Berlin
5
Day Itinerary •
Germany
Five days in Berlin and Brandenburg give you the full extraordinary depth of Germany's capital, from the baroque splendour of Charlottenburg and the royal gardens of Sanssouci through the Cold War horror of Sachsenhausen and the surveillance state of the Stasi Museum to the finest restaurant scene in Germany and the most extraordinary street art in Europe. This route covers the complete Berlin experience from the UNESCO museums of Museum Island and the reunification monuments of Mitte through the multicultural neighbourhood culture of Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg to the darkest chapters of 20th-century German history at Sachsenhausen and the Stasi headquarters. Five days that reveal why Berlin is the most compelling city in Europe.
Best Time To Visit
April to October
Getting There
Fly into Berlin Brandenburg (BER) or train from across Europe
Getting Around
BVG 7-day ticket, cycling, S-Bahn to Potsdam
Budget Per Day
Approx 70 to 320 EUR per person per day
Difficulity
Easy, flat city walking and cycling
DAY 1
HISTORIC BERLIN
MORNING
THE BRANDENBURG GATE AND THE REICHSTAG, THE HEART OF BERLIN
The Brandenburg Gate is the most extraordinary symbol of German reunification, the neoclassical triumphal arch through which Napoleon marched in 1806 and on which East Germans stood on the night the Wall fell in 1989. The adjacent Reichstag with its extraordinary glass dome by Norman Foster is the finest piece of reunification architecture in Germany. The dome gives a 360-degree view over Berlin and can be visited free by booking online in advance. Train/Travel: 20 min walk
MIDDAY
THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL AND THE TOPOGRAPHY OF TERROR
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, 2,711 concrete stelae of varying height on a sloping field between the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz, is the most extraordinary memorial in Europe, its extraordinary disorienting effect as you walk between the rising columns creating an atmosphere unlike any other public space in Germany. The adjacent information centre is the finest documentary museum of the Holocaust in Berlin. Entry free. Train/Travel: 15 min walk
AFTERNOON
MUSEUM ISLAND, THE GREATEST MUSEUM COMPLEX IN GERMANY
Museum Island in the Spree is the most extraordinary concentration of museums in Germany, its five UNESCO World Heritage institutions including the Pergamon Museum with the extraordinary Pergamon Altar, the Neues Museum with the Nefertiti bust and the Altes Museum with its extraordinary rotunda making it the finest single afternoon of museum visiting in Europe. Day pass approx 22 euros. Book ahead for Pergamon.
đź’Ž HIDDEN GEM
The Clärchens Ballhaus in the Mitte district, a ballroom operating continuously since 1913, is the most extraordinary and least changed historic dance venue in Berlin, its extraordinary mirrored hall, the garden restaurant and the Sunday afternoon tango sessions making it the finest hidden social venue in the city. The building survived both the Second World War and the GDR period intact. Entry to the ballroom approx 5 euros on dance evenings.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Barcomi's Deli, Mitte Outstanding American-style breakfast at Berlin's most beloved deli. Extraordinary bagels and coffee. | Lunch: Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt Outstanding Bavarian food at the finest beer hall in central Berlin. Weisswurst and Bretzel. | Dinner: Rutz, Mitte The finest restaurant in Berlin. Outstanding tasting menu. Two Michelin stars. Book weeks ahead.
DAY 2
COLD WAR BERLIN
MORNING
CHECKPOINT CHARLIE AND THE BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL
Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous crossing point between East and West Berlin, is the most extraordinary Cold War site in Europe. The adjacent Haus am Checkpoint Charlie museum gives the finest account of the Wall and the extraordinary escape attempts made across it. The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse 1km north preserves the most complete surviving section of the Wall with its death strip, watchtower and documentation centre. Entry to memorial free, museum approx 15 euros. Train/Travel: 30 min walk
MIDDAY
THE EAST SIDE GALLERY AND THE SPREE WATERFRONT
The East Side Gallery is the longest surviving section of the Berlin Wall, 1.3km of the inner wall painted by 118 international artists in 1990 creating the most extraordinary open-air gallery in the world. The extraordinary Fraternal Kiss between Brezhnev and Honecker and Birgit Kinder's Trabant bursting through the Wall are the finest individual works. The Spree waterfront walk east to the Oberbaum Bridge is extraordinary. Entry free. Train/Travel: 20 min walk
AFTERNOON
KREUZBERG AND THE STREET FOOD MARKET AT MARKTHALLE NEUN
Kreuzberg is the most extraordinary multicultural neighbourhood in Germany, its extraordinary Turkish market on Maybachufer, the street art of the Schlesisches Tor area and the Markthalle Neun covered market with its extraordinary Street Food Thursday event making it the finest neighbourhood experience in Berlin. The Paul-Linke-Ufer canal walk is the finest urban canal promenade in Germany. Entry free.
