Berlin had been on my travel wish-list for the longest time. We finally got to spend 4 days in Berlin and the city lived up to and bypassed all our expectations. The history of this city is so sensitively delivered, with the wounds open but humility and honesty at every turn. On top of this, the food, drink and culture options are second to none – Berlin is a peach!
Arriving into Berlin
We arrived via EasyJet into Berlin Schönefeld Airport. Schönefeld Airport was the main airport for East Berlin during the division. The RE7 train line runs from Schönefeld twice an hour and stops at Berlin Alexanderplatz Bahnhof, Bahnhof Berlin Friedrichstraße, Berlin Hauptbahnhof, and Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten, before carrying on to Dessau. The ticket machines are in the underpass, the blue machines are for destinations further afield, the red for Berlin centre and suburbs. All the ticket machines have an English language option, and you can buy either single or day tickets that cover all modes of transport.
From Berlin Tegal, take the TXL Express Bus into Hauptbahnhof and Alexanderplatz.
Where to stay in Berlin
We enjoyed our stay at the Park Plaza Kudamm in Charlottenburg, which is right next to the Kurfürstendamm Metro station; and just down the road from Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten. If you want to have a movie-star experience, why not book into the beautiful Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin – which is featured in the Liam Neeson movie ‘Unknown’. For a cheap central option, try Meininger Hotel Hauptbahnhof, or the Campanile in Mitte.
Berlin Itinerary : 4 days
Day 1: History + Grandeur
Victory Column
From the Hansaplatz Metro station, you can walk to the Siegessäule Victory Column. Which victory and why a column? Well, it was designed to celebrate the Prussian victory over Denmark in 1864. Although by the time it was built, Prussia had won two more wars – the Austro-Prussian (1866) and the Franco-Prussian (1871); so it became the Victory monument for all three.
Straße des 17 Juni
Walk between the Victory Column and the Brandenburg Gate along the glorious Linden tree-lined Straße des 17 Juni. It was named after the East Berlin workers uprising on 17 June 1953. It is one of the most aesthetically pleasing avenues I’ve ever seen.
Tiergarten
If you walk down Straße des 17 Juni, you’ll be walking right through the middle of Tiergarten, one of the largest urban gardens in Germany. This was once a royal hunting park, and was all but destroyed during WWII. The grandeur, memorials and sculptures have all been restored and it is a beautiful park to walk / cycle around.
Along the Straße des 17 Juni, you can see the Soviet War Memorial Tiergarten – built to commemorate the 80,000 soldiers who died during the Battle of Berlin in April and May 1945. Nearby is Der Rufer “The Caller” statue in the middle of the avenue – calling for peace in the world.
Brandenburg Gate
Despite the swarms of tourists, it was good to see the Brandenburg Gate finally. I remember the images of people gathering at the gate when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.
Built by the Prussian king Frederick William II, and completed in 1791; the Brandenburg Gate is now a symbol of hope and peace after a tumultuous past. Join a walking tour to get the highlights.
The Reichstag
The Reichstag building is just around the corner from Brandenburg Gate. This impressive building is the seat of government. You can actually explore inside, including walking around the glass dome at the top too (a hyper modern addition to the old building). You can also walk around the back of the Reichstag and reach the Spree River.
Only have 24 hours in Berlin? Don’t worry, we have you covered!
Day 2: Berlin Wall + Memorial
A must-do in Berlin is to visit the Berlin Wall Memorial (Bernauer Straße). It is important to see the remnants of the wall, to learn more about experiences of both the East and West side, and to see the scale and sadness of it all. The memorial building and exhibitions are fantastic – informative and sombre, with interviews of the people who lived through the period of the wall itself.
The remaining section on the wall was sobering; and the memorial park was an interesting juxtaposition of beautiful public park (with kids playing etc.) and respectful reminders of what we were standing on. A visit to this memorial will take all morning at least.
Kurfürstendamm
If you’re anything like me, you are going to need to do something light and cheerful after the heaviness of the morning. I recommend some shopping along Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s famous shopping street, known as the ‘Champs-Elysee of Berlin’.
Schnitzel
There are some great traditional German pubs near ‘Kudamm’. One is Gasthaus Krombach (Meinekestraße), that serves proper schnitzel and lots of other traditional dishes. We enjoyed this place so much we ended up going back twice!
Day 3: Museums and the River Spree
Museum Island
Museum Island is a concentration of world class museums, all on the north part of the island in the River Spree. It consists of the Altes Museum (1830), the Neues Museum (1859, but rebuilt in 2009), the Alte Nationalgalerie (1876), the Bode Museum (1904), the Pergamon Museum (1930), and the Humboldt Forum (2019). It would take weeks to see them all, but if I were to point you to any one or two that would be good to see on a short break, it would be the Neues Museum (Egyptian and pre-history) or the Pergamon (Middle Eastern and Islamic antiquities).
Spree River Tour
On the East side of the Spree River, Anlegestelle Alte Börse has a number of river cruise departure points (as well as a pedestrian bridge over to Museum Island). We chose an hour-long cruise which served drinks, and allowed us to see more of the city without breaking our feet. It ran East to the Spree locks, then back west past the museums, the Reichstag, Bundeskanzleramt (the German Chancellery), towards Tiergarten. It is a nice way to see some of the things that would be added to the list of ‘places to visit next time’.
