Over the years we have given you lots of blog tips about What to do in Berlin and how to visit places: Miniloft Bike Tours!, Visiting Berlin by car etc
Here we wanted to list the top 10 sights in one post, actually if you want to visit these 10 places, do not plan a short stay!
1 - Reichstag and Brandenburg gate:
Well, Brandenburg gate is the symbol of the city. More than just Berlin’s only surviving historical city gate (see link to see the other gates), it is one of the main witnesses of the city's history, specially the Cold War. A symbol in between two worlds, capitalism and communism that divided the world in two.
We are very lucky to be near the gate, just around 15 minutes walk so, even if you arrive during the day or in the evening, it is worth a visit, as it is always beautiful. Once you get there do not forget to plan your visit to get the most of it: you can book a walking tour with any of the companies that offer tours here in different languages and book the visit to the dome to the Reichstag (remember at least 3 days in advance!!)
Why to visit the Reichstag? First of all, because it is a beautiful building and the parliament (explained in all the tours), because of the architecture of the Dome smartly designed by Norman Forster and because it is for free. You have an audio-guide to explain the panoramic view.
Also, do not miss events happening at Brandenburg gate such as Berlin Marathon, Silvester or New Year's evening, or the German Unity Day.
Map of the gates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Karte_berlin_akzisemauer.png
Click here to book your visit to the Reichstag Dome: https://visite.bundestag.de/BAPWeb/pages/createBookingRequest.jsf?lang=en
To know more about the history, check this other post: 10 reasons why you should visit Pariser Platz, starting with the Brandenburg gate
2 - Checkpoint Charlie:
Not an especially beautiful place, but very interesting and very closed to Miniloft Kreuzberg! To understand Checkpoint Charlie you should read or watch a documentary about what happened on the 27th of October 1961: the Stand off at Checkpoint Charlie. You can also visit the Mauermuseum and the Die Mauer Panorama. Also you can hire a Trabant to make a tour, visit Topographie des Terrors, The Martin-Gropius-Bau.
All city tours will take you there, including the Songs of Berlin, where you will discover some curiosities about this place in via a musical journey.
Of course, you can also make one of the most-taken photos of Berlin, with the American and the Soviet soldiers.
Our youtube list with documentaries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MDFX-dNtsM&list=PLshP_Cki3mWTby8657Ggpdn2uBKlvp1yE
3 - Potsdamer Platz
The "Manhattan of Berlin": a place that you could not have imagined before 1999 as it is today.
Epicenter of the Berlinale, will be fascinating for architecture, music and cinema lovers, as you can admire the buildings, including the Philharmonie(where there is a free lunch concert every Tuesday at 1 pm.) and the Sony Center, where you can go to the cinema museum. Also, for all the family, as the little ones can enjoy playing at Legoland Discovery Centre or the Panorama Berlin.
4 - Kaiser Wilhelm Church and the Zoo Station
A must-see also to appreciate the difference between East and West Berlin. As the city center of the West, is a great place for shopping, including the Kadewe. It is specially recommended the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church: Amazing outside and inside. So amazing that the Berliners decided to maintain what it is left of it, as it was mostly destroyed in the war. Nowadays, there is a new modern-architecture building too, where the mass and some music events take place. An especially beautiful place during Christmas due to its Market.
Next to it, you can also visit the zoo, an while the area has been totally transformed in recent years, you can still get the feeling of the life of Christiane F.
There you can also go to the Europa Center or to one of the most alternative shopping malls: Bikini Berlin for shopping or a drink, including a panorama view.
We recommend you to take bus 100, as you can read in many blogs, to do a "sightseeing tour" in a public bus from Alexander Platz to Kufürstedam and stopping in Unter den Linden and the Victory Column.
5 – East Side Gallery and Oberbaumbrücke
If you want to take the typical photo of the wall and its iconic Graffiti art, go to the East Side Gallery, the largest open air gallery in the world, walk the 1316 m long and wait in a small queue to take a picture at painting 25: Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker kissing.
