Traveleriences
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

Berlin, Germany

Ideal: 3–4 daysBest: May–SepPrice: Moderate
OverviewSeeEatHidden gemsDrinkAreasStayPracticalHistoryNearby

In 60 seconds

Berlin in 60 seconds

Berlin is less a city to see than a city to understand: the Wall, the war and division are written into its streets, and its museums are world-class. It is also green, spread out and relaxed, with neighbourhoods that each feel like their own town. Spend a day on history, a day on Museum Island, and the evenings in Kreuzberg or Neukölln. Distances are long, so ride the U-Bahn and S-Bahn on a day ticket rather than walking between districts. The Reichstag dome is free but needs a slot booked online; keep Sunday for the Mauerpark flea market and a coffee in Prenzlauer Berg. Three or four days is right; Potsdam is the easy day trip.

Design

Best for

  • History
  • Museums
  • Nightlife
  • Budget

Known for

  • The Berlin Wall
  • Museum Island
  • Nightlife

Skip if

You want a compact, picture-perfect old town. Berlin is sprawling, rebuilt and proudly unpolished.

Your match

Choose a few travel interests and we will show how well Berlin fits them. Choose interests

See

Must experience

The things that would make the trip incomplete without them.

Museum Island

Moderate

Five museums on an island in the Spree

The Pergamon's sister collections, the Neues Museum's Nefertiti and the Old National Gallery. Choose two.

MitteArtHalf day

Eat

Where to eat

A short list, kept short on purpose. Each entry answers one question: when is this the right choice?

Local

Where to eat the food this city is actually known for.

Clärchens Ballhaus

Moderate

German classics in a 1913 ballroom

Schnitzel and German comfort food in a historic dance hall in Mitte.

MitteGermanHistoric

Jäger & Lustig

Moderate

Old-school Berlin fare

Hearty Berlin and German classics in a hunting-lodge dining room in Friedrichshain.

FriedrichshainGermanHearty

Restaurant Merold

Moderate

Modern German

A chef's signature bratwurst and seasonal German plates in Neukölln.

NeuköllnGermanModern

Casual

No booking, no ceremony, reliably good.

Konnopke's Imbiss

Inexpensive

Currywurst · Since 1930

The East Berlin currywurst stand under the U-Bahn tracks, family-run for generations.

Prenzlauer BergQuickStreet food

Adana Grillhaus

Inexpensive

Turkish grill

A decades-old Kreuzberg grillhouse serving charcoal-grilled meat.

KreuzbergGrillTurkish

Azzam

Inexpensive

Lebanese · Hummus

Fresh hummus made throughout the day at a cash-only Neukölln favourite.

NeuköllnCashCheap

Special occasion

Worth planning the evening around.

Restaurant Tim Raue

Very expensive

Two-star Asian-inspired tasting menu

Tim Raue's two-Michelin-star kitchen near Checkpoint Charlie.

KreuzbergBook aheadTasting menu

Nobelhart & Schmutzig

Very expensive

"Vocally local" tasting menu

A counter restaurant that cooks only with produce from Berlin and its surroundings.

KreuzbergBook aheadCounter

Horváth

Very expensive

Two-star, vegetable-forward

Two Michelin stars for Austrian-rooted cooking that puts vegetables at the centre, by the Landwehr canal.

KreuzbergBook aheadTasting menu

Coffee & fika

Mornings, and the slow hour between things.

Beyond the obvious

Hidden gems

Less obvious, rarely queued for, and usually the part people remember.

Tempelhofer Feld

A former airport turned park

Cycle or skate down the runways of the airport of the Berlin Airlift.

TempelhofFreeOpen space

Teufelsberg

Inexpensive

Hill of rubble · Old listening station

A hill built from war rubble, topped by an abandoned Cold War listening station covered in street art.

GrunewaldUnusualView

Soviet War Memorial, Treptower Park

Monumental memorial in a park

A vast Soviet memorial and cemetery in a riverside park, overwhelming in scale.

TreptowFreeHistory

After dark

Bars & nightlife

Barra

Moderate

Natural wine & small plates

A Neukölln wine bar with low-intervention wines and seasonal small plates.

NeuköllnSmall platesWine

Orientation

Neighbourhoods

How the city is actually divided, and what each part is for.

Kreuzberg

Canal, markets, nightlife

The Landwehr canal, Turkish markets and the city's liveliest evenings.

Prenzlauer Berg

Leafy streets and cafés

Restored 19th-century blocks, Sunday flea market at Mauerpark and calm cafés.

Neukölln

Young, bars, Tempelhofer Feld

The bar-and-restaurant frontier, a short walk from the old airport field.

Stay

Where to stay

Areas rather than hotels — pick the right one and the rest follows.

Mitte

Expensive

Central · Museums

On foot to Museum Island and the Brandenburg Gate.

CentralSights

Prenzlauer Berg

Moderate

Quiet, leafy, on the tram

Pleasant streets and cafés, a few tram stops from the centre.

QuietTram

Kreuzberg

Moderate

Nightlife

For bars and food at the door; the U-Bahn takes you everywhere else.

NightlifeValue

Practical

Know before you go

Getting in
BER airport has regional trains and the S-Bahn into the city.
Getting around
U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses run on one ticket; validate paper tickets before you ride.
Money
Euro. Card acceptance has improved, but some bars and snack stands are still cash only.
Sundays
Most shops close on Sundays; museums, cafés and flea markets do not.

Plan this trip — useful links

visitBerlin — official guide (opens in a new tab)BVG — public transport (opens in a new tab)

Context

History in 5 minutes

Enough to make what you are looking at legible.

  1. 1871

    Berlin becomes the capital of the new German Empire.

  2. 1961–1989

    The Berlin Wall divides the city for 28 years, until it falls on 9 November 1989.

  3. 1990

    Germany is reunified and Berlin becomes its capital again.

Further out

Nearby escapes

Worth a day if you have one to spare.

Spreewald

Canals in a forest

A UNESCO biosphere reserve of channels, punted through by flat-bottomed boat.

By regional train to LübbenauBoatsNature