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Stories from Berlin, Germany

Every story, long read and guide in the ULTIMATE Berlin City Guide, in one place.

Culture

Arts + Culture

All of Arts & Culture

The Berliner Philharmoniker, three opera houses, Museum Island and the Berlinale: a city where music, art and film are part of everyday life.

The golden tent-like roofs of the Berliner Philharmonie at the KulturforumArts + CultureArts & Culture in BerlinMusic, opera, museums and film

History

History & heritage

West Slavic fishing villages, two medieval trading towns, Huguenot refugees, Prussia and Schinkel, the imperial capital, the divided city and the reunited capital of art, music and night life.

The Brandenburg Gate in BerlinHistory & heritageBerlin and Cölln, the Huguenots and Schinkel: Berlin’s heritageSlavs, Huguenots, Prussia, the Wall and reunionThe red-and-gold tiers of the auditorium of the Staatsoper Unter den LindenThe back storyBerlin, the city of music and artBook the Philharmonie and the opera houses on their own websites as…

Our advice

Gate, island, Wall

Walk from the Brandenburg Gate along Unter den Linden to Museum Island, book the Reichstag dome ahead, and spend a morning at the Berlin Wall Memorial before walking the East Side Gallery. History & heritage

Areas

Berlin by neighbourhood

From Mitte to Grunewald, each area has its own guide: the Brandenburg Gate and Museum Island, the Ku’damm, the canals of Kreuzberg and the lakes of Wannsee.

The Hotel Adlon Kempinski on Pariser Platz in evening sunNeighbourhood guideMitteThe Brandenburg Gate and Museum IslandCharlottenburg Palace from its gardens, with the green dome under summer cloudsNeighbourhood guideCharlottenburg & the Ku’dammThe palace and the boulevardA courtyard of the Hackesche Höfe with blue-and-white tiled façadesNeighbourhood guidePrenzlauer BergAltbau, cafés and the MauerparkA yellow U-Bahn train crossing a steel viaduct in KreuzbergNeighbourhood guideKreuzbergCanals and star tablesA painted section of the East Side Gallery beside the path along the SpreeNeighbourhood guideFriedrichshainThe East Side Gallery

The skyline

Book the earliest or the sunset slot at the TV Tower, and pair your visit with dinner at the Sphere.

  1. Neighbourhood guideSchöneberg & the TiergartenThe Philharmonie and KaDeWe
  2. Neighbourhood guideNeuköllnTempelhofer Feld and CODA
  3. Neighbourhood guideGrunewald & WannseeForest, lakes and villas

Practical

Plan your trip

The practical things to know before you go: entry, money and etiquette, BER airport and the U-Bahn, and three days for a classic first visit.

The Reichstag Building and its glass dome at night, with a Christmas tree in frontBefore you goBerlin essentialsEntry, money, etiquette and getting aroundBerlin Hauptbahnhof reflected in the Spree in the early morningGetting aroundGetting aroundBER, trains and the U-BahnThe Spree, the Berliner Dom, the Rotes Rathaus and the TV Tower over the rooftops of Mitte in late afternoon lightItineraryThree days in BerlinThe classic first visitThe Konzerthaus Berlin lit at blue hour, across the empty GendarmenmarktLuxury guideLUX LivingThe finest addressesThe curving escalators of the atrium inside KaDeWeItineraryThe Gold weekendThe Adlon, FACIL and Nefertiti
  1. ItineraryThe Platinum weekendRutz, CODA and Wax On

Day trips

Beyond Berlin

Potsdam, the Spreewald, Dresden and Leipzig, all within reach for the day: Prussian palaces, punts through the alder woods, baroque on the Elbe and Bach’s city.

Sanssouci Palace above its terraced vineyard and the great fountain, from the airBeyond BerlinPotsdam & SanssouciThe palaces of the Prussian kingsA quiet waterway in the Spreewald, lined with green alder and ashBeyond BerlinThe SpreewaldPunts through the alder woodsThe Wall Pavilion of the Zwinger in Dresden under a blue skyBeyond BerlinDresdenBaroque on the Elbe
  1. Beyond BerlinLeipzigBach’s city

Our advice

Go early to Museum Island

Buy a Museum Island day ticket on smb.museum and go early: the Neues Museum gets busy by late morning. Music and art

In depth

In depth: Berlin, from Prussia to the reunited city

The divided city, music and art, eating, the grand hotels, Berlin on film and Museum Island: the stories behind the city, and where to buy.

The WeihnachtsZauber Christmas market on the Gendarmenmarkt at night, with the KonzerthausKulturbrauereiBerlin’s Advent marketsThe Lucia market in an old brewery, and Christmas Garden’s tenth seasonA currywurst with curry sauce and curry powder in a white dishIn depth: foodBerlin CuisineCurrywurst, döner and the Berlin pub tableYoung wild boar foraging in a park in Hakenfelde, Berlin-SpandauIn depth: nature & wildlifeWild BerlinBoar, foxes, skylarks and peacocks

The Wall

Walk the line of the Wall from the Brandenburg Gate to Potsdamer Platz, then take the S-Bahn to Nordbahnhof for Bernauer Strasse.

  1. In depth: music & clubsBerlin After DarkBowie, Tresor, Love Parade and Berghain
  2. The back storyEating in BerlinThe 2026 MICHELIN year and currywurst
  3. The back storyThe grand hotelsFrom the Adlon to the Ku’damm
  4. In depthA perfect eveningTasting menu to cocktail bar
  5. In depthBerlin on filmMarlene Dietrich and a century of cinema
  6. In depthMuseum IslandFive museums on the Spree

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