Berlin is not a city you „do“ in a weekend. Anyone who tries to tick off the Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, the Wall memorial and the East Side Gallery in two days goes home exhausted having seen very little. Our suggestion: take one district per day and let the rest go.
What is genuinely worth it
Museum Island. Five buildings on an island in the Spree, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Pergamon Museum is only partly accessible until further notice because of refurbishment – check before you travel, or you will stand in front of closed doors. The Neues Museum with Nefertiti is the more reliable tip.
Berlin Wall Memorial, Bernauer Straße. The most honest place on the subject of the Wall: a preserved section of the border installation with watchtower and death strip, not just a painted wall. Free, outdoors, and far less crowded than the East Side Gallery.
The Reichstag dome. Free, but only with prior registration – and that has to go in a few days ahead. Turn up on the day and you are out of luck.
What you can skip
Honestly: Checkpoint Charlie. What stands there is a replica surrounded by souvenir stalls. If you are after the history behind it, go to the Wall Museum next door, or straight to Bernauer Straße.
The TV tower viewing platform is also expensive and often booked out. The view from the Panoramapunkt at Potsdamer Platz costs less, and you get the TV tower in the picture.
Practicalities
- Tickets: For public transport, fare zone AB is usually enough. You only need ABC for BER airport and Potsdam.
- Cycling: Berlin is flat and by now has usable cycle lanes. Faster than the underground for most journeys.
- Sundays: Supermarkets are closed. Late-night shops and station kiosks will save you, but they cost more.
- Tipping: five to ten per cent, stated when you pay rather than left on the table.