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Sightseeing Overview
Berlin can be a sightseeing nightmare - the vast sprawl that is the city has no definite center and pockets of attractions are dotted all over. That said, the state museums are grouped in clusters - on the Museumsinsel, at the Kulturforum, in and around Schloss Charlottenberg and in the southwestern suburb of Dahlem.

There are also a large number of attractions either at Potsdamer Platz or very close to it, including the Kulturforum to the southwest. To the north lie the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) and the Reichstag, sporting Lord Foster's glass dome. The Brandenburg Gate is situated on Berlin's main east-west axis. To the west lies the Siegessäule (Victory Column), which provides a view over the surrounding Tiergarten and the Western city center, to the southwest of the column.

West Berlin's center has less to offer and is better for shopping and nightlife than for sightseeing. Nevertheless, visitors should take a look at the broken shard of a church, the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, which serves as a brutal reminder of WWII. The zoo is nearby.

The densest array of sights lies to the east of the Brandenburg Gate, on either side of Unter den Linden, lined with many 18th- and 19th-century buildings. At its end are the artistic and architectural treasures of the Museumsinsel, where the city's main cathedral, the Berliner Dom, can be found. Further on is the Communist-era Fernsehturm (television tower), on Alexanderplatz, which marked the center of East Berlin. Just south of the Brandenburg Gate is the controversial Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which opened in 2005.

Due to ongoing restoration work, some of the city's museums are prone to closures and some of the collections are temporarily relocated.

Tourist Information
Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH
Tel: (030) 250 025.
Website: www.visitberlin.de

Hauptbahnhof (Main Station)
Opening hours: Daily 0800-2200.

Brandenburg Gate (South Wing), Pariser Platz (East Berlin)
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1800, opens later Apr-Oct.

Another tourist information office is located at the Alexa Shopping Center near Alexanderplatz. There is a Berlin Info Store, Grunerstrasse 20, Ground Floor, open Monday to Saturday 1000 to 2200, Sunday 1100 to 1500, extended hours April to October. The City of Berlin provides online information (website: www.berlin.de), some of it in English.

Passes
Berlin Tourismus Marketing offers the WelcomeCard, (website: www.berlin-welcomecard.de) which gives discounts on museums and attractions (including Schloss Sanssouci and Zoologischer Garten) as well as guided tours, boat trips and performances in both Berlin and Potsdam. The pass is available for 48 or 72 hours and covers one adult and up to three children. Also included in the price is unlimited travel on all buses and trains in zones A, B and C. The card can be purchased at tourist offices, transit ticket offices and some hotels.

There is also the SchauLUST Museen Berlin three-day tourist pass, which gives free admission to more than 70 museums, including the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Pergamon Museum and Gemäldegalerie. The pass is available at the main tourist offices.

A day pass for all of the region's Prussian palaces and gardens can be purchased at Schloss Sanssouci.

Key Attractions:

Potsdamer Platz and the New Center
After lying desolate for decades, except for the platform that allowed Westerners to peer over the Wall into the East, Potsdamer Platz is again part of Berlin’s thriving center - in the 1930s, it was the busiest square in Europe. In just a few years, the forest of cranes has given way to a new precinct full of shops, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues. The best place to see it all (as well as terrific views over the rest of Berlin) is from the Panorama-Point, at the top of the Kollhof building, reached by what is claimed to be one of the fastest lifts in Europe.

One of the more interesting constructions is the Sony Center, with its piazza covered by a futuristic sail-like roof. On the ground floor is the Filmmuseum Berlin, which recalls some of the city’s great achievements in the early days of cinema and devotes considerable space to Marlene Dietrich.

Potsdamer Platz

Filmmuseum Berlin
Potsdamer Strasse 2
Tel: (030) 300 9030.
Website: www.filmmuseum-berlin.de
Opening hours: Tues, Wed and Fri-Sun 1000-1800, Thurs 1000-2000.
Admission charge.

Panorama-Point
Potsdamer Platz
Tel: (030) 2529 4372.
Website: www.panoramapunktotsdamerplatz.de
Opening hours: Daily 1100-1930.
Admission charge.

