3 days in Berlin

In January we managed to get 3 days off and, since the Christmas holidays had just ended and everyone seems to be busy at this time of year, we thought it would be a good idea to travel to Berlin. That's why today I'm going to show you what to see in Berlin in 3 days so that you can make the most of your time. As you can imagine, travelling at this time of the year saved us a lot of queues, as there are usually too many people to enjoy the experience, so it allowed us to discover the city in a different way.

The city of Berlin has many faces. Its dark past lives in perfect harmony with its colourful streets. I really enjoyed reliving different important episodes of European history. My aim was not necessarily to understand what happened per se, but to try to understand how this was made possible. Apart from everything to do with the Second World War, we realised that Berlin has so much more to offer, as the city is the perfect combination of old and new, symmetry and decoration, wealth and scarcity... You have everything to spend 3 unforgettable days in Berlin!

We took a train from Amsterdam to Berlin, checked in at the Eastener Hostel (which is only a 15-minute walk from Berlin's main train station) and headed off to explore the city.

To help you prepare for your trip, here's a list of all the things to see in Berlin in 3 days.

What to see in Berlin in 3 days

• Brandenburg Gate
• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
• Berlin Cathedral
• Museum Island
• Charlottenburg Palace
• Berlin Wall and East Side Gallery
• Alexanderplatz
• TV Tower (Fernsehturm)
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Reichstag Building
• Tiergarten Park
• Museum of Contemporary Art Hamburger Bahnhof

Day 1 in Berlin

Berlin Free Walking Tour

The free walking tour is what I always do if I have the chance to travel in a capital that seems to have much more to understand than just a stroll around the old city center, so of course this was what we started our trip with.

Berlin is no exception and especially Berlin, because: Brandenburg Gate, the site of Hitler’s bunker, Gendarmenmarkt, Pariser Platz, Luftwaffe HQ or the Book burning memorial, finishing at Humboldt University with some information about how Einstein left a mark on this university were just a few of the places I would not have thought of seeing or discovering myself.

It’s much more fun to hear about them from a local who is so enthusiastic and motivated to show us the best insights of the city. I never skip the first day of travelling walking tours whenever I travel…

Brandenburg Gate

Even though we arrived very late in Berlin we still decided to take a stroll to the gate and take some cute pictures. Still, it was not until after the free walking tour the next day when we fully understood what it was all about behind one of the most iconic military monuments Berlin has.

Almost 200 hundred years ago when it was built, Brandenburg Gate had the sole purpose of marking the end of the boulevard. A few years later, Napoleon’s soldiers took the horse chariot on top of the gate (quadriga) as a victory trophy and after a short trip to France, it eventually found its way back on the gate after Napoleon was defeated. What’s even more fascinating is that after more recent episodes, in 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, the Brandenburg Gate became the place that gathered thousands of people in celebration which gave this monument the great symbolic value of peace and unity after a divided country and since the end of the Cold War. Many pictures can be found on the internet about those moments that were actually not so long ago.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

I still cannot describe the feeling we had the more we walked down into the memorial. With the small heavy concrete blocks becoming large towers of different heights, perfectly aligned from all four sides, with wave-like paths to symbolize uncertainty, this monument gave me a hard time to confront the past of this city and how mass murders can become so real with this interactive memorial.

We also visited the memorial continuation that is underground, right under the surface displayed at the street level. Here, the metaphor behind the memorial comes to life by being embodied into different people’s lives. The room of dimensions, of families, names and sites are filled with photographs, diaries, recorded podcasts and farewell letters that kept us contemplating for more than one hour and a half…

Berliner Dom – Berlin Cathedral

We finished the walking tour close to the museum island so we decided to head next to there. Surrounded by iconic buildings, the Berliner Dom is an evangelical church which has never been a church in the whole sense of the word, but no one can deny its interior and exterior beauty. Operating the faith of Calvinists or Lutherans and after suffering considerable damage after WWII Allied bombings, it is still difficult to fund further restorations today, even if its reconstruction began more than 40 years ago by the East Berlin’s authorities.