Eat a currywurst there and admire the Oberbaumbrücke, one of the landmarks of the city that has unified Friedrichain with Kreuzberg since 1732. You can also spend some time just listening to some buskers and, if you feel like, you can join the young crowd in one of the many bars, pubs and clubs of the area, including Skalitzer Straße, Warschauer Straße, Revaler Straße and RAW or Simon Dach Straße.
6 – Mauerpark, Bernauer Straße and Kulturbrauerei
Plan for Sundays! The most popular flea markt in town is very touristic yes, but because it is very vibrant! A lot of curiosities like handmade souvenirs, crafts, vintage furniture, food, music and you can always find someone crazy who catches everyones attention.
You can get there walking from Miniloft and taking the chance to visit the wall and its visitors center and read on the walls of the buildings of the Bernauer Straße about the street with more tunnels in Berlin and the wall's history. You can even use an app to see it with virtual reality travelling to the past.
You can enjoy a great meal in any restaurant around Kastanienalle, like Prater (the first beer garden of Berlin) or Zum Schusterjungen, as recommended in our blog: Where to eat German food in Berlin
After, do not miss the Kulturbrauerei and its exhibition: Everyday Life in the GDR.
7 – Unter den Linden and Gendarmenmarkt
Any city tour will take you here from the Brandenburg gate, Checkpoint Charlie and Gendarmenmarkt to continue to Bebelsplatz (very well-know for teenagers since the book „The book's thief“) and Museum Island doing a circular route that starts and finishes in the heart of Berlin, Unter den Linden ("under the linden trees"), which we could say it is like the Champes Elysèes of Berlin.
In this visit you can see the French and the German twin cathedrals at Gendarmenmarkt, the Humbolt University, the City Palace (which is being re-built), the Dom and finishing at the Pariser Platz and the Brandenburg gate.
8 – Tempelhof and Mehringdam
Tempelhof has an abandoned airport in the middle of the city… Where else can you find that? One of the few buildings with Nazi architecture left and open space for open air activities such as kiting, skating, cycling or any other sports you can imagine… it is huge! It describes also the Berlin's spirit with its space for Barbecues, its urban gardens and bike-coffee shops.
Leaving the airfield you can walk down Mehringdam, visit the Victoria Park and enjoy some food in Bergmannstraße in a restaurant like Unami or in the most popular Kebab kiosk in Berlin: Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap (if you do not mind waiting in the long queue)
9 – Alexanderplatz, Hackescher Markt and Museum Island
Alexanderplatz is the central connection of East Berlin and worth it to visit the TV-Tower. Another great option for getting high is up the Victory Column in Tiergarten, which is much nicer and will be recognizable to any fan of the Wim Wenders films „Wings of desire“.
Hackesher Markt and Museum Island of course are a must and, are very close to Miniloft. We actually have another post where we recommend you an itinerary for your arrival: visiting and eating in Mitte.
We would like to highlight the DDR Museum, Hackesher Höfe and discovering the courtyard of Haus Schwarzenberg Street Art Alley.
Of course, what you can do at the museum island is… to visit museums: Neues, Altes, Bode and Pergamon and enjoy a walk in Monbijoupark, or a theater play or dance in front of the Bode museum!
10 – Treptower Park and the Soviet Monument
Last but not least and maybe not likely to be the first thing to visit in Berlin but, we highly recommend to hire a bike and follow this Miniloft-designed bike route to Kreuzberg following the Spree, visiting Molecule Men, taking photos of the Badeschiff Arena and the Berlin's skyline and getting into Treptower Park
This is one of our favorite parks in Berlin for several reasons: First, the Soviet memorialis impressive, it is huge and it takes you to the DDR's years where thousands of East Berliners pay tribute to the soviet soldiers who died in World War II.
Another reason is the Insel der Jugend or Island of youth, where yu can hire a boat and chill in a peaceful spot.
The last reason is the abandoned amusement park: Spreepark, where you can book a tour here:
http://www.berliner-spreepark.de/events/spreepark-fuehrung
(Remember to book it with weeks and even months in advanced!)
