Berlin Reichstag people parliament Germany

1- to 3-Day Itinerary In Berlin + Food And Drink

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The article provides a 1- to 3-day itinerary in Berlin, as well as food and drink recommendations.

Visiting Berlin

I, I can remember
Standing, by the wall
And the guns, shot above our heads
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall
And the shame, was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be Heroes, just for one day

Song “Kreuzberg” from album “A Weekend in the City” by band Bloc Party.

Listen/Buy: Apple Music  | Spotify  | Tidal | Amazon

Berlin’s tragic history of the twentyth-century let the city be one of the most important cultural centers in the world. Artists, musicians, directors all gathers to Berlin in search of inspiration. David Bowie was one of them.

berlin flag parliament sky germany

Between 1977 and 1979, the British singer and songwriter recorded in Berlin three masterpiece albums that are known as the Berlin trilogy. “Heroes” speaks of two lovers that meet next to the Berlin wall and it is the most famous song from the Berlin trilogy.

berlin tv tower sky buildings

Visiting Berlin is a deep dive in European recent history because the German capital doesn’t hide the best and the worst events that have happened here. The itinerary below helps the travelers to have a glimpse of the political and artistic history of the city, while the traveler can enjoy the sightseeing and its traditions. 

berlin monument victory tiergarten park

The article provides the travelers with some hints of the main sightseeing in Berlin. If you want to have a deeper knowledge of the best things to do in Berlin you can read the article “Berlin Travel + 16 Best Things To Do In Berlin”.

One-day itinerary in Berlin

Saturday night
In East Berlin
We took the U-Bahn
To the East Side Gallery
I was sure I’d found love
With this one lying with me
Crying again
In the Hauptbahnhof

Song “Kreuzberg” from album “A Weekend in the City” by band Bloc Party.

Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

berlin murals east socialism germany

If you only want to spend one day in Berlin, you can visit the main attractions.

First Day Morning

You will usually arrive in the German capital from the Hauptbanhof, which is the main Berlin train station. From the Hauptbanhof, you can easily take a suburban train or a metro in order to reach the station “Brandenburger Tor”.

berlin hauptbanhof main train station

Once you arrive at “Brandenburger Tor” stop, you can start visiting Berlin from the most famous square, Pariser Platz, where you can see the most iconic building, the Brandenburg Gate. You can also enjoy the square and its neighborhood, where you can see many important embassies from countries such as the US, France, UK, and Russia.

berlin brandenburg gate pariser platz

Then, you can visit the German Parliament, which is less than 500 meters away from the square, in the northwest direction. If you want to climb the building to visit the dome, you need to register online here.

berlin parliament dome climbing germany

Later, you can enter the “Grosser Tiergarten” (Greater Animal Garden). The park is so large that it is not worth visiting in its entirety. We recommend visiting the area near the Parliament and the Brandenburg Gate, in order to have a glimpse of the sculptures, monuments and beautiful ponds.

berlin great tierpark lion sculpture

Then, you can go in the south direction crossing the US Embassy in Ebertstrasse. Soon, you will see on your left-hand side the Holocaust memorial, where you can lose yourself in the maze made of columns that help to remind that this tragedy cannot happen anymore.

First Day Afternoon

Further in the south, you will reach Potsdamer Platz, which is the beating heart center of the rebirth of Berlin during the 90s. Here you can enjoy seeing the modern skyscrapers. You can aslo find some remnants of the Berlin wall.

berlin wall potsdamer platz germany

From Potsdamer Platz, you can move in the east direction following Leipziger Strasse. Around 1 km, you will reach Friedrichstrasse, the street that cuts Berlin center from north to south. If you turn to the right, you will go towards the south and you will find the Checkpoint Charlie. Here, you will find the Wall Museum that tells the story of the division of Germany. You can visit it if you have the passion of history.

berlin dom cathedral island germany

Later, you can go to north direction on Friedrichstrasse. After around 650 meters you will reach the Stadtmitte, which is the main center of the city. You can lose yourself in the big square streets that end up in huge squares where you can see many sightseeing such as Gendarmenmarkt, the German Cathedral, the French Cathedral and the Concert Hall.

berlin unter linden horses germany

By walking another 500 meter in the north direction, you will meet Unter den Linden, the main Berlin’s Avenue, where you will walk under the linden trees. You can either turn left or right. If you turn left (west direction), you will go back to the Brandenburg Gate. If you turn right (east direction), you will see the Opera House in Bebelplatz. In any case, you can enjoy shopping on the Berlin main street.

