I recently spent 5 days in Berlin (Germany) as my very first trip outside of the UK. Berlin had always been somewhere I’ve wanted to visit, ever since I studied German at school, so this was an incredibly exciting trip for me.
Since I managed to fit quite a lot into my 5 short days I thought I would show you what I got up to and how I managed to fit everything in!
Day 1: Arrival
We arrived at 12pm and had to wait around until 3pm to check into our hotel, so we took this chance to explore where we were staying. We stayed in the Park Inn by Raddisson in Alexanderplatz, so we took to looking around and found the Shopping Centre ‘Alexa’, which has some name brands like Zara and Starbucks but also some German pastry stalls. Our hotel towers above Alexanderplatz, with a perfect view of the Fernsehturm (Tv Tower) from one side. In the evening we explored the market in Alexanderplatz which consists of traditional German food and other world delicacies.
Day 2: Berlin Zoo and Aquarium
We bought Visit Berlin Cards which gave us free access to transport plus discounts off many attractions, including Berlin Zoo and Aquarium. Sadly the discount isn’t off combined tickets but since there is a Visit Berlin kiosk at the Park Inn it saves time queuing to buy them at the lobby before hand. The Zoo itself was incredible! It’s also home to Germany’s only Pandas. We later walked down to Fredrichstrasse which reminded me of a road in New York, there was a hard rock cafe here that we decided to have dinner at.
Day 3: The Museums/Hackescher Market/Fernsehturm
Alexanderplatz is a very short walk from Museum island, home to the Berlin Cathedral and a selection of museums including the Neues Museum, the Altes Museum and the Pergamon museum, to name a few. For 18 euros you can get a ticket to visit all Museums on the island, which works out much cheaper than paying for them separately. We then crossed the Spree river which creates museum island to the DDR Museum, (offering a visit berlin discount) This interactive museum tells Berlin’s story of life during the war, its interactive components make it much more interesting to children as well. We then walked up to hackscher market, which is situated just between Museum island and Alexanderplatz. We stopped off at the Haagen Dazs cafe there and then wandered around their quaint shops. Later in the evening we decided to take a trip up to the observation deck at the Fernsehturm. We again got a discount off our tickets from the visit Berlin card. The views of Berlin are beautiful and it points out all the landmarks for you, there’s also a bar serving delicious cocktails.
Day 4: Seeing the sights: Reichstag/Brandenburg Gate/Checkpoint Charlie/East Side Gallery
We got the S-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse and walked to the Reichstag Building, it’s required to book in advance to actually go inside so we just took some pictures outside. Just around the corner there is a memorial to the sinti and Roma gypsies in the world war which is worth seeing. Just beyond that is the Brandenburg gate, which we also got some pictures of. Another short walk takes you to the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, the museum accompanying the memorial is a very emotional experience, but an important one. We then walked another short walk (everything is close together) to Checkpoint Charlie, although be prepared for this to be packed! We then had to get the U-Bahn to the East side of Berlin (Ostbahnhof) to visit the East Side Gallery.
Day 5: The Mall of Berlin
We took the last day to pick up souvenirs for our friends and family and use our remaining Euros to get ourselves some last minute purchases. The Mall of Berlin in Potsdamer Platz is massive! It’s got some British classics such as Zara and Bershka but also some German stores such as Douglas. It’s the best place to find all of your shopping needs.
These are just the things we decided to do but there are plenty other things to be seen in Berlin that I haven’t spoken about. I hope that by reading this you get some ideas of what to do if you ever visit Berlin!
Speak Soon,
IronicJess xo
Ironic Jess 