đź’Ž HIDDEN GEM
The Teufelsberg spy station on the hill above the Grunewald forest is the most extraordinary Cold War ruin in Berlin, a vast abandoned NSA listening station built on a rubble hill created from wartime debris, its extraordinary geodesic radomes now covered in street art and accessible by guided tour. The view from the top of the radome over the Berlin forest and the city is extraordinary. Tours approx 8 euros. One of the finest hidden places in Berlin.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Cafe Morgenrot, Prenzlauer Berg Outstanding vegan breakfast at the finest cooperative cafe in Berlin. Extraordinary local produce. | Lunch: Markthalle Neun, Kreuzberg Outstanding street food at the finest covered market in Berlin. Turkish, Vietnamese, German all extraordinary. | Dinner: Lavanderia Vecchia, Kreuzberg Outstanding Italian dinner in a former laundry. The finest neighbourhood restaurant in Berlin.
DAY 3
POTSDAM
MORNING
POTSDAM AND THE SANSSOUCI PALACE, THE FINEST ROYAL GARDEN IN GERMANY
Potsdam's Sanssouci palace complex is the finest royal landscape in Germany, Frederick the Great's summer residence set in an extraordinary park of terraced vineyards, fountains, Chinese pavilions and the extraordinary Cecilienhof where the Potsdam Conference of 1945 redrew the map of Europe. The New Palace and Charlottenhof give the finest interiors in Brandenburg. Entry to palace approx 14 euros, park free. Train/Travel: 30 min train
MIDDAY
THE DUTCH QUARTER AND THE FINEST HIDDEN NEIGHBOURHOOD IN POTSDAM
Potsdam's Dutch Quarter is the most extraordinary surviving 18th-century planned neighbourhood in Germany, 134 Dutch-style red-brick houses built by Frederick William I between 1733 and 1742 for Dutch craftsmen who never came. The extraordinary Mittelstrasse and Benkertstrasse lined with gabled Dutch facades give it an atmosphere unlike anywhere else in Brandenburg. The independent cafes and restaurants are the finest in Potsdam. Entry free. Train/Travel: 20 min walk
AFTERNOON
THE BABELSBERG PARK AND THE FILM STUDIO
Babelsberg Film Studio near Potsdam is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world, founded in 1912 and the place where Metropolis, The Blue Angel and more recently The Grand Budapest Hotel and Inglourious Basterds were filmed. The extraordinary Babelsberg Park adjacent, designed by Peter Joseph Lenne and Karl Friedrich Schinkel, is the finest English landscape garden in Brandenburg. Entry to park free, studio tours approx 25 euros.
đź’Ž HIDDEN GEM
The Pfaueninsel peacock island in the Havel near Potsdam is the most extraordinary royal folly in Brandenburg, a 98-hectare island accessible only by a small ferry containing a ruined white castle, a rose garden and a herd of free-roaming peacocks in an extraordinary landscape designed by Peter Joseph Lenne for King Friedrich Wilhelm II. The island is one of the finest hidden places near Berlin. Ferry approx 4 euros return. Entry to island free.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Cafe Heider, Potsdam Outstanding breakfast at the finest independent cafe in Potsdam. Dutch Quarter location is extraordinary. | Lunch: Maison Charlotte, Dutch Quarter Outstanding French-German lunch in the finest restaurant in the Dutch Quarter. | Dinner: Klettwitzer, Potsdam Outstanding Brandenburg regional food at the finest traditional restaurant in Potsdam.
DAY 4
PARKS AND PALACES
MORNING
THE TIERGARTEN AND THE VICTORY COLUMN, BERLIN'S CENTRAL PARK
The Tiergarten is the finest urban park in Germany, a 210-hectare former royal hunting ground in the heart of Berlin containing the extraordinary Victory Column, the Soviet War Memorial, the extraordinary English Garden and the finest rose garden in the city. The Victory Column viewing platform at 67 metres gives the finest view over the central Berlin park landscape. Entry to column approx 4 euros. The Tiergarten at dawn is extraordinary. Train/Travel: 20 min cycle
MIDDAY
THE CHARLOTTENBURG PALACE AND THE FINEST BAROQUE INTERIOR IN BERLIN
Charlottenburg Palace is the largest and most extraordinary baroque palace in Berlin, its extraordinary golden-domed tower, the Porcelain Cabinet, the Oval Hall and the extraordinary landscape garden giving the finest royal interior experience in the city. The Schinkel Pavilion in the garden and the extraordinary Belvedere tea house with its Berlin porcelain collection are both remarkable. Entry approx 17 euros. Train/Travel: 20 min U-Bahn
AFTERNOON
THE PRENZLAUER BERG NEIGHBOURHOOD AND THE KOLLWITZPLATZ MARKET
Prenzlauer Berg is the finest and most thoroughly gentrified of the former East Berlin neighbourhoods, its extraordinary density of independent cafes, bookshops and vintage clothing stores, the Kollwitzplatz Saturday farmers market and the extraordinary Kulturbrauerei arts complex in a former brewery making it the finest neighbourhood for an afternoon walk in Berlin. The Kastanienallee is the finest independent shopping street in the city. Entry free.
