Things to do · Berlin · Germany
20 best things to do in Berlin
20 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Quick answer
The essential sights in Berlin are Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag and its glass dome and Museum Island. Of the 20 picks below, 10 are free, 10 work on a rainy day and 6 suit children. Allow about 4 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Brandenburg Gate
- Free sights
- 10
- Good on a rainy day
- Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
- Time to see the highlights
- 4 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandenburg Gate | Mitte | 30 minutes | Free |
| Reichstag and its glass dome | Mitte | 1–1.5 hours | Free |
| Museum Island | Mitte | Half a day to a full day | Mid-priced |
| Neues Museum | Museum Island | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Berlin Wall Memorial | Mitte | 1.5–2 hours | Free |
| East Side Gallery | Friedrichshain | 1 hour | Free |
| TV Tower (Fernsehturm) | Alexanderplatz | 1 hour | Mid-priced |
| Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe | Mitte | 1–1.5 hours | Free |
| Berlin Cathedral | Museum Island | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Topography of Terror | Kreuzberg | 1.5–2 hours | Free |
| Jewish Museum Berlin | Kreuzberg | 2–3 hours | Low cost |
| Tiergarten and the Victory Column | Tiergarten | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Charlottenburg Palace | Charlottenburg | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Tempelhofer Feld | Neukölln | 2 hours | Free |
| Mauerpark Sunday market | Prenzlauer Berg | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Gendarmenmarkt | Mitte | 30 minutes–1 hour | Free |
| Museum für Naturkunde | Mitte | 2 hours | Low cost |
| German Museum of Technology | Kreuzberg | 3–4 hours | Low cost |
| Spree river boat tour | Mitte | 1–3 hours | Low cost |
| Gemäldegalerie | Potsdamer Platz | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
The 20 best things to do
Landmark · Mitte
1.Brandenburg Gate
Completed in 1791 and topped by the Quadriga chariot, this neoclassical gate was stranded in the no-man's-land of the Berlin Wall from 1961 to 1989 and became the symbol of reunification. It faces Pariser Platz and the Unter den Linden boulevard on one side and the Tiergarten on the other.
Visit at night when it is floodlit and quiet, then walk two minutes to the Reichstag and the Holocaust Memorial.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- History
- After dark
- Photo spot
Architecture · Mitte
2.Reichstag and its glass dome
The seat of the German parliament burned in 1933, was stormed by Soviet troops in 1945 and was restored after reunification with a glass dome by Norman Foster. A spiral ramp winds up inside the dome above the debating chamber, with an audio guide pointing out the landmarks around you.
Book an evening slot for sunset over the Tiergarten, and bring photo ID for the security check.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Book ahead
- Entry is free but requires advance online registration with the names of all visitors; slots fill days ahead.
- Iconic
- Free
- Views
- Architecture
- History
Museum · Mitte
3.Museum Island
Five museums share this UNESCO-listed island in the Spree: the Altes Museum with Greek and Roman antiquities, the Alte Nationalgalerie with 19th-century painting including Caspar David Friedrich, the Bode Museum with sculpture and coins, and the Neues Museum, all linked by the James Simon Gallery visitor centre by David Chipperfield. The Lustgarten lawn in front is a good place to rest.
A Museum Island day ticket covering several museums pays off if you visit two or more.
- Time needed
- Half a day to a full day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- Art
- History
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Museum · Museum Island
4.Neues Museum
Rebuilt by David Chipperfield in 2009 while keeping its war scars, the Neues Museum holds the 3,300-year-old painted bust of Queen Nefertiti, Egyptian papyri and sculpture, and prehistoric treasures including the conical golden Berlin Gold Hat.
Book a time slot and see Nefertiti early; photography is not allowed in her domed room.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Timed tickets are recommended, especially at weekends.
- Iconic
- History
- Art
- Rainy day
Historic site · Mitte
5.Berlin Wall Memorial
Along Bernauer Strasse, the national memorial preserves a stretch of the Wall with its death strip and a watchtower, alongside markers of escape tunnels and the houses whose windows people jumped from in 1961. The Documentation Centre has a viewing platform over the preserved border installation.