Two-day itinerary in Berlin

Alexander Platz, auf-wiedersehen
C’era la neve
Faccio quattro passi a piedi
Fino alla frontiera
Vengo con te

Alexander Platz, auf-wiedersehen
There was snow
I make several step on foot
Till the border
I come with you

Song “Alexander Platz” written by Franco Battiato and sung by Milva, from the album “Milva e dintorni”.

berlin clouds sky modern architecture

If you want to spend two days in Berlin, you can follow the itinerary that we recommend.

Day one is the same as the one-day itinerary above.

Day two is as below:

Second Day Morning

Alexander Platz is the best-known area of the former East Berlin, as it is referenced by one of the most beautiful Italian songs. The song Alexander Platz is written by the most important Italian pop music composer and sung by the beautiful voice of Milva.

berlin church bridge cruise germany

In order to see the eastern part of Berlin, you can arrive at the train station Alexander Platz. Once you reach the main square of East Berlin, you will see the huge buildings designed by rationalist architects. In the middle of Alexander Platz, you cannot miss the TV Tower which is 203 meters tall. If you would like to have a panoramic view of the city, you can climb the tower. 

berlin tv tower sky germany

Behind the tower, you can explore the area, where you can find the St. Mary church, the Neptune fountain and the town hall. The town hall is built by red bricks; thus, it is called the “Rotes Rathaus” (Red town hall).

berlin rotes rathaus town hall

Next to the town hall, you can wander around the Nikolaiviertel, which is a tiny medieval district rebuilt during the 80s. Here, you can visit the St. Nicholas church that names the district.

berlin nikolaiviertel nicholas church germany

Now, you have reached the Spree River. In front of you, there is the Museuminsel, the island that contains the main museums of the German capital. Thus, you can cross the bridge and enter the island. Then, you turn right because the main attractions are in the northern part of the island.

Second Day Afternoon

You will first meet the Humboldt forum, which is a huge space for temporary exhibition. You can visit the area a bit and check at the entrance if there are some free exhibitions available. If there is an exhibition that really interests you, you can visit it. In general, the price is no more than 12 euro.

berlin cathedral facade details germany

If you continue further in the north direction, you will see the main Berlin Cathedral is in front of the Lustgarten, the main public garden in the museum island. At the end of the garden, you will find the Altes Museum (Old museum) in front of you. Furthermore, you will find the James-Simon Galerie, the Neues Museum (new museum), the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old national gallery), and then the Pergamon Museum. Finally, at the most north point of the island, there is the Bode-museum.

berlin bode museum tv tower

Pergamon museum is the main museum in all of Germany. Thus, it is worth spending some hours of your afternoon in the museum island. The ticket for the whole area costs only 19 euros. Thus, you can check in advance which artworks are more interesting for you to visit and search directly for them, without spending much time in every museum. Otherwise, you will need several days to see every museum carefully.

Cruise

If you don’t like to spend time inside the museums and it is a beautiful day, you can take the cruise on the Spree River. The cruises usually start at the “Reederei Bruno Winkler Landing stage Friedrichstrasse” which is around 500 meters away from Bode-museum. You can arrive there by following the river in the West direction (the opposite direction from Alexander Platz).

berlin cruise bridge spree river

Three-day itinerary in Berlin

I’m ready
To take it to the street, uh huh
I’m ready for the shuffle
Ready for the deal
Ready to let go of the steering wheel
I’m ready
Ready for the crush, uh huh
Zoo Station

Song “Zoo Station” from Album “Achtung baby” by band U2

Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal | Amazon

berlin modern building river spree

If you want to spend three days in Berlin, you can have a comprehensive visit to many sightseeing spots.