Museum Island - UNESCO World Heritage site

Since we all agreed that visiting all these museums is a great idea since all of them have some amazing exhibitions on display, we purchased the Berlin museum card to get access to more than 30 museums around Berlin for only 12 euros (reduced price for students), for 3 days. If you are a museum lover yourself, I will leave the link for you here too, since it is definitely a bargain.

• Altes Museum (Old Museum) – you can purchase the museum card from here and start visiting straight away. We were chronologically guided through a beautiful collection of jewelry right before discovering the ‘Blue Chamber’ that has a spectacular array of more than 1, 000 coins. After that, of course, we couldn’t miss seeing the busts of Caesar and Cleopatra.
• Neues Museum (New Museum) – here is where you can admire the bust of Nefertiti which is the main attraction. It was guarded by 3 security men, so no wonder it is not something that you see every day. What stroked us was her beauty and how it was depicted for those times in comparison to our beauty standards, nowadays: thin face, full lips and eyeliner…
• Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) – this neoclassicist building was built as an ancient temple and not only were we guided through the corridors by beautiful columns and statues, but also by some amazing work of Monet and Renoir. On the third floor they had a beautiful and Romantic Goethe period where we actually managed to turn on an alarm because we were drawn too close by one painting. Here you can also find the famous painting of Caspar Friedrich – “Monk by the Sea”. Just be sure you keep your distance if you don’t want to attract too much attention in the whole museum…
• Bode Museum – The fourth museum in a row made quite an entrance for us since you need to cross the Monbijou Bridge to get inside. It is full of Egyptian and Nubian splendors and you can also explore the five courtyards around a central axis. If you happen to land in this museum, do not forget to find the sculpture of Venus and Mercury situated in the dome of the building.
• Pergamon Museum – We saved this one for the last visit as we read there was nothing else like it and we definitely enjoyed admiring some of the world’s most long buried treasures: artefacts from Iran, Ancient East, Egypt or Caucasus. It is full of art collections coming from different countries, centuries and cultures, so no wonder this museum is a wonder in itself. Sadly enough, we couldn’t see the main attraction of the museum – the Pergamon Altar because it is closed for refurbishment until 2023.

Day 2 in Berlin

Charlottenburg palace

We started our second day by taking the train and going in Postdam to visit the beautiful Rococo palace of Charlottenburg – the largest and one of the most magnificent palaces right outside of Berlin. Unfortunately, when we went it was January so only 4/6 palaces were open for visits and the front façade restoration left us a bit disappointed because we could not see the whole splendor of it…

Anyway, what we saw was far beyond what we expected. The interior and more specifically one ball room was (dare to say) maybe more beautiful than Versaille. The rooms are lively coloured and decorated with natural leaf details, so you get a wonderful perspective about how the royal families of Prussia lived back in the times. The palace belonged to the first queen consort of Prussia so no wonder it was like nothing we’ve seen before.

Bennywood restaurant

Just a couple of blocks away from the palace we stopped to try the famous currywurst and fries snack. Little did we know we were just about to make a lovely new friend because even though you would not believe this place is a 5 star on trip advisor, this small restaurant is actually Benny’s eclectic collection of American pop and rock culture items.

The owner welcomed us and even though we tried to make conversation in our poor tortured German with him, he was more than kind to personally serve us, give us his delicious homemade souce and currywurst and show us how he restaurant lights up with all the glowing objects moving and making music on our way out. If you are in the area, do not hesitate to drop by and have your chance to meet Benny and his filling meals. It was only 2 euros!

East Berlin Wall – East Side Gallery

After Charlottenburg, we took the train back and stopped at the East Side Gallery or what it once used to be the Berlin Wall itself. Now, this open-air gallery is the longest in the world with over 1 kilometer of art and history about the wall, right next to the Spree River. What we learned about it was that immediately after the wall came down, hundreds of artists began painting it and one year later it became a protected memorial. Here was also where we found the famous painting of Vrubel: Fraternal Kiss with Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in an embrace.