Start at the Visitor Centre near Nordbahnhof and walk east along the outdoor exhibition; it is free and open-air.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Outdoors
- Iconic
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Historic site · Friedrichshain
6.East Side Gallery
A 1.3-km section of the Wall along the Spree was painted by artists from around the world in 1990, creating the longest open-air gallery in the world. Murals include Dmitri Vrubel's fraternal kiss between Brezhnev and Honecker.
Walk it from the Ostbahnhof end towards the red-brick Oberbaum Bridge, then cross to Kreuzberg.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Art
- History
- Photo spot
- Iconic
Viewpoint · Alexanderplatz
7.TV Tower (Fernsehturm)
Built by East Germany in 1969, the 368-metre Fernsehturm is the tallest structure in Germany. A fast lift reaches the observation deck at about 200 metres, with views across the whole city, and a revolving restaurant sits just above.
Book a timed ticket online and go on a clear day; sunset slots are the most popular.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Timed tickets sell out at weekends and around sunset; book ahead.
- Views
- Iconic
- Kids
- Couples
Historic site · Mitte
8.Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Peter Eisenman's memorial, opened in 2005, covers a city block near the Brandenburg Gate with 2,711 concrete slabs of varying heights on undulating ground, creating a disorienting walk. The underground Information Centre documents the lives of individual victims and families.
Walk into the centre of the field, then visit the free Information Centre beneath it; do not climb or jump on the slabs.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Religious site · Museum Island
1.Berlin Cathedral
The neo-Baroque Berliner Dom, completed in 1905, has a richly decorated interior, a huge Sauer organ and a crypt with nearly a hundred Hohenzollern coffins. A walkway around the outside of the dome, reached by 270 steps, gives a view over Museum Island and Unter den Linden.
Climb the dome walkway late in the day for the light on the TV Tower and the Spree.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Architecture
- Views
- History
- Rainy day
Museum · Kreuzberg
2.Topography of Terror
On the site of the former Gestapo and SS headquarters, this free documentation centre explains how the Nazi terror apparatus worked. Outside, an open-air exhibition runs along one of the longest surviving sections of the Wall in the city centre. Checkpoint Charlie, now a replica guardhouse, is a short walk east.
Allow at least 90 minutes; the indoor exhibition is text-heavy but among the clearest histories of the period.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Rainy day
Museum · Kreuzberg
3.Jewish Museum Berlin
Daniel Libeskind's zigzagging, zinc-clad building tells the story of Jewish life in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present. Its architecture is part of the experience: the empty Holocaust Tower, the tilted Garden of Exile and Menashe Kadishman's installation of 10,000 steel faces that clank underfoot.
Walk the underground axes first to understand the building, then visit the main exhibition upstairs.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
- Art
Park · Tiergarten
4.Tiergarten and the Victory Column
Berlin's great central park stretches from the Brandenburg Gate to the zoo, with lakes, woodland paths and the Café am Neuen See beer garden. At its centre, the Victory Column is topped by a gilded statue of Victoria; 285 steps lead to a viewing platform.
Rent a rowing boat at the Neuer See, then have a beer in the lakeside garden.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Views
- Kids
- Couples
Palace · Charlottenburg
5.Charlottenburg Palace
The largest palace in Berlin was built from the 1690s for Queen Sophie Charlotte and expanded by later Prussian kings, including Frederick the Great, whose rococo apartments fill the New Wing. The baroque gardens, which are free, lead to the royal mausoleum and a lakeside tea house.
If time is short, see the New Wing and spend the rest of the visit in the gardens.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Architecture
- Outdoors
- Rainy day
Park · Neukölln
6.Tempelhofer Feld
The airport that kept West Berlin alive during the 1948–49 Airlift closed in 2008 and its airfield became a vast public park. Berliners now cycle, skate and kite-surf along the old runways, barbecue on the grass and tend community gardens, with the monumental terminal building on the edge.
