During two trips to Berlin (once with my other half, and once with our teenagers), we’ve explored Berlin using boats, trains and even old Trabi cars, but the best introduction you can have to the city is on foot with a Berlin walking tour, either with a guide or self-guided. If you want to go it alone then here’s an easy route to follow on your first visit to Berlin. Timings are estimates just to give you an idea.
Start your Berlin walking tour at Potsdamer Platz (9.00-10.00am)
After a good breakfast to set you up for the day, head to Potsdamer Platz for the start of your Berlin walking tour (self-guided). For the purposes of this blog, I have concentrated on sightseeing rather than shopping, so as not to get side-tracked from the main sights!
Potsdamer Platz
As well as being a transport hub, along with its neighbour Leipziger Platz, Potsdamer Platz is a modern area filled with shops, restaurants, and offices. The Centre Potsdamer Platz, formerly known as the Sony Centre, has an impressive tent-like ceiling over the forum below.
The area is symbolic of New Berlin, having been developed in the 1990s from effectively nothing – the city around Potsdamer Platz was flattened by allied bombings during World War 2. Then, for more than 40 years, the area was divided by the Berlin Wall separating West and East Berlin, creating an urban wasteland and ‘border triangle’ between the Soviet, British and American sectors of the divided city.
Around Postdamer Platz, don’t miss the:
- Sections of the Berlin Wall (Teil der Berliner Mauer) covered in graffiti on display outside, along with information panels about the Wall.
- Metal strip on the floor outside Potsdamer Platz which shows where the Wall once stood.
- Old traffic tower standing outside Potsdam Platz, which became the first traffic light in Europe in 1924. It used to be operated manually by a guard inside the tower.
- Boulevard der Stars (Berlin’s version of Hollywood Boulevard) – to be honest, it’s a bit of an anti-climax but was nice to see a star for Marlene Dietrich.
Activity – if you want to take Europe’s ‘fastest lift’ then head to the Panoramapunkt in the Kollhof Building, ascending 100 meters for great views across the area. There’s also a panoramic café at the top (25 floors up). Book your tickets in advance!
The Topography of Terror Museum (10.00am-11.00am)
Walk 10 mins south-east to the Topography of Terror Museum
This exhibition site is built on land occupied by the Gestapo, the German high command, the SS and Reich Security Office between 1933-45. The Topography of Terror is intended as a place of remembrance, to remember the terror and persecution extended by these organisations, serving as a ‘warning from history’ to us all.
There are two permanent exhibitions on site, plus a temporary one. The exhibition about propaganda and terror is found outdoors along the excavations of the headquarters, alongside the longest surviving section of the Berlin Wall in Berlin.
There is a lot to take in at this museum and some prior knowledge is helpful. You will also need to use your imagination in relation to the site which is an excavation rather than a standing building.
Checkpoint Charlie & museums (11.00-12.00noon)
Walk 5 minutes to Checkpoint Charlie
In 1945, the Allies divided Berlin into 4 sections – French, British and American sectors in West Berlin, leaving the Soviet Union with all East Germany. Checkpoint Charlie became the most famous crossing, partly due to a tank standoff between the Americans and Soviets at the checkpoint in October 1961.
Today, there’s a checkpoint booth and sandbags on the site, although this is a replica rather than the original checkpoint hut. It’s a reminder of the former border crossing and popular place for photos in Berlin. Sadly, you can no longer get a Checkpoint Charlie stamp in your passport!
There are two museums at Checkpoint Charlie which are worth visiting, the:
- Open-air museum – telling the story of those who tried but failed to escape and cross the border.
- Mauermuseum (Wall Museum) – this is an indoor museum telling the history of the wall and the stories of the people who tried to escape, including some of their inventive escape methodologies.
- Advice – if you’re short of time, then I’d pick the open-air museum, but if you want to go deeper into the history of the wall then the Mauermuseum is the once to choose!
Lunch stop (12.00noon – 1.00pm)
On our Berlin walking tour we picked up lunch from the food hall at Galleries LaFayette, but sadly this has now closed. Other suggestions for lunch therefore include:
- Back Factory on Friedrichstrasse – German sandwiches and hot snacks.
- Mundo Tapas – Checkpoint Charlie – informal dining with tapas dishes.
