69 amazing things to do in Berlin
Every guide to Berlin opens with the same landmarks, and the big ones do earn their spot. But these 69 are the places I'd actually walk you to: the icons worth your time, plus the quiet corners and viewpoints that never make the lists.
Berlin Cathedral$$ · 1 hour★ Tip: The 270 steps to the dome gallery are steep and unshaded, so tackle the climb in the cooler morning hours and keep your ticket handy for re-entry. Directions
Brandenburg GateFree · 30–45 minutes★ Tip: Come back after dark when the gate is floodlit and the daytime crowds have thinned; the photos are far better and the square feels almost private. Directions
Get TicketsBridges of Berlin Boat Tour★ 4.7 · 4 hoursFour hours on the Spree and the Landwehrkanal, through more than sixty bridges and past the government quarter, Museum Island and the old harbours. Directions
Fraternal Kiss MuralFree · 20 min★ Tip: It is roughly in the middle of the 1.3 km gallery, so walking the wall from the Oberbaumbrücke end gets you there in about ten minutes. Late afternoon the crowd in front of it thins out and the light stops blowing out the colours. Directions
Get TicketsHop-On Hop-Off Bus with Boat Cruise1 dayThe whole city in one loop, with a boat cruise bundled in. Directions
Hohenschönhausen Memorial€6 · 2 hours★ Tip: Only go with a guided tour, and check the English tour times before travelling out: they run a few times a day and the site is a long way east. Without a guide the building is just corridors. Directions
Jewish Museum BerlinFree · 2 hours★ Tip: The permanent exhibition is free. Walk the three axes on the lower floor before you go up: the architecture is designed to be experienced in that order and most people wander in backwards. The permanent exhibition is free, so… Directions
Get TicketsThird Reich & Cold War Walking Tour★ 4.9 · 2 hoursTwo hours across the ground where both stories happened: the bunker site, the ministries, the death strip and Checkpoint Charlie, joined up by a guide instead of a plaque. Directions
Skip the lineMuseum Island$$ · 3–4 hours★ Tip: Buy the Museum Island day pass rather than single tickets; it covers all the houses for one price and lets you dip in and out as your energy allows. Directions
Skip the linePanoramapunkt€9 · 45 min★ Tip: It costs about a third of the TV Tower and never has the queue. Go about an hour before sunset and stay: the terrace faces west over the Tiergarten. Directions
Reichstag BuildingFree · 1–2 hours★ Tip: Registration is mandatory and free, but slots fill up: book the dome online a few days ahead, or try the last-minute desk at the Berlin Pavilion nearby if you forgot. Directions
Get TicketsTrabi Safari★ 4.6 · 75 minYou drive the Trabant yourself, in a convoy, with the guide talking to you over the car radio. Directions
Skip the lineBerlinische Galerie€10 · 1 hour★ Tip: The building is a converted glass warehouse in Kreuzberg with a mirrored sculpture yard out front that is free to walk into. Pair it with the Jewish Museum, they are eight minutes apart. Directions
Skip the lineCharlottenburg Palace$$ · 2–3 hours★ Tip: The palace gardens are free to enter even if you skip the paid interiors, so pack a picnic and follow the paths back to the peaceful lakeside mausoleum most visitors never reach. Directions
Get TicketsSpree Panorama Boat Tour1 hourThe short version of the river: one hour through the historic centre, past Museum Island, the cathedral and the Reichstag, on a boat with a glass roof. Directions
Get TicketsComputer Games Museum€11 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: Most exhibits are playable and included, so bring patience rather than coins. The East German computing section is the part you will not find in any other games museum. Directions
Skip the lineDisgusting Food Museum€19 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: The tasting is included and is the whole point, so do not eat right before. Go with someone: half the experience is watching the other person's face. Directions
Get TicketsSights & Highlights Bike Tour★ 4.7 · 4 hoursBerlin is flat, wide and built for bikes, which makes this the fastest way to cover the centre properly. Directions
GendarmenmarktFree · 30–45 minutes★ Tip: In December the square hosts one of the city's loveliest Christmas markets, but note it charges a small entry fee and gets packed, so arrive right at opening to enjoy it in peace. Directions Get TicketsReichstag & Government District Tour2 hoursThe dome is free but the building is not open to wander. Directions
Spandau Citadel€4.50 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: The permanent exhibition of banished monuments is the reason to come: Lenin's granite head and the statues no one knew what to do with, displayed with an honesty most cities never manage. Directions
Get TicketsHidden Backyards Walking Tour★ 4.9 · 2 hoursBerlin hides behind its facades. This walk goes through the linked courtyards of Mitte, the Hackesche Höfe and the unrestored ones next door, into art nouveau tilework, workshops and gardens that look like nothing from the street. Directions
Topography of TerrorFree · 1–2 hours★ Tip: Grab the free audio guide at the entrance and set aside a good two hours; the outdoor trench exhibition beside the Wall is easy to rush past but tells half the story. Directions
Get TicketsClub Culture: Three Clubs in One Night6 hoursEntry to three clubs in one night with a guide who knows the door. Directions
AlexanderplatzFree · 30 min★ Tip: The World Clock is the meeting point every Berliner names, so it is the easiest place in the city to tell a friend to wait. Skip the food stalls on the square itself and walk five minutes to Hackescher Markt instead. Directions
Alte Nationalgalerie€12 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: The Friedrich rooms are on the top floor. Start there while your eyes are fresh, because by the third room of Prussian portraits downstairs nobody is looking properly any more. Directions
