I must admit we went to Berlin unprepared. Other than the Berlin Wall, we had no idea what the highlights were or how we were going to fill our days when we weren't at the trade shows. Luckily my brother had brought me the Eyewitness Travel Top 10 Berlin travel guide, which definitely came in handy!
If you're going to Berlin, or thinking of planning a trip there, and are unsure about where to go, I've compiled a list of places that are worth visiting.
1. East Side Gallery
The East Side Gallery is part of the remaining Berlin Wall and the longest open air gallery in the world. It's 1.3 kilometres of art and history, with each painting representing something different and personal to both the artist and Berlin. Whether you're into art or history or both or neither it's definitely a must-see.
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/east-side-gallery
2. Flea Market
There is an amazing flea market in Mauerpark near the Mitte area of Berlin, which looks small from the outside, but stretches way back through parkland and has such a variety of stalls. It's open every Sunday from 9am till 6pm making it a nice easy Sunday browse.
https://www.berlin.de/en/shopping/markets-and-flea-markets/1998222-2983302-flea-market-at-mauerpark.en.html
3. Bikini Berlin
Bikini Berlin is a shopping mall located near the Zoologischer Garten station. It's more high quality fashion that high street but it's very urban and the visual merchandising is very modern so even if you don't plan on buying anything it's worth a walk around. There is a rooftop too, which was pretty in the evening when as the sun was going down and has some good views of the zoo, but this is definitely more of a summer attraction!
https://www.bikiniberlin.de/en/
4. Alexanderplatz
If you're looking for a day of shopping and eating, Alexanderplatz is the place to go! It's known for being Germany's largest square and hosts a variety of shops, restaurants and attractions such as the TV tower. Within the area is a big shopping mall, Alexa, with a range of shops and cafes, then outside in the main square you can find a large Primark and a large TKMaxx, as well as a department store called Galeria Kaufhof.
Around the corner is Hackesher Markt which is a square full of restaurants, boasting some good happy hour deals and pizza's bigger than you can manage.
5. Jewish Memorial, Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag
These three are in a line with each other so it's worth doing them all together. Even if you're not into history that much it's worth taking a visit in to the Jewish Memorial to see the both the memorial and the museum underneath. You'll read stories of the Jews who were caught up in the Second World War and you cannot imagine what they must have felt.
Once you've visited the memorial take a walk to the Brandenburg Gate, which is amongst all of the embassy buildings, and then walk over to the Reichstag building, which was the former parliament building. You can register in advance to go up to the dome at the top of the building, where there are 360 views of the city. Make sure you pick up a leaflet on your way up, which tells you which building is which down below.
https://www.bundestag.de/en/visittheBundestag/dome/registration/245686
6. Mall of Berlin
Another amazing shopping mall is the Mall of Berlin, which is a fifteen minute walk from the Brandenburg Gate. It has two sides - the East Mall and the West Mall. Although, if you haven't got much money this may be somewhere you want to miss because it's very hard not to find to buy something here! However, the slide from the top floor to the ground floor in the East side is worth a look.
7. Helmut Newton Foundation
This is more for those who are interested in photography or art in general. It's €10 or €5 for concessions, and in here you will find Helmut Newton's private collection, as well as a mock up of his office. There is currently an exhibition on Guy Bourdin and in June 2018 they will be opening an exhibition on Carla Sozzani's photographs.
http://www.helmut-newton.com
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