Reichstag
British architect Norman Foster has transformed the Reichstag, which was built at the end of the 19th century and has long since been emblematic of the German State. It was damaged in the fire of 1933, which marked Hitler’s consolidation of power, and has now been renovated for the Bundestag (People’s Assembly) of a reunited Germany. The dome is meant to symbolise the transparency of the democratic government and visitors can pass between its layers to witness the decision-making chamber of the government. There are free hourly talks on the visitor’s gallery of the plenary during weeks when parliament is not in session - check this on the website and book in advance. Talks in English take place at 1200 on Tuesdays. Guided tours of the Reichstag also take place when parliament is not sitting. They last 90 minutes and are held at 1030, 1330, 1530 and 1830. Booking in advance in writing is recommended. The walk through the dome itself is stunning, culminating in sweeping views of the city. The rooftop restaurant (tel: (030) 2262 9933) provides a way to beat the queues.

Platz der Republik
Tel: (030) 2270.
Website: www.bundestag.de
Opening hours: Daily 0800-2400 (last admission 2200).
Free admission.

Berlin Wall
Much of the Wall or the ’Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart’, as the GDR (German Democratic Republic) authorities liked to call it, has succumbed - first to enthusiastic revelers and souvenir hunters and then more significantly to developers; only a few sections remain. The East Side Gallery (website: www.eastsidegallery.com), along Mühlenstrasse (S-Bahn Ostbahnhof), emerged in the post-Wall years as a poignant symbol of new hope, as it was covered with inspiring artwork. The Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer is a small graffiti-free stretch of the Wall that has been preserved by the authorities. A visitor center has information about the Wall years, while a chapel is dedicated to the 80 or so victims that died trying to cross it. Perhaps the best place to get a sense of what the divided city was like is the Mauermuseum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, located next to the site where the famous border-crossing stood. A number of permanent exhibitions document the history of the Wall and place it into context, as well as record the famous paintings on the Western side of the division.

A short walk from Checkpoint Charlie is the Topographie des Terrors, an informative open-air exhibition focused around a preserved section of wall and the former headquarters of the SS and Gestapo (demolished). Torture and suffering is documented, and an audio tour in English is available.

Gedenkstätte
Bernauer Strasse 111
Website: www.the-berlin-wall.de or www.berlinermauer.de
Opening hours: Wed-Sun 1000-1700 (visitors center).
Free admission.

Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (Mauermuseum)
Friedrichstrasse 43-45
Tel: (030) 253 7250.
Website: www.mauer-museum.com
Opening hours: Daily 0900-2200.
Admission charge.

Topographie des Terrors
Niederkirchnerstrasse 8
Tel: (030) 2548 6703.
Website: www.topographie.de
Opening hours: Daily 1000-2000 (May-Sep); 1000-dark (Oct-Apr).
Free admission.

Unter den Linden and the Museumsinsel
One of Berlin’s most recognizable landmarks, the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), stands at the western end of Pariser Platz. Stretching eastwards from here is Unter den Linden, along which some of the city’s richest cultural treasures lie. These include the Deutsche Staatsoper (German State Opera), the Neue Wache (New Guardhouse), which is now a memorial to the victims of fascism and tyranny, and the Zeughaus (Arsenal), which houses the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum).

The Museumsinsel (Museum Island), at the eastern end of Unter den Linden, offers the Pergamonmuseum, containing a host of antiquities, including the enormous Pergamon altar, Bodemuseum and the massive, neo-baroque Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), opened in 1905 and recently renovated. Within the refurbished Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) is the ’Galerie der Romantik’, a large collection of German and Austrian paintings from the first half of the 19th century. These include paintings by Caspar David Friedrich. There are also Impressionist works by Manet, Monet and Degas.

The Altes Museum (Old Museum) is a striking neoclassical building, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, which opened in 1830. The main floor houses a collection of antiquities, while the upstairs galleries house the collections of the Egyptian Museum, which will remain there until 2009 when they will move to the Neues Museum (currently being refurbished). It is possible to buy a joint ticket for all of the Museum Island museums.

