Highlights

• Visit the Bundestag dome to see the beautiful architecture and a 360-degree view of Berlin
• Walk around the city to see remnants of the Berlin Wall
• Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
• Cruise along the river
• Walk around Kreukölln
• Brandenburg Gate
• Tiergarten
• Potsdamer Platz
• Topography of Terror
• Berlin Zoological Garden
• Checkpoint Charlie and Wall Museum
• Jewish Museum, sad but must-see
• Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe
• Berlin Philharmonic
• Admiralbrücke walk by the river
• Charlottenburger Tor
• Berlin TV Tower
• Museum of Photography
• Berlinische Galerie Modern Art
• C/O Berlin Art Museum
• Alte Nationalgalerie
• Berlin Cathedral
• St. Nicholas’ Church
• Stasi Museum
• DDR Museum life in East Germany
• East Side Gallery Graffiti Park
• Spandau Citadel outside city
• Archenhold Observatory

Before you go

• Berlin is a city with a lot of history
• The Berlin wall, dividing East and West Berlin, fell in November 1989
• To visit the Bundestag dome, you must register for tickets in advance and bring official ID
• Public transport is useful and makes it easy to get around the city
• Many small shops are closed on Sundays
• Some bars and clubs still allow smoking inside
• Most people speak English but a bitte (please) and danke (thank you) are appreciated
• Tipping is quite common, around 10%
• Credit cards are accepted in most places, so I did not need any cash
• Bars and clubs are generally lively and open late
• Berlin has a museum pass which can make visits cheaper and easier
• If you are interested in seeing the wonderful Berlin Philharmonic then book tickets in advance
• Weather in Berlin is relatively mild, and I recommend visiting between May and September
• There is a parkrun at Volkspark called Hasenheide parkrun

Transport

• The main airport is Berlin Brandenburg Airport to the south of the city
• The public transport system is reliable and frequent via BVG. Download the app for easy access to schedules and tickets
• Zone A, B are usually fine for the city centre and C is needed for the airport and places further out
• You can buy single tickets but if you plan to take multiple rides then you might want a 24 hour or weekly pass
• Use www.nextbike.de to hire a bike

Accommodation

• I’ve stayed in a few different hotels and recommend staying toward the centre
• Hotel Ludwig Van Beethoven was comfortable and near a large park. It was also close to metro and bus stations, so easy to get around
• For a conference, we stayed at the Estrel Berlin, which was convenient but a bit too far from the centre
• As usual I recommend checking reviews on Google Reviews or using AirBnB

Food

Finer dining

A friend booked Burro Unchained for dinner, and we tried the set menu, which was great! There were two choices per course, so we tried almost everything on the menu. Very creative and friendly.

Shiori is a fine dining Japanese restaurant, which only has about 10 seats per evening. It’s omakase style, so the chef serves you a lot of different dishes that are a surprise on the night.

For our conference dinner and drinks, we were near the waterside at Spindler & Klatt. Location is great and food and drinks were good.

Casual Dining

Niko Izakaya is for Japanese small plates and was recommended by the Shiori chef.

Sfera is a vegan cafe near to the Estrel conference centre. The food was delicious and unique. However, the service was very slow and one lady was quite rude, so I would probably not go back

Holzmarkt food market with a good vibe and a number of food stall choices, along the river. Another food market nearby is Markthalle Neun or further out is Marheineke Markthalle.

Das Pi is a local pizza shop near the Estrel conference centre. The Pizza was pretty good, but paying was tricky because their card machine was broken.

For a quick snack, I had a tasty schnitzel sandwich from a bakery near the Brandenburg gate. You can find them in most bakery cafes.

My favourite chocolate shop is Rausch Schokoladenhaus, for the chocolate and the cool sculptures.

Finally, there are many great bars, pubs, beer halls! I don’t have any specific ones to recommend though.