"Bridge of Spies" in Potsdam

I would look at the maps on Google Street view to get a good idea of the location of all of these sites and how easy it would be to walk from one to the other. If not, the bus and tram system is excellent there.

Potsdam is one of my favorite cities, absolutely charming. Stay in the Dutch quarter if you are staying overnight. The train from Berlin is easy and frequent. I think it was only a 20 min. ride from the Hauptbahnhof in Berlin. Once in Potsdam, I took a tram to the Dutch quarter. The tourist info offers walking tours for a really low price, so one of those might be good to go on. Visiting the palaces and walking the huge estate here is an all day affair.
I stayed at Hotel zum Hofmaler and was more than happy.
http://www.hofmaler-hotel-potsdam.de/

Thanks for the response. Do you know if the tours in Potsdam takes you to the Glienicke Bridge? If so, is it just a "drive by" or an actual stop with possible "selfies" :-)

I would go on one of the walking tours or bike tours, not a bus tour. Get up close to history with a real guide rather than a boring recording on a bus. For 9 €, it is tough to beat.
http://www.potsdam.de/content/potsdam-english-0

Hi,

Tours of Potsdam include going to the Glienicke Bridge as they do Neues Palais and Sanssouci. All very interesting as you walk through these sights. You can catch the tours as you exit Potsdam Hbf, or across the street, or go up the stairs to the main floor where the Potsdam Tourist Office is located. You can also take the S-Bahn from Berlin Hbf to Potsdam.

Different tours vary in what they include but certain sight/places are always part of the tour, eg, Sanssouci. If you really want to get to know the place, it's best to devote a day or two after doing the bus tour thing and walk or take public transportation to the different areas. Potsdam is a great walking town. You'll see it has changed a great deal, even with the refurbishing, used to see lots and lots of yellow buildings.

The large bus depot across the street from Potsdam Hbf has signs pointing to the correct bus line for where you want to go specifically. From the train station to Neues Palais is way too far to walk. The bus outside of Hbf. takes you about 2 blocks from it. Give yourself time to relax in the town.

The Spy Bridge is far away from Sanssouci and the New Palace, but close to the New Garden, Glienicke and Babelsberg Park, which are equally interesting. Potsdam is much more than just Sanssouci, the city was the summer residence of the Prussian kings for 200 years, and every king built something there. The area around the Spy Bridge is my favorite part of Potsdam, since you are surrounded by lakes and parks.

To get to the Spy Bridge take the S-Bahn or train to Potsdam and get out at Wannsee. From there take Bus 316 to Schloss Glienicke. The bus stops in front of Glienicke Palace, from where you can see the Spy Bridge. Or, what I would do: don't get out at Wannsee but at Potsdam-Babelsberg. From there walk north. First you cross Nowawes, a quarter with small, cute houses, which were built for religious refugees from Bohemia in the 18th century. Next you cross Babelsberg Park, which offers a wonderful view from the castle to the Spy Bridge. Then you walk past some Swiss cottages from the late 19th century, Glienicke Hunting Lodge and Glienicke Palace and finally reach the Spy Bridge. To return take Bus 316 back to Wannsee.

Have a look here: click me
The Spy Bridge is surrounded by parks. To the west is the New Garden and the Bevedere on the Pfingstberg, to the south Babelsberg Park, to the east Glienicke Park, and to the north Peacock island (Pfaueninsel) and Sacrow Park with the Church of the Redeemer. You can easily spend a full day there.

John, you can take the Berlin bus route # 316 from the Wannsee station or the Potsdam tram route #93 from the Potsdam Main Station (both are served by the Berlin S-Bahn) to get to the bridge. Either will take you right there.

You can also take a walking tour to Potsdam from Berlin. I took the "Original Berlin Walks" tour to Potsdam and thought it was wonderful. It was about 5-1/2 hours (with a 1/2 hr stop for lunch), we took the train to Potsdam, bus to the starting point, and then walked to Sanssouci Palace. Yes, we walked across the bridge as part of the tour. The tour ended at the palace gardens and if you wanted to stay to tour the palace, the guide gave you information on getting back to Berlin on your own. It was a lot of walking but well worth the time and effort.

The Potsdam tram to the bridge is rather more frequent than the bus, so I would suggest either travelling to Potsdam and then visiting the bridge by tram, or getting the bus to the bridge from Berlin as previously recommended and then going on into central Potsdam by tram. The area isn't dangerous, but it is isolated, and waiting for the bus basically involves sitting by a main road and breathing fumes from fast-moving traffic.

I would also note that while there is an explanatory sign on the Potsdam side, there are no remnants of the Wall to see at the bridge.