Berlin's most important attractions
Plan your Berlin trip around the top sights - and find hotels right nearby.
Landmarks
Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de · CC BY-SA 3.0Brandenburg Gate
Berlin's world-famous emblem and a sign of reunification. It stands on Pariser Platz, right beside the Adlon and the Holocaust Memorial.
Mfield, Matthew Field, http://www.photography.mattfield.com; edit by Waugsberg (rotation 0,4°) · GFDL 1.2Reichstag
Meeting place of the German Bundestag, topped by Norman Foster's well-known glass dome. Booking ahead is advisable to visit the dome.
Marek Heise Fotografie, Berlin · CC BY-SA 4.0Gendarmenmarkt
For many the finest square in the city: the Deutscher Dom, Französischer Dom and Konzerthaus come together as a harmonious ensemble.
Avda · CC BY-SA 3.0Potsdamer Platz
Modern Berlin in its purest form: the Sony Center, Berlinale Palace and towers by Renzo Piano and Helmut Jahn. The square was built from scratch after reunification.
Taxiarchos228 · FALAlexanderplatz
Berlin's major transit junction, where the World Clock, TV Tower and Galeria department store meet. This is where everything converges.
ernstol · CC BY-SA 3.0Charlottenburg Palace
The city's largest palace, all baroque splendour with palace gardens, Belvedere and mausoleum. Half a day is plenty for a visit.
Nikolai Schwerg · CC BY-SA 3.0Olympic Stadium
Host of the 1936 Olympic Games, now the ground of Hertha BSC and a stage for big concerts. The architecture is striking.
Ansgar Koreng · CC BY 3.0 deBerlin Cathedral
Set on Museum Island, it is the main Hohenzollern church and impresses with its dome and the view across the Lustgarten.
A.Savin · CC BY-SA 3.0Nikolai Quarter
Around the Nikolaikirche, Berlin's oldest church, this old-town quarter by the Spree was reconstructed - with lanes, taverns and craft shops.
nl:User:GerardM · CC BY-SA 3.0Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
The war-damaged tower ruin on Breitscheidplatz is a memorial against war and the emblem of City West, right by the Kurfürstendamm.
Josue007 · CC BY-SA 3.0Buddhist House
Located in Frohnau, the Buddhist House, founded in 1924, is considered the oldest Buddhist temple in Europe. The quiet grounds amid greenery are open to visitors.
Sekamor · CC BY-SA 3.0Tegel Palace
Also called the Humboldt Palace, this manor house was remodelled by Karl Friedrich Schinkel for the von Humboldt family. It sits in a park near Lake Tegel.
A.Savin · CC BY-SA 3.0Schönhausen Palace
The baroque palace in Niederschönhausen was once the summer residence of Queen Elisabeth Christine and later an official seat in the GDR. Today it welcomes visitors, complete with its palace park.
History & wall
Roger Wollstadt · CC BY-SA 2.0Checkpoint Charlie
The best-known border crossing from the Cold War era. Today it offers an open-air exhibition with the Mauermuseum right alongside.
Lklundin · CC BY-SA 3.0East Side Gallery
A preserved 1.3 km section of the Berlin Wall covered by 105 paintings. It counts as the longest connected open-air gallery in the world.
Alexander Blum · CC BY-SA 4.0Holocaust Memorial
The field of stelae designed by Peter Eisenman sits between the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz and ranks among Europe's most significant memorials.
Josef Streichholz · CC BY-SA 4.0Topography of Terror
On the former Gestapo and SS grounds, this centre documents the crimes of the Nazi regime. Entry is free, and a stretch of the Wall runs alongside the exhibition.
Carsten Steger · CC BY-SA 4.0Spandau Citadel
One of Europe's best-preserved Renaissance fortresses, ringed by the waters of the Havel. The Juliusturm offers a view, alongside museums and summer open-air concerts.
Museums
Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de · CC BY-SA 3.0Museum Island
A UNESCO World Heritage ensemble of five outstanding houses: Pergamon, Neues Museum, Altes Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie and Bode-Museum.
Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0Pergamon Museum
Berlin's most-visited museum, home to the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate of Miletus. Note: the building is closed for renovation, with a partial reopening expected in 2027.
Janericloebe · Public domainNeues Museum
On Museum Island, the Neues Museum houses the world-famous bust of Nefertiti along with the Egyptian Museum and the collection of prehistory and early history.
Manfred Brückels · Public domainAlte Nationalgalerie
The temple-like building on Museum Island presents 19th-century painting and sculpture, from Romanticism through Realism to early Impressionism.