Tango + Drinks + Dining
Walk along the Spree to partake in the wonderful array of outdoor drinking, relaxing and generally convivial activities that happen on the banks of the river. Enjoy the open-air dance floor in Monbijoupark, where couples dance the Argentinian Tango several evenings a week. Head along to Meisterschueler on Friedrichstraße for cocktails. After aperitifs, walk further west along the Spree toward Schiffbauerdamm and all the lovely patio restaurants that spill down to the river. Take your pick!
Day 4: Bauhaus + Catch up
Bauhaus Archive
The famed Bauhaus school ran from 1919–1933. The Bauhaus movement sought to bring together all the arts into one ‘total work of art’, and this modernist movement had a great impact on what came after. The Bauhaus Archive (Klingelhöferstraße 14) is currently under renovation to renew and expand their stunning modernist building. However they have a temporary location in use at Knesebeckstraße 1-2 open until they re-open in 2022.
Catch up on what you’ve missed
On your last afternoon in Berlin, you have a few options, depending on what kind of city break you prefer:
- Explore Mitte – Enjoy the trendy neighbourhood of Mitte – where wine bars and art galleries make it buzz. Take the alternative walking tour to see more areas like this.
- Visit Berliner Fernsehturm TV Tower – A popular tourist activity is to see the view from the top of the Berlin TV tower, and to have a meal at the restaurant at the top!
- Checkpoint Charlie – I found Checkpoint Charlie super touristy and entirely too cheesy for a site so sombre. But the Berlin Wall Museum is worth a visit.
- Take a tour – If you want to catch more highlights, why not take a bicycle tour or segway tour – this allows you to see a lot in a short time.
- Visit Tempelhof Field – This was once a military area, but is now a park. Take a tour of Tempelhof Field.
4 days in Berlin
We really were blown away by sights, the quality of food and drink, and the top notch service we received everywhere we went in Berlin. I wasn’t prepared for the scale of the place, or for many of the juxtapositions we encountered in this dynamic city. I also may never recover from the diet of wurst, schnitzel, pretzels and potatoes with everything! 4 days in Berlin is most certainly not enough, but it will give you a great taster of the city. Auf Wiedersehen, and see you soon, Berlin!
Looking for more weekend break itineraries? Why not try weekends in Nice, Brussels or Barcelona?
All photos & content © Hannah Henderson and may not be used without permission (sharing this blog post is fine, though!). Images shot with a Canon DSLR T3i Rebel + Canon EF Lens 50mm 1:1.8 STM; and an iPhone6s.
This was a wonderful trip for you!
I been to Berlin a lot of times and highly recommending seeing everything on this list if you are a first time visitor. There is a lot of history in the city, mostly bad but glad to see the city 30 years on getting stronger and stronger since the fall of the wall and all the craziness.
I’ve only spent one day in Berlin and didn’t get to see any of the museums in the city. The Berlin Wall was my favorite place to visit. As one who grew up under communism, seeing the wall down gave me great satisfaction.
Berlin has such an interesting history. It makes you wonder how tango got exported to Germany doesn’t it. Where there ex-pats who left for Argentina that returned home and brought the dance with them?
Just in time to commemorate the 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 🙂
Berlin is on my bucket list as well, I just couldn’t seem to find the time to visit the city. So this will come handy and probably push me to visit sooner.
Would love to see the Straße des 17 Juni and the Berlin Wall Memorial. Didn’t know that much about the Museum Island, so thanks for that.
And the food, oh, I don’t think I’d survive all that potato either. 😀
This is certainly a good guide for first timers. However, there is so much to see – I mostly go to Berlin for the exhibitions which are so plenty.
I totally agree about the Checkpoint Charlie – somehow it’s weird making a touristy circus of recent events that made people actually suffer.
I’ve always wanted to spend time in Berlin and see the amazing history that has happened throughout the city. Glad you decided to take the river tour and save your feet for the tango lessons afterward! The art of the repurposed sections of the wall is really interesting and something I’d love to check out. Thanks for sharing!
Great read! I visited for 3 days back in 2014, definitely overdue a return to see some more of it. You covered a lot of the must sees though. I’m glad you enjoyed the trip!
I love Berlin. There is soooo much to do. Looking down on the dead zone from the observation deck at the Berlin Wall Memorial had a big impact on me. That tiny little area has an incredible amount of history.
I’m embarrassed to admit I know nothing of the Berlin Wall’s history. I was also unaware of so many deaths there. 🙁 Glad they have a memorial to educate those of us who are clueless and to honor those who fought for their beliefs. On a lighter note, the public Tango at Monbijoupark looks like a hoot! Did you join in?
This was such a useful guide. There are quite a few conferences happening in Berlin next year, so this will be really useful. I didn’t realize taking a river cruise was an option as an activity, I’d love to do that!
Great list and itinerary! Haven’t been to Berlin yet but I know Berlin isn’t a one day affair. Of all the places, I would really want to visit the Berlin wall and its museum.
Thanks for sharing this.