Berlin is one of my absolute favourite cities I’ve visited – it’s thriving with culture and history and there are so many things to do. I’m a bit of a travel nerd and try to do absolutely everything there is to do in every place that I visit, so here’s quite a full on 4-day itinerary of the things we got up to in Berlin.
We came to Berlin in May 2018, and the flights were so cheap – I think around £35 direct round trip from London Gatwick! Definitely check SkyScanner though to get the best deal. For accommodation, we stayed in an AirBnb in a part of the city called Wedding, which was roughly £10 each per night but it was such a stunning apartment. To get around Berlin, we used the subway, which is only 7 euros for a day pass that gives you unlimited travel around the city centre.
DAY 1
After getting out of the airport early afternoon, we headed straight into the city centre to Tiergarten, which is a massive park towards the west side of the city. There are quite a few historical monuments here, like the Reichstag Building, Brandenburg Gate, the Soviet War Memorial, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews. We spent a good couple of hours wandering round here as it was such beautiful weather.
We then walked to the Berlin Wall Monument and “Topography of Terror” – a long stretch of photographs of the Nazi Secret Police’s atrocities in the years before and during World War Two running adjacent to the Wall. It was quite eerie and emotional experience, but was definitely important to see. There’s also a little museum on-site to learn more about Nazi Germany, which is free to enter.
Just down the road, you will find Checkpoint Charlie, which is a famous historical ‘checkpoint’ at which Berliners could cross from the east side to the west side of the Berlin Wall. This is on one of the main streets in Berlin called Friedrichstrasse, so we had a wander down here and looked in all the shops. There are also lots of museums around this area, like the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the BlackBox Cold War Museum, which could be a good way to spend your timeif you’re interested in German history.
If you’re going to Berlin in the summer like we did, definitely go to Charlie’s Beach. It’s a little artificial beach on the side of the road near Checkpoint Charlie, which sells beers, cocktails and some food. It was a really nice chilled break from all the sightseeing we did that day.
DAY 2
We started the day by going to the famous East Side Gallery, an outdoor gallery where you can find hundreds of murals painted all along a remaining section of the Berlin Wall. This was probably the highlight of our trip, as it was such an interesting way of showing off colourful art.
After this we took the underground to Alexanderplatz, which is a popular plaza full of shops and restaurants. You’ll also find another famous landmark there – the Fernsehturm Berlin. We didn’t go up it as my boyfriend is scared of heights, but from what I’ve seen you can get great panoramic views of the city.
The weather was pretty much perfect during our trip, so we thought we’d make the most of it and head over to Weissensee. Weissensee is a gorgeous park north-east of the city with a huge lake that you can swim in during the summer months. The part of the lake that is sectioned off for public swimming is called Strandbad Weissensee, which also has a bar, café, beach, and large seating area. It’s only 5.50 euros to enter, and is pretty much open all day from May to October!
DAY 3
On our third day in Berlin, we went to Tempelhof, which is a massive abandoned airport open to the public. You have to pay to enter the airport buildings, but the grounds and runway are free to roam, which was so lovely on a warm summer’s day. It was very popular for barbecues, roller-skating, and kite-flying.
From there we made our way to quite an up-and-coming part of the city called Kreuzberg, where you’ll find loads of cool shops, bars and restaurants. We just had a nice walk around, and stopped off for a milkshake before heading to Markethalle Neun for dinner. Markethalle Neun is an indoor food hall with loads of independent food stalls, selling anything from bakery goods, desserts, pizza, and various cuisines from around the world. I had dish from Zimbabwe and it was only 5 euros! They also have a cute little photo booth which was quite fun.
To get rid of our food babies, we went for a walk around a nearby park called Gorlitzer Park. It was absolutely buzzing with people because of the weather, with many people sunbathing, having BBQs and playing Frisbee. The park also has a café, indoor swimming pool and blacklight indoors mini golf.
DAY 4
We only had a few hours on our final day in Berlin because of our afternoon flight, so we thought we’d check out Charlottenburg Palace. This is a beautiful palace just outside of the city with only a small entry fee, but its huge gardens are free to enter, and were filled with flowers, trees, ponds and statues. It was a cloudy day, so the photos here don’t do justice to just how beautiful the Palace grounds were.
FOOD
The best part about Berlin is the food, hands down. There is so much variety, from classic German foods, to Lebanese, to Mexican and so on, and I’d say we had our fair share. As I’m a student, we were on a bit of a budget when we went, so all of the food mentioned below are definitely affordable to anyone.
The most popular thing to eat in Berlin is currywurst, a large sausage served with curry sauce and fries. I’m a pescatarian, but I was prepared for one day and one day only to eat thisamazing German dish! However to my surprise, almost all places sold vegan currywurst, which tasted absolutely INCREDIBLE. Hundreds of places sell currywurst around the city, so you won’t be limited for choice, but we went to a place called Curry 36, which was super cheap (around 4 euros) and super yummy.
For some more tasty fast food, you have to go to Burgermeister, an iconic burger joint underneath a raised subway track towards the east of the city. They have the best veggie burgers I have ever tasted – and according to my boyfriend, the beef burgers were just as good! It’s always quite busy, and there’s not much seating, so be prepared to stand at a high-top table next to strangers, but it’s worth it for such amazing burgers that only cost 3 euros.
The next place I recommend for food is the Back-Factory, which is a bakery chain with multiple stores around Berlin. They have everything from sweet pastries to filling sandwiches, and I’m pretty sure we went there every day for an afternoon snack (mainly pretzels). I can’t remember the exact prices, but everything was under 6 euros.
To spice things up a bit, we tried some Lebanese food at a cosy little restaurant called Yarok. I had a platter with falafels, hummus, vegetables and pita bread, and my boyfriend had a chickpea soup. Again, it was totally affordable with everything being under 10 euros!
Berlin is also home to some amazing cocktail deals. We went to Que Pasa, which is a Mexican restaurant and cocktail bar with several chains across the city, where we had 2-4-1 cocktails The cocktails were only around 3 euros each, and they sold a lot of cocktails with literally every different type of spirit in them – we could DEFINITELY taste the alcohol.
All in all, I think Berlin is an absolutely amazing city and recommend it to anyone.
Food: 9/10
Things to do: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Laura’s Travels 