Fifteen Things to Do and See in Berlin

Berlin was one of those cities I clicked with immediately. It is loud, scruffy in places, endlessly interesting, and much cheaper than most European capitals. I arrived with a short list and left with a longer one, because a first visit can only scratch the surface. This guide mixes what I actually did with what I am saving for next time.

A small piece of trivia to carry with you: Berlin may take its name from the German word for bear, which is why a bear appears on the city's coat of arms and on half the souvenirs.

1. Work out your ticket before you arrive

City cards only save money if they match how you travel. A single day ticket suits someone spending one day moving constantly across the city. If you will be using public transport for the whole stay, the Berlin Welcome Card is usually the better deal: unlimited transport plus discounts at attractions and restaurants. For a five-day visit it cost €34.50, the same as five separate day passes, with the discounts effectively free. The Berlin Welcome Card is sold online and at stations. The Going Local Berlin app is a useful companion, with suggestions for each of the city's twelve districts.

2. Follow the street art

The highlight of my trip was the free Alternative Berlin walking tour, which uses street art as a way into the city's recent history. Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and Mitte have the densest concentration of murals, and seeing them with someone who knows the artists and the politics changes how you read them. The tour runs on tips, so budget accordingly.

3. Find a stretch of the Wall

Remnants of the Berlin Wall survive in several parts of the city. One easy option is to get off at Berlin Hauptbahnhof Ost and walk a short way to a long, graffiti-covered section. Stand close enough to see the layers of paint and you get a sense of how quickly a border became a canvas.

4. Walk around the Brandenburger Tor

The Brandenburg Gate is the image most people carry of Berlin, and it works both in daylight and after dark, when it is lit up. The surrounding area holds the Reichstag and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. To go inside the Reichstag you need to reserve a slot, preferably online in advance; last-minute registration in person is sometimes possible if there are spaces in the next two days, but do not rely on it.

5. Spend an hour at Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz is about a kilometre from the gate, a modern square built over what was once a dead zone beside the Wall. There are remains of the Wall to see and information boards explaining the square's history. The buildings are a mix of restaurants, museums and contemporary architecture, but the unlikely highlight is the Sony Centre, whose glass roof changes colour. Inside are shops, restaurants, a multiplex and a Legoland discovery centre.

6. Wander Prenzlauer Berg

Prenzlauer Berg sits close to Alexanderplatz and feels like a neighbourhood rather than a sight. Its streets are full of cafés, restaurants, pubs, galleries and small shops, and it is popular with students. There is no agenda here: walk, stop for an ice cream, look at the buildings, repeat.

7. Learn the nightlife, including the Späti

Berlin's nights are long and varied. Pub crawls cost around €10 and usually include five or six shots; the alternative pub crawl is more interesting than the standard one if you want something other than tourist bars. Weinerei is a pay-what-you-want bar: you leave a deposit of about €2 and decide at the end what the evening was worth. Berliner beer is the local speciality and worth ordering at least once.

Then there is the Späti: a small kiosk open through the night, often with a few benches outside. Buy a drink, sit on the bench, watch the street. It is the cheapest and most Berlin-specific night out I found, and there is even a poem written in their honour.

8. Eat cheaply, at any hour

Food in Berlin is inexpensive and plentiful. The döner kebab is said to have been invented here — the claim is contested, but the queues are not — and döner and falafel shops stay open late. Currywurst is everywhere, starting with the stands you see on the way out of the airport. Beyond that there are Mexican, Indian, Chinese and just about every other cuisine, and small takeaway Chinese boxes can cost as little as €2.50. A friend also told me about a café serving breakfast twenty-four hours a day, which is the most Berlin thing I have heard.

9. Go up the TV Tower at Alexanderplatz

The Fernsehturm is 368 metres tall and offers the best panoramic view in the city. Tickets start at €13 for early-bird or late-evening slots, with discounts for students and Berlin Welcome Card holders. I missed going up and regret it. Instead we walked the square, looked at the Neptune Fountain, ate ice cream, watched people on the bungee trampolines and took photos in a booth. Other viewpoints exist — the Panorama Point and the tower at Messe Süd — but none is as high.

10. Step into the Nikolai Viertel

A few minutes from Alexanderplatz, the Nikolai Quarter is the oldest part of Berlin and is often described as the city's birthplace. The streets are reconstructed rather than original, but it is a pleasant place to walk and a useful reminder that Berlin is much older than its twentieth-century reputation suggests.

11. Walk Unter den Linden

Unter den Linden packs an unusual number of sights into one street: the Berliner Dom, the Neue Wache war memorial, the Humboldt University buildings, the Deutsches Historisches Museum and the State Opera. You can walk the whole thing in an hour and stop wherever something catches your eye.

12. Visit a bunker at The Story of Berlin

The Story of Berlin museum uses multimedia and art to tell the city's history across the centuries, and it is one of the clearest explanations of how Berlin became what it is. The ticket also includes a guided tour of a nearby civil-defence bunker, built for a nuclear emergency. Walking through the cramped rooms while a guide explains how people would have lived there was the most affecting hour of my trip. Allow at least two hours for museum and bunker together. Entry is €12, with reductions for students and Berlin Welcome Card holders.

For a deeper historical walk, Context Travel runs small-group tours led by academics and researchers. I took their Divided City: Berlin in the Cold War walk and came away understanding how architecture reflected the split between East and West. Free walking tours are good for orientation; this was good for understanding.

13. Stand at Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was the single crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War, and the name alone carries weight. The Haus am Checkpoint Charlie museum, which opened two years after reunification, explains what the crossing meant. Outside, a section of the Wall stands beside the road, and you can buy small fragments of it as souvenirs. We also found a large exhibition nearby full of photographs, quotations and personal stories from the divided years.

14. Visit the Currywurst Museum

A few minutes' walk from Checkpoint Charlie, the Currywurst Museum is a small, cheerful place devoted to the city's favourite sausage. It explains the dish's history, sells souvenirs, and has a café where you can eat the subject of the exhibition. It will not take long, and it is a good contrast to the heavier history nearby.

15. The zoo and the Tiergarten

Friends recommended the Berlin Zoo and I ran out of time, which gives me a reason to return. It is the oldest zoo in Germany, and I want to see the polar bears and the giant panda. The Tiergarten, meanwhile, is the city's great central park: people picnic, jog, cycle and simply sit under the trees. I crossed it on the Context Travel walk and understood why Berliners treat it as a second living room.

Where to stay

On my second visit, in June 2016, I stayed at the Park Inn at Alexanderplatz because I had a conference at Messe Süd and wanted to be central. The room on the ninth floor looked straight at the TV Tower, with the Nikolai Quarter and the rest of the skyline behind it. The location is hard to beat: the station is next door, and the Berliner Dom, Museum Island, the Sea Life aquarium and Unter den Linden are all walkable. There is shopping and food outside the door. If you are feeling brave, the hotel offers base flying from the roof; if not, there is a spa and a restaurant with live performances.

I still want to tour the Reichstag, visit Museum Island properly, climb the TV Tower, see Treptower Park and explore more street art. Berlin rewards a second trip. For the abandoned side of the city, Fotostrasse has a good guide, and these day-trip ideas are worth bookmarking.

Thanks to Visit Berlin for the city card and for information during my stay.