Having recently been to Berlin for my 3rd visit, I reckon it’s time I pass on my travel advice for those who may be interested in a long weekend trip. The main reason for this trip was the Berlin Marathon….and no I did not participate 🙂 . But I attended in a cheerleader/support manner for my boyfriend who was running. Marathon aside, there are loads of things to see and do in Berlin, so I highly recommend planning what sights you want to see before you go to ensure you are maximizing the most out of the short time you have there.
Our 3-day Berlin itinerary
Day 3 – East Side Gallery, Berlin Walking Tour, Reichstag visit.
Getting to and from Berlin
Saying this while we arrived in plenty of time to take the train, we had to endure a ridiculously long wait in passport control so by the time we got through we were so exhausted we couldn’t wait another 20 mins for the train to be followed by the 50 minute train ride, so we caved and took a taxi. The taxi was a bit quicker, and well obviously quite a bit more price wise, but hey sometimes you need to ask yourself what is your time worth. For us our time was quite precious as we were starving and tired.
Where we stayed
Day 1 – Pergamon and Neues Museum
Now I am not normally a museum go-er, but I will always make an exception when there is something I consider really worth seeing. And I highly recommend two museums in Berlin: The Pergamon Museum and The Neues Museum. If you do plan on visiting a few museums while in Berlin, I recommend getting the museum pass. It’s really a bargain as the pass is for 3 days and allows access to over 30 museums, for a price of EUR29. I also suggest booking a timeslot for your visits so you dont have to wait in lines at the museum. Post Covid, the museums are still limiting the number of visitors at a time that are allowed inside.
Our first stop was the Neues Museum, which is most famous for its display of the Bust of Nefertiti. This is a painted stucco-coated limestone bust of the Great Royal Wife of Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten. The work is believed to have been crafted in 1345 BC by Thutmose, and it is one of the most-copied works of ancient Egypt. Nefertiti is known as one of the most famous women of the ancient world and serves as an icon of feminine beauty. The bust is the sole object on display in one of the rooms of this museum and has two museum personnel on site to prohibit visitors from taking pictures of this amazing artifact. Besides this beauty, you can find a Bust of Akhenaten, which unfortunately is not quite in the same state of the one of Nefertiti, but for those Egyptian history lovers, still pretty incredible. There are obviously a lot more items to see in this museum, but I thought to highlight the main draw.
The next museum we went to see is the Pergamon Museum, which I think is one of my favorites I’ve ever been too, so much so, this was my 2nd visit. The gem of this museum is the Ishtar Gates of Babylon. These gates are only one small part of the design of ancient Babylon, which also included the palace, temples, an inner fortress, walls, gardens, other gates, and the Processional Way. This gate was built at the northern side of the city of Babylon by the king Nebuchadnezzar II in 575 BC. It was the eighth gate into the city of Babylon, Mesopotamia. The enormity of these gates along the colors and the reliefs of aurochs (representing the god Adad) and dragons had me in pure awe. Standing in front of this gate and trying to imagine what the great city of Babylon must have been like was truly surreal.
Once past these gates the museum takes you to the The Market Gate of Miletus from Greece, which was erected around 100 AD as an opulent gateway between two plaza squares. Measuring almost 29 metres across and 17 metres high, it is the only monument to have been fully re-installed reconstructed in the Pergamon museum. Again, the scale and grandeur of this gate was just incredible. The Pergamon Altar can also be found in the museum and is known to be the most important monument in the Berlin antiques collection. I would consider both museums a can’t miss itinerary item for any trip to Berlin. Museum Island is located behind the beautiful Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) and a short walk to Hackescher Markt, which is a lively area of bars and restaurants, as well as a short walk to Alexanderplatz.
As this was the day before the marathon, we left our itinerary at just the museum visit and the walk around Museum Island, as its key to not have a strenuous day on the legs before the marathon. That being said we still managed a little over 12,000 steps.
Day 2 Marathon and Beer House Celebrations
The Berlin Marathon is one of the marathons in the 6 majors and there are over 40,000 runners each year. So, this does make it quite a busy time of year to visit, as well as an exciting time to visit. But good to know that it’s held in late September if you want to plan your trip around this time. The day of Berlin marathon means that getting around the city and taking in any sights is going to be very busy and congested. We were so lucky with the weather in Berlin that day, as it was pretty warm and sunny.