Alexanderplatz

After chilling around the Spree river for a bit, we made our way to one of the liveliest places in Berlin – Alexanderplatz, in Mitte. It is also the biggest and best-known public squares in the city, named after Tsar Alexander I, and more than one hundred years ago was used to be a military parade and exercise ground, then a street fighting square. This was also the place they started the peaceful demonstrations against the East German regime so no wonder it has a lot of meaning behind it.

Here you can also find an impressive 10 meters high and 16 tons heavy mechanical clock – The World Clock or Weltzeituhr), designed by more than one hundred engineers. Do not hesitate to go and have a look around it, trying to find the hour in your time zone, because it does work and you will always see it in constant motion, showing the hour for 148 major cities around the world.

TV Tower – Fernsehturm

The highest building in Europe open to public had to be on our visiting list too since the 370 meters high tower was visible from whatever place we were while exploring Berlin. It is also situated in Alexanderplatz and although we waited for quite a while to reach the top (no worries, they have an elevator), we reached a spectacular panorama over the city and ever beyond it! And once of the best experiences was also getting right up on the observation platform in only 40 seconds!

Checkpoint Charlie

We also went to see the reminder of the former border crossing. The barrier, the checkpoint booth, the flag and the sandbags look just like the originals. It became famous after this specific checkpoint was designated a crossing point for the Allied armed forces so that soon after the announcement a tank confrontation took place here between Americans and Soviets. It was an amazing feeling to stand on the ground that has seen so many people trying to escape from East Berlin through here 50 years ago… If you have the chance, definitely go visit their museum too. It will be a time capsule experience you will not regret.

Falafel at Ali Baba

After a full day of walking we went to try some of the best falafels in town and ended up at Ali Baba Restaurant in Boxhagener Kiez, which is actually rated #1 on Foursquare in Berlin for Middle Eastern food. The falafel was enormous and you actually get two on the plate if you order it so you might want to think twice before asking for anything else besides this. When we went there, around 7-8pm it was not that overcrowded, but for some reason we still had to wait a little. Regardless to say it was totally worth the wait since I still remember how delicious it was!

Day 3 in Berlin

Reichstag Building – The Parliament

If you want to visit the Parliament you need to book the tour online, so you cannot show up at the entrance for a visit. Still, bookings are accepted up to two hours before your arrival.

Because most of the guided tours were already full, we decided to climb up to the dome and the roof to admire the morning sun right before the whole Berlin wakes up and, for sure, we were not disappointed. Going up the dome gives you a beautiful circular perspective over the construction, not to mention the light the glass walls bring inside. It was all a spectacle.

Tiergarten

From up there we could also see the Tiergarten Park at the heart of Berlin’s life, full of joggers, skaters, cyclists and simple people going on with their lives relaxing in the sun. We were quite impressed to hear it is popular for family picnics since some parks have strict laws about walking on the grass. Not this one though.

Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum of Contemporary Art

The last on our visiting journey in Berlin was the museum located at less than 15 min of walking from the train station we needed to head to in order to finish our city break so of course, it seemed like a best fit in our schedule.

Also situated in a former train station, the Hamburger Bahnhof museum is praised to have some of the best displays of contemporary art with very interesting pop art and minimalistic exhibitions and it did in some of the rooms, but in some others, to be honest, the exhibits seemed too weird for us.

Usually loving any fine and good taste minimalism, some trousers in a frame or clothes thrown away on a statue were not quite the ‘fine’ art we were expected to see.

As a honest opinion, I can say Berlin does not a lot of things that make it stand out from the other European cities. After all, considering its communist past and the grey events in its history of course there was much to take in about it during 3 days, but Berlin proved to be a little bit more than my initial expectations. The street artists stepped in and added a lot of colour to it.

They made Berlin a truly creative urban landscape you have to lose yourself into a little to discover the bests of the bests. Huge graffiti can be spotted everywhere around the city, so in the end, I have to admit that it kind of won me over. I would love to come back a second time and check some other experiences there some other time.

I hope you liked this post about what to see in Berlin in 3 days and that you enjoy your stay.

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