Avda · CC BY-SA 3.0German Historical Museum
Set in the baroque Zeughaus on Unter den Linden, the museum tells German history from its beginnings to the present. The glass annex is by I. M. Pei.
Maria Krüger · CC BY-SA 2.5DDR Museum
Right on the Spree opposite Berlin Cathedral, this hands-on museum brings everyday life in the GDR to life - from the Trabant car to a prefab-flat living room.
Jörg Zägel · CC BY-SA 3.0Museum für Naturkunde
The Natural History Museum shows the world's tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton (Brachiosaurus) and the Tyrannosaurus „Tristan“ - a highlight especially for families.
A.Savin · FALHamburger Bahnhof
In a former railway station near Hauptbahnhof, the National Gallery of the Present shows work by Beuys, Warhol, Kiefer and other giants of modern art.
A.Savin · FALNeue Nationalgalerie
Mies van der Rohe's glass museum at the Kulturforum is devoted to 20th-century art, from Expressionism and the Bauhaus to post-war modernism.
Oursana · CC BY 3.0Gemäldegalerie
At the Kulturforum, the Gemäldegalerie gathers European painting from the 13th to 18th centuries - with works by Dürer, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Raphael and Caravaggio.
Laima Gūtmane (simka… · CC BY-SA 3.0Jewish Museum Berlin
Daniel Libeskind's zig-zagging zinc building in Kreuzberg tells two millennia of German-Jewish history - here architecture and exhibition flow into one another.
Foto Christoph Rehbach · CC BY-SA 3.0Berlinische Galerie
Kreuzberg's state museum of modern art collects work made in Berlin from 1870 to today - Dada, New Objectivity, East German art and the contemporary.
Parks & nature
Franz Richter (User:FRZ) · CC BY-SA 3.0Mauerpark
Laid out on the former wall strip, it is now Berlin's best-known Sunday park with a flea market and amphitheater karaoke.
beedubz · CC BY-SA 3.0Tiergarten
Berlin's grand inner-city park spanning 210 hectares between Brandenburg Gate and Zoo Station. It takes in the Victory Column, English Garden and Café am Neuen See.
Coooohen · CC BY-SA 4.0Tempelhofer Feld
The disused airport is now Berlin's largest park: 4 km² for skating, picnicking and kite-surfing. Its former runways are open to everyone.
Leonhard Lenz · CC0Müggelsee
Berlin's biggest lake, with lidos, sailing boats and the Müggelturm. In summer the loveliest recreation area of the capital.
Times · CC BY-SA 3.0Wannsee
Berlin's best-known bathing lake, with the Wannsee lido, Pfaueninsel island and boat lines to Potsdam. Summer at its purest.
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0Berlin Zoo
Germany's oldest zoo (1844) in City West holds one of the world's most species-rich animal collections, pandas included, right by Zoo station.
Dreizung · CC BY 3.0Tierpark Berlin
At around 160 hectares around Friedrichsfelde Palace, the Tierpark is Europe's largest landscape zoo - spacious, green and ideal for a full family day out.
Axel Mauruszat · AttributionBotanic Garden
One of the largest and most species-rich botanic gardens in the world, in the green south-west. Its historic glasshouses of tropical plants are worth a visit in any season.
Karl-Heinz Meurer · CC BY-SA 3.0Gardens of the World
In Marzahn, Chinese, Japanese, Balinese and oriental gardens meet. A cable car links the park with the Kienberg and its viewing tower.
Assenmacher · CC BY-SA 3.0Körnerpark
A neo-baroque sunken garden in the middle of Neukölln, laid out like a small palace parterre - with a water cascade, an orangery and a gallery. A surprisingly elegant green oasis.
TILMAN KLUGE at German Wikipedia · Public domainLake Tegel
One of Berlin's largest lakes in the green north, with excursion boats, a lakeside promenade and the Greenwichpromenade. A popular spot for walks and boat trips.
Shopping
Marek Śliwecki · CC BY-SA 4.0Kurfürstendamm
The west's best-known shopping boulevard, a 3.5 km run of KaDeWe, boutiques and cafés, with the Memorial Church standing at its far end.
Jörg Zägel · CC BY-SA 3.0KaDeWe
The largest department store in continental Europe, with seven floors and the legendary Gourmet food hall. A fixture of Berlin.
Viewpoints
Tobi85 · CC BY-SA 4.0TV Tower Alexanderplatz
Germany's tallest structure at 368 m. Its revolving restaurant and observation deck open up the widest view across Berlin.
Taxiarchos228 · FALVictory Column
The golden „Goldelse“ rises in the middle of the Tiergarten. Climb the 285 steps and you are rewarded with a panorama over the park and the Straße des 17. Juni.