The first and second day are the same as the one- and two-day itinerary above.

Day three is as below:

Third Day Morning

After visiting the main center of the united Berlin and the center of East Berlin, now you can enjoy the main areas of West Berlin. The most famous place to enter West Berlin is the train station “Zoologischer Garten”, nearby the Berlin Zoo. The station is famous because here is the setting of best-selling book Christiane F..

berlin bismarck monument tiergarten park 1

Furthermore, U2 is one of the bands that came to Berlin in order to find the inspiration for a new album. Thus, U2 recorded in Berlin the album “Achtung baby” that is one of their most famous works. The first track of the album is called “Zoo Station” and it is inspired by the getaway of the animals after the Zoo was bombed during the Second World War.

The metro station “Kurfürstendamm” is another good point to start visiting the area.

berlin tower church sky germany

From those places, you will easily reach “Kurfürstendamm”, which is the main street of West Berlin, full of shopping opportunities and the notorious Hard Rock Cafè. Near the metro station, you can find the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which is a church that was not rebuilt after the war, in order to remember the brutality of the bombings.

berlin kaiser wilhelm church ruins

Now you can spend the rest of the morning to visit deeply the Grosser Tiergarten. In this area, there are the main attractions of this very large park. If you like animals, you can visit the Zoo.

berlin path tiergarten park germany

Otherwise, you can lose yourself in the lakes and the paths of the park, until you reach the Victory Column, one of the symbols of the city.

berlin victory column tiergarten park

Third Day Afternoon

In the afternoon, you can return to “Kurfürstendamm” to do shopping along the main street, or in the most famous German mall, the KaDeWe.

If you are not interested in shopping, you can take a bus or a metro to spend the afternoon in the complex of Palace Charlottenburg. From “Kurfürstendamm” metro station, you can take the bus 109. From “Zoologischer Garten” train station, you can take the bus M45. You can spend time in the beautiful baroque garden of the palace, or entering the old palace.

Food & drink

Lunch

Due to Berlin being a big city with a lot of sightseeing and very interesting museums, we recommend eating simple during lunch and have a proper meal at night. All German cities have a lot of kiosks where you can eat simple and delicious food.

In Berlin, currywurst is the most local food you can find in those kiosks. You can enjoy your wurst with potato chips and a beer. The main local beer brands are Berliner Pilsener and Berliner Kindl.  

berlin beer kindl cruise waitress

You should also consider that Germany has been for long time a country of immigration for Turkish people, so kebabs are usually delicious.

Snack

In the morning or in the afternoon, you can take a break from visiting the city by stopping in one of the sweet shops that you can find in the streets. When you want to try a typical sweet, you can enter in one of the shops called “Konditorei” and order a warm coffee with a Berliner, a doughnut without a central hole, which is also known as Krapfen. Otherwise, you can enjoy one of the many delicious cakes.

Dinner

At night, you will have more time to spend, so you can try some German food accompanied by local beer. The most common beer variety is the Berliner Weisse (White Berlin). The main German food is the Schweinshaxe, a roasted ham hock, which you can find in all northern Europe. It is famous because it is the most common food at the Munich Oktoberfest and it is also served in Ikea restaurants. You can accompany it with potatoes and pretzels, which are knot-shaped salty bread.

berlin beer food ham hock

Other popular food are the German meatballs called “Königsberger Klopse” and the Wiener Schnitzel, that is a fried veal cutlet originally from Vienna.

As you can see, Germany is famous for meat dishes. If you are vegetarian, you don’t need to worry because in the recent years young people have started to enjoy vegetarian cuisine and it is easy to find veggie restaurants.

Written by Enrico, photos from Hua


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