards at Berlin Hauptbahnhof and passes the Reichstag, Friedrichstraße, the Humboldt Forum, Museum Island, the Berlin Cathedral, the TV Tower and the Nikolaiviertel. From April to October it leaves at 11:30, 13:00, 14:30, 16:00 and 17:30 every day. Tickets are also sold at the pier, by card, and there are drinks and snacks on board. Dogs are welcome.
A cruise boat at the Moltke Bridge, with Hauptbahnhof behind. Photo: JoachimKohler-HB, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Cheaper and live-guided boats on GetYourGuide
From €17.60 to €22 · 1 hour
Berlin: 1-hr Boat Tour with Bilingual Live Guide (DE/EN)ad, run by Reederei Hadynski, is from €18 (7,253 reviews). Berlin: City Spree Cruise (1 hr) incl. audio guidead is from €17.60 (2,433 reviews), with commentary in German and English over the onboard system and an audio guide in six more languages. Berlin: 1-Hour Spree Cruise Opposite Berlin Cathedralad is €22 with departures every 30 minutes and commentary in German and English (1,382 reviews). Berlin: Live-Guided Landmark Boat Tour in German & Englishad is from €18.06 (576 reviews).
The longer boats
City tour of a little over 2 hours
€30.50 · 2 hours 15 minutes · Friedrichstraße
Stern und Kreis’s C8 city tour combines the famous and the lesser-known stretches, with Museum Island, the Berlin Cathedral, the central station and the Reichstagufer, and quieter canals with green banks and old industrial areas in the north of the city. The operator calls it its bestseller. The GetYourGuide listing, Berlin: Boat Tour Along the River Spreead, is 2 hours 15 minutes at the same €30.50 (11,899 reviews). The evening version, C2, is €31.50.
The bridge trip
€35.50 · 3 hours 15 minutes · Jannowitz Bridge or Treptow
The C1 bridge trip runs over the Landwehr Canal and the Spree with live commentary. Because of building work on the Landwehr Canal, it takes a modified route from 19 October to 1 November 2026, through the city centre and the Berlin-Spandau Shipping Canal; the operator keeps the live guide (sternundkreis.de).
To the East Side Gallery by solar boat
From €26.50 · 2 hours · Oberbaum Bridge and Treptower Park
Berlin: East Side Gallery Spree Cruise in a Solar Catamaranad is from €26.50 and passes the East Side Gallery and the Oberbaum Bridge, then the greenery of Treptower Park (1,100 reviews). Berlin: 2.5-Hour East Side Boat Cruise with Commentaryad is from €24 and sees Museum Island, the Reichstag, the Federal Chancellery and the East Side Gallery (2,276 reviews). The East Side Gallery guide covers the murals on foot.
Solar and historic boats
Catamaran from €36 · Hemingway steamship from €25
Berlin: Exclusive Boat Tour on a Solar-Powered Catamaranad is 2.5 hours for €36, with a limit of 36 passengers, a drink and an audio guide (2,034 reviews). Berlin: Quiet 1908 Hemingway Boutique Cruisead is 1 or 1.5 hours from €25 on a steamship built in 1908 and restored with a silent electric engine (1,034 reviews).
The winter timetable
The season decides which boat runs.
| Operator | What runs |
|---|---|
| Reederei Riedel | In November and December, the Hauptstadt Spreefahrt on Thursday to Sunday at 11:30, 13:00, 14:30 and 16:00 |
| Stern und Kreis | A winter city tour from Friedrichstraße (C10) on Fridays and Saturdays, 28 November to 20 December, from €29.90 |
| Reederei Winkler | City-Tour 2 and City-Tour 4 daily to 1 November 2026, and the classic City-Tour 1 daily to 8 November |
Which boat
- Cheapest: the 1-hour boats from €17.60.
- Museum Island, the Cathedral and the TV Tower: the 1-hour historical tour, €22.50.
- The Reichstag and the government district: Riedel’s boat from Hauptbahnhof, €21.90, or the 2 hour 15 minute city tour, €30.50.
- The East Side Gallery: the solar-boat cruise from €26.50, or the 2.5-hour East Side cruise from €24.
- After dark: the evening sailings of the city tours.
- In winter: Riedel from Thursday to Sunday, or Stern und Kreis’s Friday and Saturday tour.
The Reichstag dome, Museum Island, the TV Tower and the Berlin Cathedral can all be seen from the water, so a cruise shows them before you choose which to enter. For a walk, see Berlin walking tours. Berlin public transport covers the way to the piers, what to book before you go to Berlin lists the sights that need tickets, and where to stay in Berlin compares the areas. The Holocaust Memorial, the DDR Museum and free things to do in Berlin cover what to do on land.
Common questions
How much is a Spree river cruise in Berlin?
A 1-hour city cruise is €22.50 with Stern und Kreis, €21.90 with Reederei Riedel and from €17.60 on cheaper boats. A city tour of a little over 2 hours is €30.50, a 3-hour bridge trip €35.50 and a solar-boat cruise to the East Side Gallery from €26.50.
How long is a Spree boat tour?
From 1 hour, which covers the historic centre with Museum Island, the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower, to 2 hours 15 minutes, which adds the government district and the central station, and 3 hours 15 minutes for the bridge trip.
Which Spree cruise passes the East Side Gallery?
The longer tours do: a 2.5-hour East Side boat cruise from €24 and a 2-hour solar-boat cruise from €26.50 both go to the East Side Gallery, and the solar boat also passes the Oberbaum Bridge.
Do the boats run in winter?
Fewer do. Reederei Riedel's 1-hour Hauptstadt Spreefahrt runs Thursday to Sunday in November and December, at 11:30, 13:00, 14:30 and 16:00, and Stern und Kreis has a winter city tour on Fridays and Saturdays from 28 November to 20 December at €29.90.
Where do the Spree boats leave from?
Stern und Kreis boats leave from Friedrichstraße, Alte Börse by Hackescher Markt, Jannowitz Bridge and Treptow. Reederei Riedel boards at Berlin Hauptbahnhof and Reederei Winkler at Schloßbrücke in Charlottenburg.