Our post marathon celebrations started by enjoying beers outside at a few of the bars on the River Spree behind the Hauptbahnof station. Sitting on deck chairs basking in the sun and having a well-deserved beer (okay my boyfriend deserved it more considering he did the marathon) was lovely. To note there are also boat cruises that go along the River Spree that can be taken. There are several variations of these cruises, so worth checking on TripAdvisor on options if this is something you are interested in.
Post beers we decided to head out for an early dinner. We opted for dinner at the Hofbrau Wirtshaus Berlin, which is located near Alexanderplatz. Now I have been to the original Hofbrau Wirtshaus in Munich so wasn’t sure how this one would compare. I have to say I was impressed. It’s huge and set the same with loads of big long tables and waiters and waitresses wearing traditional Dirndl’s (women) and Lederhosen (Men) outfits. They had a band playing traditional Bavarian music and the whole vibe of the restaurant was just really lively. Now we are vegetarian and traditional German food is… well…not, with loads of sausages, pork knuckle, breaded pork cutlets, and variations of potatoes. However, we were extremely excited as the Hofbrau Wirsthaus had vegan currywurst with chips, and we also opted for some Spaetzle. Of course, no trip to a German beer garden is complete without a liter of beer served in a traditional German Stein. Was a great experience here and if you are looking to visit a German beer garden while in Berlin, I do recommend this place for that traditional experience.
Day 3 - East Side Gallery - Walking Tour – Reichstag Visit
We began our 3rd full day in Berlin by heading out to the East Side Gallery. This is the section of the Berlin Wall that is still standing, and is the longest continuous section of the wall that remains. It has been converted in a permanent open-air gallery with colorful paintings and artistic statements/expressions from artists from around 21 different countries with their work on display along the 1.3km of the remaining standing concrete.
My recommendation is to get off Warschauer Strasse station and walk from here to the start of the gallery. This walk will head you in the direction of Alexanderplatz. After the first section of the gallery there is an open area to stop along the river where you can grab a coffee, drink or pizza at a lovely café. The East Side Gallery is a Berlin must-see for any first-time visitor to see a part of history that still remains, and to enjoy the artwork/political statements/post-cold war expressions on display along this wall.
If you continue down the gallery, once completed you are about a 25 min walk towards Alexanderplatz. This worked out well for us as we had a Berlin city free walking tour that started at 3pm from the Rathus (City Hall) located in Alexanderplatz. Any blog I write I will reiterate that the best way to see any new city is to take a free walking tour. The tour guides always go out of their way to provide everyone with such an invaluable insight into the history of the city and the sights along the way, because at the end of the day they are only paid by the tips of the persons on the tour. With all the history in Berlin, it would be amiss to not take a tour and get some background into the many sights.
I would recommend taking the Essential Berlin Walking tour that will take you past all the must-see tourist places in Berlin.
- Brandenburg Gate
- Check Point Charlie
- Berlin Wall Remains
- Holocaust Memorial
- Site of Hitler’s Bunker
- Museum Island
- Berliner Dom
- Gendarmenmark
- Unter der Linden
There are just too many places to see in Berlin to give you details on all the sites, but hopefully a few pictures below will help provide some highlights of what you will see on this walking tour.
Our last tourist stop on this short 3-day visit to Berlin was visiting the Reichstag, which is the home of the German parliament. Now to visit this site it is required to book tickets ahead of time, so it’s best to plan ahead and book tickets and an associated visiting time through their website. However, there is a ticket office outside of the Reichstag where you can go and check on the day if there are any available tickets, but from experience these are few and far between so I recommend booking this ahead of time.
This building, which dates from the late 1800s is a combination of Neo Renaissance architecture and current day modernism. Its most striking feature is the glass dome roof only recently constructed in the 1990s, which was designed to signify reunification of Germany. Inside the dome is a circular ramp that winds visitors around as they read plaques of German history and take in views of a mirrored cone in the center that directs sunlight into the building so that visitors can see the working of the chamber. The dome can be reached by climbing two steel spiraling ramps reminiscent of a double helix. The tour is done via recorded audio guides, and I think it does very well explaining the many Berlin landmarks that can be seen in the skyline.
My Berlin recommendations
- Traditional German Beer House (near Alexanderplatz) – Hofbräu Wirtshaus Berlin
- Lovely Vegan Vietnamese Restaurant in Hackerschermarkt – Quy Nguyen: Veganer Vietnamese
- Delicious Thai Restaurant in Charlottenburg – Chon Thong
- My guilty pleasure restaurant – Hard Rock Cafe Berlin