Berlin Travel Forum

I will be in Berlin, Germany with 2 of my family members for the first leg of our European Tour. We have whole day of March 27 to go around the city. Can anyone give me an idea of the first 3 “must see” places that can be done from morning till night? I will appreciate very much any reply. Thanks

check out : www.berlin-tourist-information.de

Must Sees in Berlin: That depends on your interests, especially if you have one day only. When I'm there I like to go to the Brandenburger Tor and I like the view from the glass dome of the Reichstag - the German Parliament . I always go to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, a museum about the Berlin wall and the attempts to cross it. These are my favourites, because I'm very interested in history. An art lover will tell you something completely different.
Have a look at the many Berlin pages here on VT, click on what to do, then most recent and you'll get lots of tips.

Checkpoint Charlie museum is (My personal feeling!!) a tourist rip-off . Get to metro station Alexanderplatz, walk down the street"Unter den Linden" through Brandenburger Tor ,pass along the memorial for the murdered jewish people, cross Potsdamer Platz, that is one tour. Then walk along Landwehrkanal.

If you ask 3 people about their top 10 must see places in Berlin you'll end up with a list of 24 places.

Berlin is a wide spread place with no single centre and a complex background.

I would recommend to join one of the walking tours. Thus you'll at least see many of the most important sights.
http://www.brewersberlintours.com/
http://www.newberlintours.com/
http://www.berlinwalks.de/
http://www.insidertour.com/

I remember from your Italian questions that you travel with your daughter but you don't give her age. Berlin is the sort of city that has many sights for adults which are too harrowing for children...(if she is young, you can see my "Berlin for children" travelogue for my immediate thoughts on kiddie Berlin).

But definate musts are:

A walk (or bus 100 if the weather is really nasty) along Unter den Linden between Alexanderplatz and Brandenburger Tor. This will show you old GDR architecture in "Alex" with its TV-tower and take you through the main thoroughfare of old Berlin up to Brandenburger Tor which you can now walk through again :)

My other must is very close to Brandenburger Tor: a visit to the Reichstag with its glass dome where you have views all over Berlin. You can go for a guided tour of the political areas or just take the free visit to the dome.

Finally, the "Museums Insel", i.e. Museum Island, is a World Heritage site and I strongly recommend the Pergamon Museum with parts from Babylon and the old Greece etc. Stunning the way whole antique walls have been rebuilt in there! Even our six-year-old was impressed.

As an extra, I recommend the East Side Gallery with the major remaining piece of the Berlin Wall: http://www.eastsidegallery.com/

"sights for adults which are too harrowing for children" what`s that? Give an example please! You write about Oranienburer Damm at night or what?

Well...the Jewish Museum...the Stasi Exhibition...

the jewish museum is not a place, which children couldn`t understand. Schoolclasses go there. German pupils are there often, also at the memorial site for the murdered jews near Brandenburger Tor.

Yes, but I wouldn't take a YOUNG child there. Or, at least not to all of it. :)

I agree