Countries To Travel Travel Tips and Plans
Berlin has recently become one of the most visited European cities by Spaniards.
Moreover, it is a very ideal destination for a trip and taking advantage of a bridge in the capital of Germany will find many and varied attractions.
If you are preparing your first trip to Berlin , these tips will be useful for your sightseeing , which will allow you to have a first glimpse of what you will find.
How is Berlin today
In the face of your visit, I tell you that Berlin is a huge city .
It is the largest city in Europe, surpassing cities such as London and Paris , although with its 3.4 million inhabitants it has much lower population density, which you will appreciate in your tourist days.
Berlin Airports
When you fly to Berlin, you still have two possible airports to get to .
The airport of Tegel located in the old western area of the city, is very close to the city center, only 6 kilometers (about 15 euros if you prefer to go by taxi).
The airport of Shonefeld is further away, outside the city center, about 18 kilometers away, and after successive delays of several years, it seems that finally the inauguration of a new large terminal will be throughout 2019.
From then on the Berlin airport will be renamed Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt and will become the only option to fly to the German capital as the aforementioned Tegel airport will be closed.
How to get around in Berlin
For the great extent that I have commented that the German capital has, you have to take into account that when visiting Berlin , it is going to be essential that you use public transport.
In particular, the not very new metro lines, buses and trams; The latter are only found in the area of influence of what was the former Democratic Republic of the GDR .
When you go to visit it you will see that it is a city totally designed and taken by bicycles.
The price of renting a bicycle in Berlin for a day ranges from 10 to 12 euros, and many visitors choose this means of transport to travel through the most tourist areas of the city.
If not, it is very advisable that you buy a transport card to move around Berlin.
What is essential to see in Berlin
Your Berlin visit should focus on four thematic axes.
Imperial Berlin
On the one hand, Berlin as capital of the German empire of the Hohenzollerndynasty from the beginning of the 18th century until the fall of it at the beginning of the First World War .
In this regard, Charlottenburg Palace is one of the essential visits you must make, and during the same you will see a sample of the great importance that the empire had.
The visit should be completed with a walk through the extensive gardens of Charlottenburg , with French-style areas and a subsequent extension of English gardens.
Berlin of Nazi Germany
Then, the later Berlin as capital of the Nazi Germany, with numerous memorials located in different places of the city, on all the dedicated ones to the Jewish town.
Old Berlin Wall
The Wall that separated the east and the west of the city from 1961 to November 9, 1989 should be another of the protagonists of your visit, with highlights such as Checkpoint Charlie or the East Side Gallery .The Checkpoint Charlie is one of the most photographed today in the German capital places.
This is the emulation of one of the control booths that had to pass from one side of the wall to another , and is located in the place where was one of the most used border crossings in the city.
For its part, with the name of East Side Gallery is known the longest stretch of the few remaining of the Berlin Wall , which after the reunification became an artistic gallery with more than one hundred wall paintings.
Museums in Berlin
And, finally, Berlin as the capital of museums , which is shown most clearly in the so-called Museum Island , an area of the city declared a World Heritage Site .
They say that Berlin houses 170 museums, but if you are not very fond of spending time on your trip to visit these cultural institutions, in any case you must aim for an essential visit, the Pergamon Museum .
It is the most visited museum in the city and there you will see great works of antiquity as the Ishtar Gate of Babylon or Altar of Pergamon , although at present it is in a major renovation and expansion that will end in 2025.
On the same island you have other outstanding options as Bode Museum ( Bode-Museum ), with treasures of Byzantine art, or the New Museum (Neues Museum), which houses the bust of Nefertiti .
What to do and visit in Berlin in three days
As for the areas to visit in Berlin , which you can do perfectly in three days, the big axis will be the part of the Victory Column in the large Tiergarten park .
Brandenburg Gate
Next to it you can see the headquarters of the German Parliament , the Reichstag , and you can go through the famous and iconic Brandenburg Gate .
Then you will follow the Unter Der Linten avenue , until you reach the huge space of Alexanderplatz , and on the way to this great square you should not miss in Bebelplazt the monument that commemorates the Burning of Books in 1933.
In this place you can also see the building of the Catholic Cathedral of Santa Eduvigis .
Alexanderplatz
Alexanderplatz was the nerve center of the former East Berlin , and there you find monuments such as the Marienkirche church , the oldest in the city, the building known as the Red City Hall , or the great Fountain of Neptune .
Nearby is the area of the old medieval district of Berlin , called Barrio de San Nicolás .
In this great enclave of the center of Berlin you should also visit the imposing Berliner Dom , the Protestant cathedral of the city, and you already access the area of the aforementioned Museum Island .
Neighborhoods of Berlin
But this main tourist axis should be complemented by visits to other areas of the city.
In particular, the modern square of Postdamer Platz or the one known as Jewish Quarter or Neighborhood of Farms , near Alexanderplatz .
And if you want to get to know a very popular area in today’s Berlin, do not miss visiting the Kreuzberg Turkish Quarter .
Of course, in the aforementioned Jewish Quarter you will not be able to visit Tacheles , an alternative art squatter house that was so popular among tourists visiting Berlin, and which was closed in September 2012.
On the other hand, you can enjoy the great commercial and leisure atmosphere of this neighborhood, specifically in the Hackesche Hofe courtyards .
Keep in mind that the absolute majority of the buildings in Berlin were destroyed during the Second World War , so all the buildings and monuments that you will see have had to be completely rebuilt.
What to eat in Berlin
in particular, you’ll find that Currywurst sausages and Berliner beer are very popular in Berlin .
But you can also taste delicious chocolates in one of the most prestigious stores, Fassbender & Rausch , which you find in the central Gendarmenmarkt square .
Is Berlin an expensive city?
Finally I will tell you that Berlin is not a very expensive city .
Moreover, it is somewhat cheaper than Madrid or Barcelona when it comes to finding hotels, and the prices are very similar to eating in restaurants or drinking beers or soft drinks in bars.
Enjoy your trip.