- Brasserie Am Gendarmenmarkt – sit down, Art Deco French brasserie.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (1.00pm – 2.00pm)
Walk 18 mins to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Walk off your lunch by next heading to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Apparently, it took quite a long time for the German government to agree a suitable memorial to those Jews murdered during the Second World War, and in the end a competition was run to find the best design.
The chosen memorial opened in 2005 and is comprised of 2,711 concrete slabs of different heights erected around an undulating site covering 19,000 square meters in the centre of Berlin. As you walk in-between the concrete slabs you get different views wherever you stand, without a central point. The space lends itself well to reflection and remembrance.
Adlon Hotel & Brandenburg Gate (2.00pm – 2.30pm)
Walk 4 mins to the Adlon Hotel / Brandenburg Gate
Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin – You might recognise this luxury hotel from the TV footage of Michael Jackson dangling his baby over one of the balconies in a hair-raising moment? However, it has a much significance in the city than that with over 100 years of history, with only one wing surviving World War 2 destruction. The rooms have at the front have cracking views of the Brandenburg Gate.
The Brandenburg Gate – this Berlin icon used to represent the division of the city as East and West Berlin. When the Berlin Wall was present during the Cold War, people from neither West nor East Berlin could access the Brandenburg Gate which stood in a restricted area. However, since the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the Brandenburg Gate has become an important symbol of peace and unity. Built between 1788 and 1791, the Brandenburg gate was modelled on the Propylaeum of Athens’ Acropolis and features a chariot with 4 horses at the top.
The Reichstag, Parliament building (2.30pm – 3.30pm)
Walk 4 minutes to the Reichstag (Parliament Building)
Don’t miss a visit to German’s Parliament Building, the Reichstag, with an incredible curved glass cupola (curved roof) designed by British Architect, Sir Norman Foster. The building was burnt out in 1933, severely damaged in WW2 and then neglected during the Cold War. It only became the seat of parliament again in 1999.
Note – You need to book tickets in advance to enter the Parliament Building and go up to the roof. As it’s a working government building you also need to go through security checks before entering.
Once inside you can follow the spiral staircase leading around the outside glass panels of the cupola until you reach the top. You can look down into the main chamber as you go. Once at the top there are great views from the outdoor viewing platform.
Outside the Reichstag is a monument to the Russians who died in the concentration camps – each vertical slate has a name printed on it.
Stroll through the Tiergarten (3.30pm – 4.30pm/5.00pm)
Next up on your Berlin walking tour, take a stroll through the Tiergarten, a huge urban park in the centre of Berlin. The shade of the trees is particularly welcome if it’s a hot day in the city, and the park will be full of locals enjoying the green space. Tiergarten translates as ‘animal park’ named after the wild boar and deer introduced to the park for the amusement of the Prussian aristocracy back in the day!
As you wander through the park look out for the:
- Carillon – a 42-meter-high freestanding bell tower which is both a landmark and musical instrument containing 68 bells which are manually played at 3pm each day. If you’re on schedule with this walk, then you might just make it in time to hear them being played!
- Victory Column (Siegessäule) or ‘Golden Lizzie’ to her friends – one of the most famous symbols of Berlin, it’s an impressive column built between 1864 and 1873 commemorating Prussian victory in the Franco-German war. The Victory Column originally stood in front of the Reichstag but was relocated to its current position in 1939 by the Nazis. The column itself is attractive, but make sure to climb the tower for wonderful views over the park.
- Berlin Zoo – we didn’t go here as Zoos aren’t our thing, but it is the largest zoo in Germany and one of the city’s main attractions if you fancy it.
- English Tea House – enjoy tea at the Tea House in an English styled rose garden.
- Neuer See – a picturesque lake with rowing boats and perfect places to relax around the water.
Refreshments at Café am Neuen See Biergarten
Your feet will probably be aching by now and so it’s the perfect time to seek out some refreshments at Café am Neuen See, either in the Restaurant (reservations advised) or in the Biergarten. To demonstrate the size of the Tiergarten, it takes about 25 minutes to walk through the park from the Reichstag to Cafe am Neuen See and that’s without stops!
We enjoyed a lovely couple of hours at the Biergarten with a cold beer, sharing long trestle tables with locals who were just finishing work or out socialising with friends, under the fairy lights on a warm Summer evening. Whilst the food options were simple – pizza or pretzels – it didn’t matter, it felt like being part of a real German tradition. The perfect end to your Berlin walking tour. “Skol!”
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