Altes Museum
Am Lustgarten
Tel: (030) 2090 5577 (recorded info) or 266 3660.
Website: www.smb.spk-berlin.de
Opening hours: Mon-Wed and Fri-Sun 1000-1800, Thurs 1000-2200.
Admission charge; free for last four hours on Thurs.

Deutsches Historisches Museum
Unter den Linden 2
Tel: (030) 203 040.
Website: www.dhm.de
Opening times: Daily 1000-1800.
Admission charge.

Pergamonmuseum
Am Kupfergraben
Tel: (030) 2090 5577 or 266 3660.
Website: www.smb.spk-berlin.de
Opening hours: Mon-Wed and Fri-Sun 1000-1800, Thurs 1000-2200.
Admission charge.

Alte Nationalgalerie
Bodestrasse
Tel: (030) 2090 5577 or 266 3660.
Website: www.smb.spk-berlin.de
Opening hours: Tues, Wed and Fri-Sun 1000-1800, Thurs 1000-2200.
Admission charge.

Judische Museum (Jewish Museum)
The striking design of this Daniel Libeskind-designed memorial to Jewish life in Berlin is based on a shattered Star of David. Even before the installation of the permanent exhibits (recalling the life and history of German Jews through the centuries), visitors came to experience the evocative spaces within this incredible structure.

Lindenstrasse 9-14
Tel: (030) 2599 3300.
Website: www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-2000, Mon 1000-2200; closed on Jewish holidays.
Admission charge.

Schloss Charlottenburg and museums
The Charlottenburg Palace was built in 1699, as a summer residence for Sophie Charlotte, the wife of King Frederick 11. Visits to the Old Palace are by guided tour only. Prices and hours vary for the New Wing, the Orangerie, the mausoleum and other parts of the complex. The museums and galleries that are in and around the palace include the Berggruen Collection, opposite the palace, which contains 100 artworks by Picasso, as well as a representative collection of his contemporaries.

Schloss Charlottenburg
Spandauer Damm 10-22
Tel: (030) 320 911.
Website: www.spsg.de
Opening hours: Old Palace: Tues-Sun 0900-1700, last tour at 1600; Tues-Sun 1000-1700 (Apr-Oct); New Wing: 1100-1700 (Nov-Apr); grounds open daily 0600-2100 (summer); daily 0600-2000 (winter).
Admission charge.

Museum Berggruen
Westlicher Stülerbau, Schlossstrasse 1
Tel: (030) 3267 4811.
Website: www.smb.spk-berlin.de
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800.
Admission charge.

Kulturforum (Cultural Forum)
Located in the west of the city, the Kulturforum is a cultural center, grouping together all the museums that have European art as their chief focus, including a Musikinstrumenten-museum (Musical Instrument Museum), a hall for chamber music and the Philharmonie concert house, home to the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra. The opening of the Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) in 1998 brought a stunning collection of 13th- to 18th-century paintings to the site. It joined the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) and the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery). The latter, built to the designs of Mies van der Rohe, contains German Expressionist and Realist art, as well as other works of the 20th century. There is also a sculpture garden.

Philharmonie und Kammermusiksaal
Herbert-von-Karajan-Strasse 1
Tel: (030) 2548 8999 (ticket hotline).
Website: www.berlin-philharmonic.com
Opening hours: Shows generally Fri-Sun 1600 and 2000 (depending on program); guided tours daily 1300.
Admission charge.

Musikinstrumenten-museum
Tiergartenstrasse 1
Tel: (030) 254 810.
Website: www.sim.spk-berlin.de
Opening hours: Tues, Wed, Fri 0900-1700, Thurs until 2200, Sat and Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge; free Thurs evening.

Gemäldegalerie
Kulturforum, Matthäikirchplatz 4-6
Tel: (030) 266 2951 (information).
Website: www.smb.spk-berlin.de
Opening hours: Tues, Wed and Fri-Sun 1000-1800, Thurs 1000-2200.
Admission charge; free Thurs evening.

Kunstgewerbemuseum (closed second quarter of 2008-August 2009)
Kulturforum, Herbert-von-Karajan St 10
Tel: (030) 266 2951 (information).
Website: www.smb.spk-berlin.de
Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1000-1800, Sat and Sun 1100-1800.
Admission charge.

