We’re looking at a city break in early September. Berlin is currently top of the list.

What are the must see / must do things?
Which districts are good to base yourself for 3 days?

We’re experienced travellers who can normally spot the tourist rip-off scams. But is there anything we should be aware off / avoid?

liked it
Stayed at the Hotel Camper which was very cool.
Book the tour at the Bundestag, liked the DDR museum of what it was like before the wall came down
Monsieur Vuong was a brilliant vietnamese restaurant

Did exactly this last year, was great.

Some random tips:

o Work out how to get from the airport before you go. The trains were baffling and under-signed on the way in, tho we made it.

o We stayed in the hotel eurostars by Freidrichstrasse, perfect location for walking or u/s-bahn to everything we wanted to see. Easy to walk to food in the evening etc.

o We liked seeing all the museums, got a 3 day museum pass which was good. Could advise on which ones if you like the sound of this.

o Was really hot that time last year, glad of air con in the hotel.

o Schwarzwaldstuben, burgermeister, madami, for three of the restaurants we went to that stood out. Burgermeister is more of a byob converted public toilet mind…

o Book the reichstag in advance, and book for after sunset, going up the dome at night is great. It’s also cooler if it’s sunny!

Rent some bikes to get around on, the canal is a great place to ride along with cafes etc

Go see the old CIA spy tower at the top of Devils mountain – teuflesberg

Tempulhof airport is worth a look, great space for a capital city. We’d no doubt have built on it if it were in London

A great place to visit if, like me, you have read all Le Carre’s and Deighton’s Cold War espionage books. I loved it. You must go up the old East German TV tower – the view are amazing.

God I love Berlin

Recomend the fatbike dinner and bike tour, great guides and insight to the city.

Curry 66 for curry wurst ….

We went with the kids Feb half term. Cheap as chips easy jet holiday. Had a great time. Easy enough to get into town from the airport, bought 3 day travel pass for good value.
Up the fernseturm (sp?) and sit in the revolving restaurant for half an hour to get a panorama.
Definitely remember your photo ID to go in the Reichstag. She wasn’t best pleased but did let me in eventually.
Museums- checkpoint Charlie, ddr museum etc really fascinating. Mooch around the Brandenburg gate with the tourists.
East side gallery for a walk along the last remaking chunk of wall.
Renting bikes looked fun but the others couldn’t be convinced.
Makes a great city break. Really enjoyed it.

Went last September mixed feelings…..

Loved the trains and underground..fast efficient and great a
Stations

Reichstag great

Checkpoint Charlie great history as is Brandenburg gate

Templeof is great

Read the history and go and stand on the spot

Great for vegans and veggies

Jewish museum.art galley…

Downers

The wall…..not sure what I was expecting but disappointed with the ‘art’

The vibe…..felt very men in general apart from a small anarchist march and mini riot watched and filmed by the tourists.

Museum island….lovely to look at but disappointing exhibits, really eclipsed by London

Felt like I should like but never really ‘ got’ it…will go back

Breakfast up the TV tower.
Tour of the Olympic Stadium (audio tour is really interesting)
Brewers Walking Tour – this really was outstanding, saw lots of the sights, but also taken off the beaten track a bit, told some interesting stories, shown some decent bars. Very good value http://www.brewersberlintours.com
Topography of Terror

We stayed in the Park Inn (Radisson now I think) Alexanderplatz. Was once the tallest hotel in Europe I think so requested a room on one of the highest floors to get a great view of the city.

I went on a stag, saw a handful of the sights. I did buy a eyewitness guide book, which I passed on to someone on this forum… Grum? Not sure I can remember. Might be worth seeing if he pops up on this thread 😀

It’s great though I’ve not been for ages. Stayed in a couple of 5* hotels that really are 5*. My wife still goes misty eyed when she calls to mind the breakfasts…

Erm, that’s it. Never got beyond coffee and cake, and bars. And a couple of galleries. The coffee, cake and bars are brilliant.

Did one of these tours, was very interesting – http://berliner-unterwelten.de/guided-tours.3.1.html We did Subways and Bunkers in Cold War

Tv tower
sony Centre for a dose of 21st Century consumerism
KDW department store for 20th century take on same.
Holocaust memorial and museum
Good place to explore by bike.

I went a few weeks ago. Nice place for a weekend but very quiet. Nice walking around by the river. Some pop-up bars to relax while you stroll.

All has been mentioned above but I’d recommend it.

Some excellent suggestions so far for what is one of my favourite cities.

If you’re after something to do involving food on a Thursday night then you wouldn’t go far wrong going to Market Hall Nine.

https://markthalleneun.de/street-food-thursday/