3 Days in Berlin: A Day-by-Day Itinerary

Get ready for a city that wears its history in the open. In three days you can stand under the glass dome of the Reichstag, walk the former death strip at Bernauer Strasse, admire Nefertiti on Museum Island and follow 1.3 kilometres of painted Wall along the Spree. This plan suits first-time visitors who want the big stories of the 20th century plus a taste of everyday Berlin: leafy courtyards, riverside walks and neighbourhood dinners.

The pace is relaxed but full. Each day is grouped by area so you walk between neighbouring sights and use the S-Bahn or U-Bahn only for longer hops. Many of the headline memorials are free, so your money goes on one great museum day, good food and a transport ticket. Plan less, see more.

At a glance

Day	Area	Highlights
1	Government quarter and southern Mitte	Brandenburg Gate, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Topography of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag dome at dusk
2	Museum Island to Friedrichshain	Neues Museum and Museum Island, Alexanderplatz and TV Tower, East Side Gallery
3	Bernauer Strasse, Scheunenviertel, City West	Berlin Wall Memorial, Hackescher Markt courtyards, Tiergarten and Kurfürstendamm

A quick timing note before you start: several indoor sights in this plan close on Mondays, including the Neues Museum, the Information Centre under the Holocaust memorial and the indoor centres of the Berlin Wall Memorial. If one of your days is a Monday, put the outdoor sights on that day and swap the rest around.

Day 1: Parliament, memorials and Cold War Berlin

Morning

Get ready for Berlin’s biggest stories: start at Brandenburg Gate on Pariser Platz, the symbol of reunified Germany. It is an open public square, so there is no ticket and no queue. Come early for photos without the crowds.

From the gate it is about a 5-minute walk south to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The Field of Stelae, designed by Peter Eisenman, is accessible 24 hours a day and admission is free. Below it, the Information Centre is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00-18:00, with last admission 45 minutes before closing. It is free too, and the foundation notes there may be waiting times depending on the day. Give yourself at least an hour here; the personal stories in the exhibition stay with you.

Afternoon

Walk about 10 minutes south to Potsdamer Platz for lunch among its modern towers, then another 10 minutes or so east to the Topography of Terror, the documentation centre on the site of the former Gestapo and SS headquarters. Opening hours and admission: check the official site before you go.

From there, a roughly 10-minute walk brings you to Checkpoint Charlie, the famous former border crossing on Friedrichstrasse. Snap your photo, then wander north to the elegant squares and side streets of Mitte for a coffee break.

Evening

End the day on top of the Reichstag Building. The roof terrace and dome are free, but advance registration is required: book your slot on the German Bundestag’s official online form, and do it as early as you can. Admission runs every quarter of an hour, and the last admission is at 21:45, so an evening slot gives you the city lights. Bring your original passport or ID card, because you will be asked for proof of identity at the entrance and copies are not accepted.

Up top, pick up the free audio guide. It takes about 20 minutes and comes in twelve languages, including English, Chinese, French and Spanish. The Reichstag is about a 5-minute walk from Brandenburg Gate, so dinner nearby in Mitte is easy afterwards.

No booking? You can try the Visitors’ Service centre on Platz der Republik in front of the building. If places are left, you get a confirmation issued at least two hours before your visit.

Day 2: Museum Island, the TV Tower and the East Side Gallery

Morning

This is the day for treasures and street art. Head to Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the middle of the Spree. Our pick for a first visit is the Neues Museum, home of the bust of Nefertiti. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00-18:00, and closed on Mondays.

Tickets from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin:

• Neues Museum: EUR 14 (concessions EUR 7)
• Museum Island ticket covering the island’s museums: EUR 24 (concessions EUR 12)
• Museum Pass Berlin, 3 days for permanent exhibitions: EUR 32 (concessions EUR 16)

Children and young people up to 18 get in free with ID, which is great news for families. Buy your ticket on the official SMB ticket shop before you go. Special exhibitions are priced separately.

One important heads-up: the Pergamonmuseum is still closed for renovation. The museums announce that its North Wing and central building, including the Pergamon Altar, will reopen on 4 June 2027.

Afternoon

After lunch, stroll east past Berlin Cathedral and across the river to Alexanderplatz, about 15 minutes on foot. The TV Tower rises right beside it. If you want to go up, book a timed ticket on the official TV Tower website; check prices and hours there, as we could not verify them today.

Next, take the S9 from Alexanderplatz towards the airport and ride to Warschauer Strasse (Ostbahnhof is on the same line). This is your gateway to the East Side Gallery on Mühlenstrasse. Here 118 artists from 21 countries painted 1.3 kilometres of the former Wall after it fell, creating what the Berlin Wall Foundation calls the longest open-air gallery in the world. It is open around the clock and admission is free. Allow 20-30 minutes to walk the full length at an easy pace, longer if you stop for every mural.

