Top 7 things to do in Berlin

Welcome to the German capital, none other than Berlin! Home to the remains of the Berlin Wall, as well as modern monuments. Behind its artistic aura, the city is renowned for welcoming many visitors every year, always eager to discover the buildings, visit the historic sites that have left their mark on history, and sample German gastronomy in all its splendour.

However, Berlin is quite a big city, covering almost 892 km², so you might be wondering where to go first? Which street, which district? With Navaway, you’re in safe hands. We’ve come up with some of the top places to see during your stay in this region right between Western and Central Europe. We hope you enjoy reading!

What to do in Berlin

1. The Berlin Wall

Category: €€/Cultural

Description: As mentioned above, Berlin is known for housing the remains of the old wall erected between 12 and 13 August 1961. So it goes without saying that a visit to this mythical site should be one of your top priorities if you’re planning a stopover in the capital. The very emblem of the opposition between the Eastern bloc and the Western bloc, its history is fraught, and you will surely be familiar with its outcome and its end.

We strongly advise you to visit the most important part of the wall, the East Side Gallery, in the Friedrichschain district. Nearly 1.3 kilometres of art and history await you. With its open-air gallery, this is the longest continuous section of the Berlin Wall. Tours last around an hour and are accompanied by audio guides.

2. The Holocaust Memorial

Category: €€/Cultural

Description: A visit to Germany, and Berlin in particular, is also a chance to pay your respects to places that have left an indelible mark on world history. A visit to the Holocaust Memorial is a must in the country, with its 2,711 concrete blocks in memory of the Jews murdered in Europe during the tragic events of the Second World War. All these places that bear witness to the past are there to remind us of one of the darkest and most striking episodes humanity has ever known. They are a kind of imprint that we owe it to ourselves to honour.

Located at the Brandenburg Gate station, the memorial’s information centre is open every day except Monday, 1 January, 24, 25 and 26 December. For more information, you can visit it from 10am to 7pm.

3. The Museum Island

Category: €€/Cultural/Insolite

Description: Here’s a highly original place! The Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, contains five museums: the Bode Museum, the Altes Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Neues Museum and the Pergamon Museum. Dating back to the famous era of the Prussian monarchs, the Museum Island was created in the 19th century by order of King Friedrich Wilhelm III.

What does each museum contain? Unique collections of antiques, paintings and sculptures; works dating from medieval times to the 19th century; pieces from the Egyptian era when the pharaohs reigned supreme; traces of impressionism, classical antiquity and modern art… A multitude of masterpieces that are the pride of the city of Berlin. The Museum Island, opposite the Staatsoper on Under den Linden, is open every day from 10am to 6pm except Mondays.

4. Tiergarten Garden

Category: Free/Cultural/Sporting

Description: Take a short break from visiting monuments and historic sites and spend a few hours wandering around the legendary Tiergarten Garden. A place where nature has reigned supreme, and where peace and quiet have taken hold. The best part? Hire a bike and cycle along the paths, where the strong, powerful trees cover the top of their long branches like a tunnel.

Along the way, you’ll meet lots of Berliners, strolling around, playing a game of Frisbee, enjoying a tasty picnic… It’s a dream location in the centre of Berlin, in the district that bears its name, Berlin-Tiergarten. A little extra: not far away, you can take the opportunity to visit the Berlin Zoo, which has a great reputation and is one of the zoos with the most precious animal species. Enjoy your visit and your walk!

5. Stroll down the street and eat a local speciality

Category: €€/Cultural/Gastronomic

Description: Visiting a city also means wandering the streets, exploring the districts, shopping for souvenirs to take home, but also…eating. In Berlin, we recommend a local speciality that will delight your stomach: doner kebab.

When midday approaches and you’re feeling hungry, we recommend a visit to “Rüyam Gemüse Kebab”, open every day from 11am and located in Schönhauser. You’re sure to enjoy the best doner kebab you’ve ever tasted: this bread, containing cooked, perfectly seasoned meat and a few slices of finely cut vegetables, is the culinary speciality that is the pride of the whole of Berlin. You’ll feel like you’re tasting an explosion of flavours, a little grilled and crunchy – bon appétit!

6. Charlottenburg Castle

Category: €€/Cultural

Description: You are entering the largest and certainly the most sumptuous Baroque castle in Berlin. It was the home of Prussia’s very first queen consort, Sophie Charlotte, a great musician. What’s there to see? Absolutely incredible suites; rooms that have been restored to their original state; and art collections. An array of beautiful things all in one place, isn’t that just magnificent?

Be sure to visit the “Golden Gallery” and the “Silver Room”, both of which are not to be missed. Visit Spandauer Damm, open daily from 10am to 4.30pm except Mondays. We hope you enjoy your visit!

7. Reichstag Palace

Category: €€/Cultural

Description: We spoke to you earlier about castles, and now it’s the turn of the Palace to take centre stage. And not just any palace, but the Reichstag Palace. On a guided tour of Parliament, you’ll discover the different rooms where some of the country’s most important decisions are taken: the plenary chamber and the dome are the two most emblematic parts of the palace, with an absolutely magnificent view over the city. One of the most important rooms, too, is the Bundestag, the parliamentary assembly of the Federal Republic of Germany, which represents the people.

Don’t forget your camera, as the architecture of the palace is truly magnificent. Located at Platz der Republik, in Tiergarten, it is an emblematic Berlin monument that can be visited every day from 8am to midnight.