Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany. It is even the second largest city in Europe. It is known worldwide for its turbulent history. Today it is a modern city with a rich cultural history. It is a fabulous city, which almost everybody will fall in love with.
Day 1: A walk through Berlin.
Start your day with an organized walk through Berlin. This tour starts at 11 A.M. at the Starbucks cafe on the Boulevard Unter den Linden. You will walk past famous sites including the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial to Murdered Jews and Checkpoint Charlie. The tour ends at the Museum Island. This is also known as Athens on the Spree. Here you’ll find five museums, including the Altes Museum, the Altes National Galerie and the Pergamon Museum. After this interesting tour, you can definitely use some relaxation. End your day at the cozy Oranienburg in the Mitte District and have a drink in Aufsturz or Cafe Zapata. This street is the liveliest street in Berlin. Not tired yet? Than you can go out in Berlin’s vibrant nightlife.
Day 2: The monuments and history of Berlin.
After a short nights sleep, you can dive into Berlin again. Near the Brandenburg Gate is Reichstag, the German Parliament Building. This is not to be missed! Take the elevator to the top floor and enjoy the breathtaking view of the Free Walking Tour Berlin city. Inside the glass dome you will also find a lot of information about the history of Berlin. By bus you can easily reach the center of the former West Berlin.
The bus goes through several interesting sites so you can stop now and then, including at the Tiergarten park. The western part is more a place for shopaholics. Amongst the many shopping malls there are some places more than worthwhile, such as the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedähtniskirche. This place clearly shows the traces of the Second World War. Back in the eastern part, you can visit the Potsdamer Platz and have something to eat and drink in the Friedrichshain district. Here you will certainly find the perfect bar or a delicious restaurant for your preferred taste.
Day 3: The center of Berlin.
If you are visiting Berlin, the wall is an important historical site that you should not miss. The East Side Gallery is truly a must, because this longest and best preserved piece of the wall is also the world’s largest outdoor gallery. Back in the center of town, you should take a look at the Sony Center. Not because you need anything, but this is one of the most modern and fascinating buildings of Berlin. It is a lively town center with restaurants, shops and a cinema. Enjoy your last night with a quiet drink in the Prenzlauer Berg district, where you can relax an exchange stories until the late night.
5 Things To Do in Berlin
Berlin is filled with intriguing and unique places. Here’s a quick guide below to give you a small sample of what’s on offer.
Why not go exploring in a forest – not just any forest, Grunewald, a huge forested area (in fact it’s Berlins largest forested area), to the West of Berlin – very easy to access via the S-bahn. Covering 3,000 hectares, you can go through the wood by foot, bicycle and even via horseback. You should be on the lookout for Tuesfelsberg which is a man-made hill made just after WWII by the allies and is made up from the cities rubble. You can’t climb the hill unaccompanied, but there is a guided tour available.
Another thing to do would be to climb up the glass dome of the Reichstag and catch a 360 degree view of the city. The building is very modern but it wasn’t always that way: The Reichstag was originally constructed back in 1884 but it was reduced to a fraction of its original stance during World War Two. In 1993, Norman Foster won the commission to completely rebuild and re-design the dome.
A visit to Berlin of course wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Berlin Wall of which under a mile remains in the Friedrich-Freuzberg suburb. And it also shows how graffiti should be – colourful and meaningful, akin to actual art. The wall also does have actual art, roughly 100 paintings. The art is actually quite impressive such as the Dimitrji Vrubel’s picture of Brezhnev. Obviously, if you’re going to visit the wall, make sure you visit Checkpoint Charlie, the best known crossing point between the East and West before the wall came down.
To see the cities great highlights you can Free Tour Berlin go on a free walking tour of New Berlin that occurs every day at the Brandenburg Gate (just outside Starbucks) and you pass much of the central cities great buildings. The tour itself is very long coming in at three and a half hours and is in English. The tour is free but please note that tips are somewhat expected (rightly so, it is a three and a half hour tour). The English tours depart at 11am and 1pm.
Finally, on a more sombre note, we urge you to take the time to visit the Memorial to the Holocaust. Spanning over five acres and very close (only one block way) from the south of the Reichstag. It was opened in 2005 and was designed by Peter Eisenman featuring 2,700 slabs of concrete. It really is a moving place and is well worth a visit.
As you can see Berlin features a huge amount of things to do and this article only covers the surface.
