Time needed for Reichstag Dome?

Hi, Chris, my reservation for noon with the Bundestag says "approximately 90 minutes which includes a gratis guided tour in English". Have you requested your reservation yet?

Thanks, Kathy. That is helpful. I requested my reservation (for early July), but have not received it yet. I have heard that they can be slow to respond.

Chris, it depends if you make a reservation for the Glass Dome only or for a free guided tour that includes a visit to the Glass Dome at the end. If you just do the Glass Dome, I'd probably budget about 60-90 min for the entry procedures and the walk inside the Dome with your audio guide. However, if you do have the time I'd strongly recommend to make reservations for the free guided tour as you get to see parts of the Reichstag that are not accessible for tourists otherwise. It's one of the best guided tours I've ever been on. It takes 90 minutes and afterwards you can explore the Glass Dome with the audio guide at your own pace. So total time needed probably about 2 1/2 hours.

Please keep in mind that the actual Mitte (downtown) part of Berlin is East of the Reichstag. Therefore if you visit it in the early morning you won't be able to see most of it or even take pictures as this is against the sun.

Wow, I hadn't thought about glare from the sunrise - that's a great point. Thank you all for the tips. I might change my visit to later in the day and take the tour.

One more question: if I visit the dome in the evening, what would be the best time to go?

I did the guided tour a year ago with my 22 yr old son. We both found it rewarding and you really see a significant amount more - AND the guides really deliver a great amount of information. Do it if you can.
Have fun.

Chris, I visited it at night, and loved it. I didn't have a reserved time, ended up just going and waiting in line. Line looked worse than it really was; it WAS long, but seemed to move pretty quickly. Once I got in, I seem to recall spending around 90 min walking up and down the ramp, as you go higher, the view outside keep getting better and better! And up at the very, very top, make sure you look down through the window that opens on to the floor of parliament; the symbolism is that after Germany's dark and tainted past, never again will the government do things in secret; the German people NOW always have their eyes on their government officials! If you go at night, I think you'll really enjoy it. And enjoy Berlin in general; a truly fascinating city, for sure.

Thanks, that's a good tip!

We visited there last year and spent about 90 minutes in the place and not on a tour. We got audio devices that had a GPS system inside of them so that as we walked up the ramp, the audio guide told us about what we were seeing at that exact time. Neat.