Altes Museum€12 · 1 hour★ Tip: The rotunda is free to step into from the entrance hall before the ticket check. If you only have minutes on the island, that is the thirty seconds worth taking. Directions
Get TicketsClassical Concert at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church★ 4.8 · 1 hourAn evening concert inside the modern church, where 21,000 pieces of blue Chartres glass turn the whole room deep blue once the lights go down. Directions
Bebelplatz + HumboldtFree · 25 min★ Tip: The glass gets covered in glare all afternoon. Come early morning or after dark, when the room below is lit and you can actually see the shelves. Stalls along the north side sell secondhand books, which is the sharpest reply… Directions
Berggruen Museum€12 · 1 hour★ Tip: It faces Charlottenburg Palace, so pair the two in a morning. Check the opening status before you travel out: the building has been through long renovation closures and the trip west is not worth a locked door. Directions
Skip the lineBerlin Zoological Garden€18 · 2.5 hours★ Tip: A combined zoo and aquarium ticket saves several euros over paying twice, and the aquarium is the better half on a wet day. Entering through the Elephant Gate on Budapester Strasse is the photograph. DirectionsBode Museum€12 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: This is the one to pick when the island is packed. Same day ticket covers it, and you can usually walk straight in while the queue for the Pergamon runs down the street. Directions
Skip the lineDeutsches Technikmuseum€8 · 2.5 hours★ Tip: The Science Center wing is free with the ticket and is where children disappear for an hour. Entry is cheaper after 15:00 on weekdays. Directions
Gemäldegalerie€12 · 2 hours★ Tip: It sits in the Kulturforum, a fifteen minute walk from Potsdamer Platz, which is exactly why it stays empty. That walk is the price of the best hour of art in Berlin. Directions
Skip the lineGerman Spy Museum€18 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: It is at Potsdamer Platz, two minutes from Panoramapunkt, so the two make an easy pair on a wet afternoon. The laser maze is the bit everyone queues for, so do it first. Directions
Görlitzer ParkFree · 30 min★ Tip: It is a fine cut-through by day and I would not linger after dark: the park has a known drug-dealing reputation and police presence to match. Go in daylight, keep your phone in your pocket, enjoy it for what it is. Directions
Get TicketsHamburger Bahnhof€14 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: The neon strips along the facade by Dan Flavin are switched on after dark and are free to look at from the street. Walking past at night is worth the detour even when the museum is shut. Directions
Humboldt ForumFree entry · exhibitions €12 · 2 hours★ Tip: The rooftop terrace and the ground floor are free and most visitors never go up. The view down Unter den Linden from there is better than the one from the cathedral dome, and it costs nothing. Directions
KaDeWe StoreFree · 1 hour★ Tip: The sixth floor is the reason to come and entry is free, so it works as a rainy hour or a cheap lunch with a very expensive view of the shopping. The seventh-floor winter garden has the glass roof and the quieter tables. Directions
Kaiser Wilhelm ChurchFree · 45 min★ Tip: Do not stop at the outside. Step into the new church, where 21,000 pieces of blue glass from Chartres turn the whole room deep blue, and into the old tower's memorial hall, where the original gold mosaics survived. Both are free… Directions
KurfürstendammFree · 1 hour★ Tip: The interesting end is the eastern one, around the Memorial Church. Walk west only as far as Uhlandstrasse, then turn back. Past that it becomes a long stretch of the same chains you have at home. Directions
Museum für Naturkunde€11 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: Excellent with kids and genuinely quick. The main hall is the payoff and it is the first room, so an hour covers it without anyone melting down. Directions
Neue Nationalgalerie€14 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: Even with no interest in the art, walk up to the glass hall and out onto the terrace. It is free to stand there, and the sculpture garden below is the calmest spot in the whole Kulturforum. Directions
Neues Museum€14 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: Nefertiti is in her own room on the second floor and photography is banned there, which is why the room stays calm. Go straight to her first, then walk the rest backwards against the crowd. Directions
Nikolaiviertel + RathausFree · 60 min★ Tip: Knowing it is a reconstruction is what makes it worth an hour. Look at the wall surfaces as you walk: you can pick out where real salvaged stone stops and the GDR concrete begins. Directions
OberbaumbrückeFree · 20 min★ Tip: Stand on the north bank at sunset and wait for a yellow U1 train to cross the upper arches. That is the shot. Trains come every few minutes, so you get several attempts. Directions
Skip the lineOlympiastadion€11 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: The self-guided visit is fine but the guided tour is what gets you into the changing rooms and the marathon gate. Check the fixture list first: on match days the normal visit is closed. Directions
Skip the lineTierpark Berlin€18 · 3 hours★ Tip: Pick this over the Zoo if you have children or want space: it is a fraction as busy. Give it three hours, and note the two are separate tickets, not one zoo on two sites. Directions
Victory Column€4 · 45 min★ Tip: The only way in is through the pedestrian tunnels under the roundabout, which people miss and then try to cross five lanes of traffic. Cash is safest at the little ticket window. DirectionsSome booking links earn us a small commission. It does not change the price the partner charges you.