Neue Nationalgalerie
Kulturforum, Potsdamer Strasse 50
Tel: (030) 266 2951.
Website: www.smb.spk-berlin.de
Opening hours: Tues, Wed and Fri-Sun 1000-1800, Thurs 1000-2200.
Admission charge; free Thurs evening.

Centrum Judaicum - Neue Synagogue (Jewish Center - New Synagogue)
The Neue Synagogue was completed in 1866. Its location in the heart of the Scheunenviertel (Berlin’s Jewish district) suffered serious bomb damage in 1943. Thanks to renovation in the mid 1990s, its Moorish dome can now be seen in its original glory. The synagogue houses a Jewish Center, with an exhibition. The Alter Jüdischer Friedhof (Old Jewish Cemetery) is a short walk away, at Schönhauser Allee 23-25 (open Monday to Thursday 0800 to 1600 and Friday 0800 to 1300).

Oranienburger Strasse 28-30
Tel: (030) 8802 8300.
Website: www.cjudaicum.de
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1000-1800, Fri 1000-1400 (Oct-Mar); Sun and Mon 1000-2000, Tues-Thurs 1000-1800, Fri 1000-1700 (Apr-Sep); closed on Jewish holidays; guided tours Sun 1400 and 1600, Wed 1600. Dome closed Oct-Mar.
Admission charge.

Further Distractions:

Tiergarten
There are few cities in the world where one can lie naked in the middle of town at noon and not be arrested. Besides having delightful tree-shaded walks, canals and flower gardens, the Tiergarten also has a couple of open fields on either side of Hofjägerallee, where the locals sunbathe au naturel. While the sunbathers cannot be seen from the Siegessäule (the Victory Column in the center of the park) it does provide a good view of the other major sights around Berlin. The angel at the top of the 69m (226ft) column was the perching place for the angels in Wim Wenders’ film Wings of Desire (1987).

Strasse des 17 Juni
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.

Siegessäule
Strasse des 17 Juni
Tel: (030) 391 2961.
Website: www.monument-tales.de
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0930-1830, Sat-Sun 0930-1900 (Apr-Oct); Mon-Fri 1000-1700, Sat-Sun 1000-1730 (Nov-Mar).
Admission charge.

Fernsehturm (TV Tower)
The best views in East Berlin are from the Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz. Looking vaguely like the ’Death Star’ on a concrete spit, the television tower is Berlin’s tallest structure at 368m (1,207ft) and makes for a good reference point, as well as blighting many views of the city skyline. The Communist designers inadvertently made it so that sunlight reflecting on its facets forms a Christian cross. In a sign of changing times, a glare of advertising neon surrounds the base of the tower. Visitors can take an elevator up 203m (666ft) to the viewing platform or the revolving cafe, for a good look over the city.

Panoramastrasse 1A, Alexanderplatz
Tel: (030) 242 3333.
Website: www.berlinerfernsehturm.de
Opening hours: Daily 0900-2400 (Mar-Oct); daily 1000-2400 (Nov-Feb).
Admission charge.

Spandauer Zitadelle (Spandau Citadel)
This 16th-century fortress is the oldest non-religious building in the city. Its location overlooking the Havel River and the charming old town of Spandau make a trip to this district a lovely excursion within the city.

Am Juliusturm
Tel: (030) 354 9440.
Website: www.zitadelle-spandau.de
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700, last entry 30 minutes before closing.
Admission charge.

The Bode Museum
The Bode Museum houses one of the best collections of antique and Byzantine sculptures in the world. Closed in 1939 and left to decay for over six decades, the museum reopened its doors in October 2006 after a £102 million (US$203 million) renovation project. Boasting over 1,700 exhibits, the museum, now back to its former glory, is a must see not just for sculpture fans, but for anyone with an interest in the arts.

Museumsinsel, Entrance: Monbijoubrucke
Tel: (030) 2090 5577.
Opening hours: Fri-Wed 1000-1800, Thurs 1000-2200.
Admission charge.

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