Sightseeing by Daylight
You must have seen this!
Berlin is a city of diversity. There are countless exciting places where insiders and influencers say you have to see them – far too many for one visit to Berlin. How can you decide? Here are some useful tips for Berlin explorers.
Sightseeing by Bus
Berlin is 45 km wide and 38 km long. If you want to accomplish this on foot, you need time, stamina and good shoes. A city tour by bus is a relaxed and eventful alternative.
The bright yellow convertible double-decker buses from City Circle will take you on the “Best of Berlin Tour” to all the main attractions of Berlin, such as Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, KaDeWe, Gendarmenmarkt, Berliner Cathedral and Charlottenburg Palace. A total of 18 stops will be serviced and you can simply hop in and out as you please.
If you don’t feel like walking or if it rains cats and dogs, you can also take the whole bus tour in about 2 hours without getting off.
Sightseeing by Ship
The river Spree flows through the middle of Berlin, passing almost all sights. During a boat trip on the Spree, you will be closer to the city’s beauties, as many buildings open up to the river and offer magnificent perspectives. Some of Berlin’s most beautiful and famous sights are lined up like pearls on the banks of the Spree.
During the one-and-a-half-hour city tour of the Riedel shipping company, you will experience the heart of Berlin without stress and crowds on the airy upper deck or, in bad weather, behind the panorama windows of the ships. You will glide past Berlin’s top attractions: TV tower, Nikolai quarter, Schlossplatz, Berlin Cathedral, Alte Nationalgalerie, Neues und Altes Museum, Pergamonmuseum, Bode Museum, Tränenpalast, Bahnhof Friedrichstraße, Federal Press Office, Reichstag building, Federal Chancellery, House of World Cultures and more. All in all, the trip offers an unforgettable backdrop for your city trip and for wonderful photos.
Not so well known, but also worth a trip: the Landwehr Canal also runs through Berlin and is used by passenger ships – along the districts of Charlottenburg, Tiergarten, Kreuzberg and Neukölln, past places where the everyday life of Berliners takes place.
Those who have more time should take a bridge trip across the Spree and the Landwehr Canal. The 23 kilometre long route presents Berlin unadorned and in all its facets. On the way you can see neighbourhoods and trendy districts, industrial areas and green banks, historical sights and trend-setting architecture.
Drinks and snacks are provided for all journeys. An audio guide explains everything important about the city and its views.
Diversity of museums in Berlin
As a contrast, we recommend a visit to a museum, because there are more than 175 museums in Berlin. They show unique collections and treasures of the past centuries and recent history, art and culture, the extraordinary and the everyday. There are unlimited museum possibilities in Berlin.
1. The Museum Island as a total Work of Art
Enclosed by the river Spree and picturesque to behold from all sides, the Museum Island lies in the heart of Berlin. Here you can visit five internationally renowned museums: Pergamonmuseum, Bode Museum, Neues Museum, Altes Museum and Alte Nationalgalerie.
Berlin’s Museum Island has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Highlights of the Museum Island: Nefertiti, paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, the Ishtar Gate, Byzantine art and an impressive collection of antiquities with a gold treasury.
At the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, the Museum Island has been artistically illuminated again and again in recent years, and it will be back in 2019.
2. Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
Art and culture from all over the world are at home here. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures) presents, discusses and produces diverse artistic productions such as dance, film, music, performing and visual arts, digital media and literature.
The striking building was constructed in 1957 as an American contribution to the International Building Exhibition in Berlin. It is an architectural landmark of Western Modernism and the Berlin snout has christened it “Pregnant Oyster”.
3. German Museum of Technology
A Douglas C-47 B Skytrain raisin bomber, one of the legendary airplanes that once supplied the enclosed West Berlin with food, floats above the large terrace of the German Museum of Technology.
The Museum of Technology brings the cultural history of technology to life. Countless original exhibits invite you to look and marvel: historical steam locomotives, cars, computers, machines, turbines and much more.
Right next door: The Science Center Spectrum with 150 hands-on experiment stations that bring the phenomena of light, music, mechanics and magnetism closer to the kids (and their parents).
So far Berlin in daylight. Are you still looking for excursion tips for Berlin at night? Then take a look at our festival program for the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Berlin 2019. During the magical 10 days in October, Berlin’s famous and popular sights will shine in a whole new light again. International artists tell their stories with light on the buildings of the city. Don’t miss it!
