Berlin

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A historically significant city with many significant places to visit. The city has an industrial 1980s vibe to it which has a real charm – as if you’re going a big back in time. I suppose this is to be expected since most of the city was rebuilt in the Cold War era. The east side of the city feels like Moscow – in fact, TV and film often use a road near Alexandraplatz to mimic Moscow.

Tips

  • Download ‘DB’ or ‘BER’ app. Here you can purchase tickets all types of transport (trams, trains, metro). You can buy a single ticket lasting 120 minutes, which allows you to move around all types of rail (commuter train, tram and metro). It seemed complicated to get a universal ticket for buses, so I avoided this. Note that you should put in your start and finish destination on the app to get the correct price, since there is a zone system.
  • Ride the commuter trains (RB23, RE8 etc) from the airport to the city and back, it cost €4.30 via the DB app to get this train from the airport to zoologischer garten (west of the city). Just put your closest station to your hotel in the app and it is quite easy to follow.
  • The cost of goods and services here are around the same as that of London.

Activities

Hop on Hop off Bus Tour

I think this is something you should do in any city you visit. It makes sure that you do not miss anything and can be used as transport to the main attractions. Big Bus operate in this city which also has an app to track the busses, so I would recommend it. There were two routes, the main covered the Bundestag, Brandenburg gate, television tower, checkpoint Charlie etc. The other line covered more of the east side of the city where the main stop is the east side gallery – a long stretch of the Berlin wall with the famous street art. I was surprised that the wall was so thin.

The night bus tour also gave an insight into the city at night – especially its nightclubs.

Clubbing

If you like techno, Berlin is the place to be for clubbing. Yet, I am told there are various ‘themed’ nights at nightclubs in Berlin. The abandonment of many industrial buildings has given rise to so many interesting clubs. Although I did not go clubbing, passing by these clubs on various tours really made these places stand out.

Charlottenburg Palace

Famed for its gardens, there was not much to see outside since it was winter, yet it was free to roam. It cost €12 to enter the palace, which I believe would be better spent elsewhere. In my opinion, it was not worth it to see some old rooms, most of which were reconstructed due to WW2 bombs – lacking that authentic feel. On the bright side, there was a manned cloak room to secure valuables.

Museum for Communication

This museum traverses history from humans using sound to communicate to the internet of today. Various specimens like old machines, radios, telephones, telephone switch controllers, old stamps are there to see. Thus, an excellent one for collectors. Coats and bags can be locked in a cabinet for a deposit of a €1 coin.

Spy Museum

This is essential for a trip to Berlin due to the city’s significance. There are many interactive exhibits like a laser room, other spy-esque activities like morse code writing, lie detector interrogating, room debugging, code breaking and James Bond-like real spy gadgets to see.
Coats and bags can be locked away for deposit of €1 or €2 coin.

Christmas Markets

Berlin boasts over 50 Christmas markets, so if you’re looking for a Christmas getaway specifically – Berlin does it best. During my visit at the start of December 2024 I must have exhausted 6 of them – all decorated tremendously with a real Christmas trees every 5 metres, stalls in wooden huts, Christmas lights everywhere. After the second it seemed to become repetitive. The largest had an ice rink and some fairground rides. Here is a list of stalls that I kept seeing:

  • German sausages/sauerkraut/currywursts
  • Crepes
  • Olive wood utensils
  • Chocolates in shapes of everyday items
  • Baubles
  • Wind spinners
  • Wooden Christmas ornaments
  • Other Christmas ornaments
  • Beer
  • Mulled wine
  • Whisky
  • Wool/alpaca clothing
  • Honey

Places of Interest

Checkpoint Charlie

The most famous checkpoint can easily be overlooked! Fortunately its significance comes from history rather than the size. To be crude, it is a little security hut with sandbags behind it. Every Christmas since the start of the war, the Christmas tree positioned on the checkpoint has been decorated with Ukrainian flags. Here you can also see the sign that says “you are leaving the American sector”.

Victory Column

Great for photos – not sure if for anything else.

East Side Gallery

Some amazing works of art along this stretch of the Berlin wall. This is the probably the most famous one.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The ruins after WW2. What is visible from afar is a central bell tower with the distinctive damaged tip. A stark reminder of destruction in war. Inside are modern additions, and the actual tower clock lights up at night. During my stay, one of the Christmas markets took up space around the grounds which is otherwise a square.

Places Missed

I originally planned to get a tour of the Bundestag which includes either a lecture about the Bundestag or a audio tour around the building, followed by a view in the famous ‘Dome’. IF YOU WANT TO DO THIS YOU MUST BOOK at least ONE MONTH in advance. Due to my slow planning, the next dates available were in January. A shame because this is completely free.

Minor but important – I wanted to get a photo of the Brandenburg gate. However, with all the other sites and activities there was not time to do this. I did, however, get a picture of the model from the Berlin LEGO shop.

Overall I think there is enough in Berlin to do one or two more days (I did three nights). There is so much history that the museums alone could use up most of the time.

Food

It’s often hard in the capital cities to find local cuisine due to the the likes of the big western food chains take over retail space. However, if you go slightly off the main high streets you can find small Wetherspoon-like places or sports bars which serve your traditional German type dishes. And, of course, in the Christmas markets you may find a few stalls selling German sausages.

Typical German foods that were commonly on menus:

  • Currywurst – A sort of German sausage drowned in a ketchup-like sauce. Usually with chips.
  • Shnitzel/german sausage/pork knuckle all typically with fried potato, sauerkraut, cabbage salad.

I can’t fault the latter, since this to what my grandparents have made from Ukrainian heritage. So I am used to this food.

For beer, my dad claims all German beers are good and in Berlin you can get them all. Since I am not a beer a drinker I can’t comment on the quality, however, I can say the selection of beers in restaurants was larger than I have seen in other cities I have visited.