Rent a bike or bring skates and ride the full runway; sunset across the open field is spectacular.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Kids
- Active
- History
Market · Prenzlauer Berg
7.Mauerpark Sunday market
Laid out on part of the former border strip, the Mauerpark fills on Sundays with a flea market of vintage clothes, records and bric-a-brac, street-food stalls and buskers. In summer, crowds gather in the stone amphitheatre for open-air karaoke, and a graffiti-covered fragment of the Wall's inner barrier runs along the hill.
Arrive late morning for the market, then stay for the karaoke on summer Sunday afternoons.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Shopping
- Food
- Outdoors
Landmark · Mitte
8.Gendarmenmarkt
Often called Berlin's most beautiful square, Gendarmenmarkt is framed by Schinkel's Konzerthaus between the near-identical domed French and German churches. The German Church houses a free exhibition on the history of German parliamentary democracy, and the square traditionally hosts a popular Christmas market.
Check the Konzerthaus programme for evening concerts, often with affordable tickets.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes–1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Architecture
- History
- Couples
Museum · Mitte
9.Museum für Naturkunde
Berlin's natural history museum is dominated by the skeleton of a Giraffatitan, one of the tallest mounted dinosaurs in the world, and holds an original Archaeopteryx fossil. The glass-walled wet collection shows around a million specimens preserved in jars of alcohol.
Use the Jurascopes, binocular viewers that bring the dinosaur skeletons to life.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Nature
- History
Museum · Kreuzberg
10.German Museum of Technology
The Deutsches Technikmuseum fills old railway sheds and a modern wing with locomotives, ships, aircraft, cars and computers; a Douglas C-47 'raisin bomber' from the Berlin Airlift hangs from the roof. The Science Center Spectrum next door has hundreds of hands-on experiments.
Families should allow most of a day and save Spectrum for when attention flags.
- Time needed
- 3–4 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Rainy day
- History
Experience · Mitte
11.Spree river boat tour
One-hour boat trips run past Museum Island, the Reichstag, the Chancellery and the modern government quarter, with commentary. Longer trips continue along the Landwehr Canal through Kreuzberg.
Choose a boat with an open upper deck and a sailing in the early evening for softer light.
- Time needed
- 1–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Couples
- Views
- Outdoors
Gallery · Potsdamer Platz
12.Gemäldegalerie
One of the world's finest collections of European Old Masters, from the 13th to the 18th century, is spread over 72 rooms at the Kulturforum: Rembrandt, Vermeer, Dürer, Titian, Caravaggio's Amor Vincit Omnia and Bruegel's Netherlandish Proverbs. It is often surprisingly quiet.
Use it as a calm rainy-day alternative to Museum Island, and combine it with the Neue Nationalgalerie next door.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Museum Island, Neues Museum, East Side Gallery and Topography of Terror |
| History | Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag and its glass dome, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and Museum Island |
| Views | Reichstag and its glass dome, Berlin Cathedral, TV Tower (Fernsehturm) and Tiergarten and the Victory Column |
| Outdoors and nature | Berlin Wall Memorial, Tiergarten and the Victory Column, Charlottenburg Palace and Tempelhofer Feld |
| Food and markets | Mauerpark Sunday market |
| After dark | Brandenburg Gate |
| With children | TV Tower (Fernsehturm), Tiergarten and the Victory Column, Tempelhofer Feld and Museum für Naturkunde |
| On a rainy day | Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Museum Island, Neues Museum and Berlin Cathedral |
What to book ahead
- Reichstag and its glass dome: Entry is free but requires advance online registration with the names of all visitors; slots fill days ahead.
- Neues Museum: Timed tickets are recommended, especially at weekends.
- TV Tower (Fernsehturm): Timed tickets sell out at weekends and around sunset; book ahead.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Berlin?
Brandenburg Gate. Completed in 1791 and topped by the Quadriga chariot, this neoclassical gate was stranded in the no-man's-land of the Berlin Wall from 1961 to 1989 and became the symbol of reunification.
+What can you do for free in Berlin?
Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag and its glass dome, Berlin Wall Memorial, East Side Gallery and Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Berlin when it rains?
Head indoors to Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Museum Island, Neues Museum and Berlin Cathedral.
+What is there to do in Berlin at night?
Brandenburg Gate are best after dark.