What should we do in Berlin?

[leavesthataregreen]

I thought it was a place I'd always wanted to go but when I was about to book flights, I suddenly got cold feet and thought, 'yeah but why?' and couldn't answer my own question.

Please tell me what the highlights of a weekend in Berlin might be. What's unmissable? What to do in the day and at night. Just DH and me, no DC. We love art, music, cabaret, dance, history, food and love weird and wonderful quirky museums or things to do.

Oh yes, I'm just back from Berlin. Amazing city.

My votes: long Berlin breakfasts, maybe in NeuColln or Kreuzberg. I ate at 10 on Sunday next to Saturday night clubbers finishing their night :)
Tranenpalast. Jewish Museum. Museumsisland. Mooching around. Haeckishe Hoefe small shops (lovely hat shop). Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue, amazingly restored after Krystallnacht and currently showing amazing Robert Capa photography exhibition. Random buses/trams and public transport, - we had a lovely morning in Prenzlauer Berg - more cafes, nice shops and squares.
Layers and layers of history. Amazing city.

Thank you. These are all brilliant suggestions. I want to do all of it!

I'm a (very) long-term Berlin resident. You've seen how many recommendations there have been: you could be here a few weeks and still not see everything on the 'unmissable' list. Basically you have to decide what kind of art or period you're most interested in, and focus on that.
On a Saturday I would go by S-Bahn or 100 bus to Brandenburg Gate and start from there. Walk over to the Reichstag, it's only 200 metres away. If you're particularly organized you'll have booked free Visits to the glass dome (if they've started up again after lockdown). You need to give your passport Details online to reserve a spot- amazing view of the city from the top, well worth it. You can see down into the parliament too.
Back at B Gate I'd then walk down Unter den Linden and tick off the historical sights along the way - Adlon Hotel, Humboldt Uni, the square where the book burning took place in 1933, the Staatsoper, Neue Wache, Zeughaus, Rotes Rathaus (city hall), Cathedral, TV Tower (sure, pop up for a coffee in the revolving cafe at the top), ending at Alexanderplatz. Youcan choose which museums to go to on Museum Island according to preference - personally I'd go for the Egyptian and the Pergamon (although the altar itself is closed for renovation, the rest is still great)- any more than 2 and your mind will burst. The new Humboldt Forum has just opened and is free entry until November, but do at least go in to look around, it's an amazing, if controversial reconstruction.
On Sunday I'd go for a lazy brunch in Prenzlauer Berg, one of the many pavement cafes, followed by a flea market eg an antiques one on Strasse des 17. Juni, a hipster one at the RAW site in Friedrichshain, or a lovely general and tourist-free one at Fehrbellinerplatz.
In the afternoon maybe the DDR museum or a walking tour focusing on the history of the wall. Please try to avoid the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie - everyone in Berlin knows it's western cold-war propaganda which tries to claim that everyone in East Germany was permanently trying to escape - just not true, the reality is much more interesting. The Mauer Museum at Bernauer Strasse is much more balanced politically.
Do get one of the 48 or 72 hour transport Tickets (available at the airport) - well worth the money and they also give some discounts on museums etc.
Re the airport: at least it's open now, finally, but we all hate it. Crap and ugly, with eff all sockets for recharging phones. On behalf of all Berliners I applogise to anyone whose first experience of Berlin is that thing.
Re covid: you'll need to show a covid pass to do various things, like eating indoors, and masks are absolutely mandatory anywhere inside plus public transport, no cloth masks allowed, in fact most of us still wear FFP masks. A negative lateral flow is accepted instead of the vax pass, free for Germans only, and even for us only free until October sometime.

@RuleofCat - thank you so much. That is brilliant advice.

@magictoadstool

Sadly, the Currywurst museum is no more

It was fantastic wasn't it?

I actually can’t express how devastated I am

I get you.
Loved that place.
RIP Currywurst Museum.

I want a proper German street Currywurst and chips right now.

I did a full day walking tour on my first day. I wasn't sure about it, but I was really glad I did because the whole morning was pre-1900 sights and I knew absolutely nothing about Berlin before the wars. Really useful for helping you decide which things to go back to as well.

Another one heading to Berlin soon - thanks for all the excellent suggestions. Can I ask a bit more on the mask situation?
've been using washable cloth masks up til now, so thanks for the information that they are not suitable. Are the blue disposable masks permitted?

I did a bike tour around the Berlin Wall area - great guide who was very informative
www.fattiretours.com/berlin/tours/berlin-wall-tour

@MargaretHooper

Another one heading to Berlin soon - thanks for all the excellent suggestions. Can I ask a bit more on the mask situation? 've been using washable cloth masks up til now, so thanks for the information that they are not suitable. Are the blue disposable masks permitted?

Yes, paper masks all the way.

I haven't been recently, but I understood (from someone who lives in Berlin) that you need the FFP2 masks to go on public transport the blue paper ones aren't acceptable.

Can really recommend the Fat Tyres bike tour! Great way to see the highlights and so informative

Stasi Museum - it's in the old Stasi building and the story of how and why it became a museum is worth it on it's own.

If you're feeling flush, dinner at Cookies Cream.

@snanagram

I haven't been recently, but I understood (from someone who lives in Berlin) that you need the FFP2 masks to go on public transport the blue paper ones aren't acceptable.

That’s possible… worth buying a few just in case.

Thanks for the mask advice give - FFP2 masks are ordered!

I'm sad now because we were supposed to go to Berlin in the summer but it got cancelled because covid.

But I now have a good few more recommendations for when we rebook for next year.

@snanagram

I haven't been recently, but I understood (from someone who lives in Berlin) that you need the FFP2 masks to go on public transport the blue paper ones aren't acceptable.

The situation at the moment is typical Berlin chaos about whether you have to wear FFP2 or whether a disposable medical mask is enough. I went on two local trains S~Bahn) today: an announcement on the first stated FFP2 were compulsory. A different announcement on the second just stated 'medical mask'. I'd say about 60/70% are wearing FFP, the rest are disposable. Virtually nobody not wearing a mask ( medical exemptions are allowed), certainly no cloth masks. FFP2 were also compulsory in shops for a long while, so a lot of people just have a big stock of them at home and keep using them (medical masks still mandatory). FFP2 only in doctors' surgeries etc still. Masking up is a big thing here, I think we're all used to it now. In Restaurants they're supposed to ask to see your digital covid pass, but lots don't - no pass necessary if you sit outside. I went to see the Neue Nationalgalerie today for the first time since its renovations were completed. Amazing building by Mies van der Rohe, just a few minutes from Potsdamer Platz. And a great collection of mainly German 20th century art. All part of the Kulturforum, which has a handful of fab museums and the Philharnonie, where Simon Rattle used to wield the baton. Berlin is batting way above its weight in cultural terms. That's why you have to choose your preferences carefully. If you want to go to a concert or opera at a state-funded venue like the Philharmonie or Deutsche Oper, the tickets are heavily subsidised so you can get world-class culture for a fraction of the price in London or New York. Well worth taking advantage of - but you have to be vaxxed, recovered or tested to get in.