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The Bode Museum on Museum Island and the Monbijou bridge, with the TV Tower behind
The Berlin TV Tower rising over Alexanderplatz
Excursion boats on the Spree with the Bode Museum on Museum Island behind
The view from the dome walkway of Berlin Cathedral over its statues to the Lustgarten
A corridor of cell doors in the former Stasi remand prison at Hohenschönhausen

Things to do in Berlin: 15 experiences

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Photo: Thomas Wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0

Alexanderplatz

See all of Berlin from the TV Tower's deck, 203 metres up

Check dates and prices

Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0

Spree, from Friedrichstrasse

See Museum Island and the government quarter from a Spree boat

Check dates and prices

Photo: De-okin, CC BY-SA 3.0

Museum Island, Lustgarten

Climb Berlin Cathedral's dome and see the reopened royal crypt

Photo: Muck, CC BY-SA 4.0

Genslerstrasse, Hohenschönhausen

Tour the former Stasi prison at Hohenschönhausen

Photo: Anagoria, CC BY 3.0

Berlin is Germany's capital and its largest city, spread across a flat landscape of rivers, lakes and parks. Its sights are less a single old town than a map of the 20th century: the Nazi state's ministries, the line of the Wall, the GDR's showpieces and the government quarter of reunified Germany, with Museum Island and the Prussian palaces in between.

The Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag dome, the Wall Memorial, the East Side Gallery and Nefertiti in the Neues Museum are on the Germany page; this page adds the rest of a stay.

15 things to do in Berlin

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Rows of grey concrete stelae at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Walk the Field of Stelae and the Information Centre beneath it

Mitte, south of the Brandenburg Gate

1.5 hours with the Information CentreFree

Germany's central Holocaust memorial: a field of concrete stelae you walk into, and an exhibition underneath that gives the victims names.

Been there?
The Topography of Terror documentation centre and its outdoor exhibition beside a stretch of the Berlin Wall

Learn the history of the Gestapo and SS at their former headquarters

Niederkirchnerstrasse, Kreuzberg

1.5 to 2 hoursFree

A free documentation centre on the ground where the Gestapo, the SS leadership and the Reich Security Main Office ran their terror.

Been there?
The Berlin TV Tower rising over Alexanderplatz

See all of Berlin from the TV Tower's deck, 203 metres up

Alexanderplatz

1 hourTimed entry

The highest viewpoint in the city, a 360-degree deck in the sphere of the GDR's television tower on Alexanderplatz.

Check dates and pricesTV Tower deck ticket with a time slot
Been there?
The view from the dome walkway of Berlin Cathedral over its statues to the Lustgarten

Climb Berlin Cathedral's dome and see the reopened royal crypt

Museum Island, Lustgarten

1.5 hoursBook ahead

The Kaiser's grand church on Museum Island, with a dome walkway 50 metres up and the royal crypt open again since March 2026.

Been there?
The zinc-clad, zigzag Libeskind building of the Jewish Museum Berlin

Spend a morning in the Jewish Museum Berlin

Lindenstrasse, Kreuzberg

2 to 3 hoursBook ahead

Free entry to the permanent exhibition on Jewish life in Germany, housed partly in Daniel Libeskind's zigzag building.

Been there?
The long former runway of Tempelhof airport at golden hour, now a public park

Cycle or skate down the runways of Tempelhof Field

Tempelhof and Neukölln

2 hours or an afternoonFree

A former airport turned into one of the largest urban open spaces in the world, with runways for skating and meadows for picnics.

Been there?
A corridor of cell doors in the former Stasi remand prison at Hohenschönhausen

Tour the former Stasi prison at Hohenschönhausen

Genslerstrasse, Hohenschönhausen

About 2 hours with the filmBook ahead

The GDR secret police's central remand prison, preserved almost intact and shown on tours led by former inmates and historians.

Been there?
The glass-walled Tränenpalast at Friedrichstrasse station in April 1990

Stand in the Palace of Tears, where East Berliners said goodbye

Friedrichstrasse station

1 hourFree

The departure hall of the Friedrichstrasse border crossing, now a free museum about what it meant to cross between East and West.