đź’Ž HIDDEN GEM
The Tempodrom concert venue garden behind the Anhalter Bahnhof ruins is an extraordinary hidden green space in central Berlin, the bombed-out shell of one of the busiest stations in pre-war Europe now covered in buddleia and birch trees with the extraordinary facade standing in a garden that has been left deliberately wild. The platform ends, waiting rooms and booking hall ruins are extraordinary. Accessible from the Tempodrom entrance. Entry free.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: The barn, Mitte Outstanding third-wave coffee and extraordinary pastries at the finest specialty coffee shop in Berlin. | Lunch: Katz Orange, Mitte Outstanding whole-animal cooking at the finest farm-to-table restaurant in Berlin. Extraordinary local sourcing. | Dinner: Nobelhart und Schmutzig, Friedrichshain The finest restaurant in Berlin for local produce. Extraordinary Berlin-Brandenburg menu. Book months ahead.
DAY 5
DARK HISTORY
MORNING
THE SACHSENHAUSEN MEMORIAL, THE MOST IMPORTANT NAZI SITE NEAR BERLIN
Sachsenhausen concentration camp 35km from Berlin is the most important and well-preserved Nazi camp site accessible from the capital, its extraordinary Station Z execution complex, the triangular roll-call area designed to disorientate prisoners and the remarkable museum in the former camp kitchen giving the most thorough account of the concentration camp system available near Berlin. Entry free, audio guide approx 4 euros. Train/Travel: 45 min train
MIDDAY
ORANIENBURG AND THE FINEST HIDDEN TOWN IN BRANDENBURG
Oranienburg near Sachsenhausen is a remarkably well-preserved Brandenburg town with the extraordinary Oranienburg Palace, the first baroque palace in Brandenburg built in 1651 for the Electress Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau. The palace museum and the extraordinary town square give a remarkable picture of Brandenburg before the 20th century. Entry to palace approx 6 euros. Train/Travel: 45 min train back
AFTERNOON
THE STASI MUSEUM, THE FINEST COLD WAR MUSEUM IN GERMANY
The Stasi Museum in the former headquarters of the East German secret police in Lichtenberg is the most extraordinary Cold War museum in Germany, its extraordinary collection of surveillance equipment, the offices of Erich Mielke preserved intact and the remarkable account of how the Stasi monitored 6 million East German citizens making it the finest and most disturbing museum in Berlin. Entry approx 8 euros.
đź’Ž HIDDEN GEM
The Stasi's secret underground nuclear bunker beneath the Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood, Bunker B1, was designed to house 400 Stasi officers during a nuclear war and is one of the most extraordinary hidden Cold War structures in Berlin. Tours depart from the Stasi Museum in Lichtenberg and descend into the extraordinary network of command rooms, dormitories and communication centres preserved exactly as they were when the Stasi abandoned them in 1989. Tours approx 10 euros. Book ahead.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Hotel restaurant, Oranienburg Simple German breakfast before the Sachsenhausen visit. The memorial opens at 8.30am. | Lunch: Zur Historischen Muehle, Potsdam Outstanding Brandenburg food at the finest windmill restaurant in the region. | Dinner: Reinstoff, Berlin Outstanding modern German cuisine at the finest molecular gastronomy restaurant in the city. Book ahead.
Where To Stay
Mitte, Nights 1 to 3 Hotel de Rome or Soho House Berlin. Approx 120 to 350 euros per night. Prenzlauer Berg, Nights 4 to 5 Kastanienallee apartments or Ackselhaus. Approx 80 to 180 euros per night. Budget Generator Hostel or A&O Berlin Mitte. Approx 20 to 50 euros per night.
Top Tips
1. Nobelhart und Schmutzig: book months ahead. The finest German produce-focused restaurant in the country.
2. Sachsenhausen: the free audio guide is extraordinary. Allow 3 hours minimum for the full site.
3. Stasi Museum Lichtenberg: take the U5 to Magdalenenstrasse. The preserved offices of Mielke are extraordinary.
4. Charlottenburg Palace: go on a weekday morning. The Porcelain Cabinet requires a timed entry slot.
5. Pfaueninsel peacock island: the ferry runs April to October only. The island closes at dusk.
6. Bunker B1 tour: book through the Stasi Museum website. Tours run Saturday afternoons only.
Total Budget
70 to 315 EUR/day