Been there?
Excursion boats on the Spree with the Bode Museum on Museum Island behind

See Museum Island and the government quarter from a Spree boat

Spree, from Friedrichstrasse

1 hourGo alone or with a tour

An hour on the river past the cathedral, Museum Island, the Reichstag and the Chancellery, sitting down after a day on foot.

Check dates and pricesOne-hour Spree cruise with a live guide
Been there?
A currywurst with ketchup and mayonnaise from Konnopke's Imbiss

Eat a currywurst at Konnopke's under the elevated U-Bahn

Schönhauser Allee, Prenzlauer Berg

30 minutesNo booking needed

Berlin's best-known currywurst stand, a family business under the elevated railway on Schönhauser Allee since 1930.

Been there?
The Brandenburg Gate and its Quadriga in morning light

Walk through the Brandenburg Gate from Pariser Platz

Berlin

Free

Walk through a gate closed to everyone from 1961 to 1989, free at any hour, under Schadow's Quadriga.

Tours in Berlin
Been there?
The preserved border strip at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße

Follow the Berlin Wall strip on Bernauer Straße

Berlin

Free

This is where Berlin keeps the border as it was: wall installations left as they stood when the Wall fell, with a watchtower.

Tours in Berlin
Been there?
The glass and steel dome of the Reichstag against a blue sky, with its spiral ramp visible inside

Climb the Reichstag dome on a free booked slot

Berlin

Timed entry

Walk the spiral ramp inside the Bundestag's glass dome for free, with the government quarter lit up below on an evening slot.

Check dates and pricesGuided government quarter walk with the dome
Been there?
The painted limestone bust of Nefertiti in the Neues Museum

See the bust of Nefertiti in the Neues Museum

Berlin

Book ahead

Stand before the 3,300-year-old painted limestone bust of Nefertiti, the star of the Egyptian collection on Museum Island.

Tours in Berlin
Been there?

Traveller picks

Hidden gems suggested by travellers. We check each one before it goes up; the words are theirs, not ours.

No traveller picks for Berlin yet. Know a place most visitors miss?

Plan your trip

  • Getting there

    Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) has its own station, with the FEX airport express and regional trains to the Hauptbahnhof and S-Bahn lines into the city. The Hauptbahnhof is the hub for long-distance trains from across Germany and neighbouring countries.

  • Getting around

    The U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses cover the whole city on one ticket system, and the Deutschlandticket is valid on all of them. Most central sights fall within fare zones A and B. Cycling is easy on the flat streets, and many sights are spread out, so plan by district.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, four days: one for the government quarter and Museum Island, one for the Nazi era and the Holocaust memorial, one for the Wall and the GDR, and one for Kreuzberg, Tempelhof Field and the city's neighbourhoods. Add a day for Potsdam.

  • When to go

    May to September is the best time for parks, lakes and terraces. Autumn is quieter and good for museums. Winter is cold and dark early, but the Christmas markets fill the squares from late November. Many museums close on Mondays, so check before planning that day.

  • Where to base yourself

    Mitte puts the main sights within walking distance. Prenzlauer Berg is quieter, with cafes and the Wall Memorial nearby, and Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain are livelier at night. Anywhere near an S-Bahn or U-Bahn station works, as the network is fast.

Questions travellers ask

Which Berlin sights are free?

The Holocaust memorial and its Information Centre, the Topography of Terror, the Tränenpalast, the permanent exhibition of the Jewish Museum and Tempelhof Field are all free, as are the Brandenburg Gate and the Wall Memorial.

Do I need to book the TV Tower?

Yes, tickets are tied to a time slot and go on sale 90 days ahead. On clear evenings and weekends slots run short, so book before you go.

Can I visit the Stasi prison without a tour?

No. The former prison at Hohenschönhausen can only be seen on a guided tour; English tours run daily at 10:40, 12:40 and 14:40. The exhibitions on site are free to see on your own.

Is Berlin worth visiting in winter?

Yes, if you plan around museums and memorials, most of which are indoors and many free. Daylight is short, so start early, and the Christmas markets brighten the evenings from late November.

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Things to do in Germany

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