The visitor information point at Mühlenstrasse 73 is open daily 10:00-17:00, but from November it is closed on Fridays.

Evening

You are now on the edge of Friedrichshain, one of Berlin’s liveliest neighbourhoods for casual dinners and bars. Walk over the Oberbaum Bridge to Kreuzberg for river views at sunset and a relaxed evening of street food or a sit-down meal.

Day 3: The Wall at Bernauer Strasse, hidden courtyards and City West

Morning

Save your energy for a day of happy wandering, because today starts at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse, the best place in the city to understand what the Wall really looked like. Getting there is simple:

• S-Bahn S1, S2, S25 or S26 to Nordbahnhof
• U8 to Bernauer Strasse, or U6 to Naturkundemuseum
• Tram M10 to Nordbahnhof

The open-air exhibition stretches 1.4 kilometres along the street and is open daily 8:00-22:00, free of charge. The core section, between Gartenstrasse and Strelitzer Strasse, is about 500 metres long. The Visitor Centre (Bernauer Strasse 119) and the Documentation Centre (Bernauer Strasse 111) are open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00-18:00. Climb the Documentation Centre’s viewing tower for a view down onto a preserved section of the border strip; the last ascent is at 17:45.

Want more depth? Public guided tours cost EUR 5 (EUR 3 reduced). Check times on the Berlin Wall Foundation site.

Afternoon

Walk south through Mitte for about 25 minutes to Hackescher Markt and the Scheunenviertel. This area is perfect for slow wandering: interconnected courtyards, small galleries, independent shops and plenty of cafés for a late lunch.

Evening

Ride the S9 west from Friedrichstrasse or Alexanderplatz to Zoologischer Garten, the heart of the former West Berlin. Stroll into the edge of the Tiergarten park if the light is good, then walk along the Kurfürstendamm boulevard, past the war-damaged tower of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, for a final dinner in Charlottenburg.

Getting there and getting around

From BER Airport. The station sits directly under Terminal 1 on level U2. BER is in fare zone C, so you need an ABC ticket to reach the centre. A single ABC ticket costs EUR 5.00 and is valid for 120 minutes in one direction, with changes allowed.

Your main options:

Option	Route	Journey time / frequency
Airport Express (FEX)	BER to Südkreuz, Potsdamer Platz, Hauptbahnhof	About 14 min to Südkreuz, 19 min to Potsdamer Platz, 23 min to Hauptbahnhof. Every 15 minutes from 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. (until December 2026, FEX and RE20 jointly provide four trains an hour)
S-Bahn S9	BER via Ostbahnhof, Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstrasse, Hauptbahnhof, Zoologischer Garten	Every 20 minutes
Taxi	Licensed taxis wait at the north and south ranks in front of Terminal 1, level E0	Metered; Berlin.de quotes about EUR 58 from Alexanderplatz and about EUR 63 from Kurfürstendamm/Zoo to BER, plus a EUR 1.50 surcharge on journeys from BER

Around the city. Berlin’s U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses all share one ticket system. Fare zone AB covers the whole city up to the city limits; ABC adds the surrounding area, BER Airport and Potsdam Hauptbahnhof.

Ticket (BVG, regular fare)	AB	ABC
Single ticket, 120 minutes, one direction	EUR 4.00	EUR 5.00
24-hour ticket	EUR 11.20	EUR 12.90

Children 6 to 14 pay reduced fares and under-6s ride free. A 24-hour ticket also lets one adult take up to three children aged 6 to 14 for free, a lovely bonus for families. Buy tickets in the BVG Ticket-App or at multilingual machines on S-Bahn and U-Bahn platforms. Paper tickets must be validated at the red or yellow boxes before you travel. For three days, one 24-hour AB ticket per day works well with this plan; BVG also sells longer-duration tickets, so compare on the official site.

The Berlin WelcomeCard is the city’s official tourist card combining transport with discounts. Check current prices on the official site.

Where to stay

• Mitte: Best for first-timers. Museum Island, Brandenburg Gate and Hackescher Markt are all walkable, and the S9 and FEX connect easily to the airport.
• Prenzlauer Berg: Leafy streets, cafés and playgrounds, close to the Berlin Wall Memorial. Ideal for couples and families who like a calmer base.
• Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg: Young, creative and lively at night, near the East Side Gallery and the river. Good if you want bars and street food on your doorstep.
• Charlottenburg: Classic West Berlin around Zoologischer Garten and the Kurfürstendamm. Elegant, quieter in the evenings and directly on the S9 line.

Budget

The figures below cover verified transport and sightseeing costs only. Accommodation and meals vary widely by season and style and are not included; check prices directly when you book.

Item	Typical cost
BER Airport to city, single ABC ticket	EUR 5.00
Single ticket AB	EUR 4.00
24-hour ticket AB	EUR 11.20
Reichstag dome	Free (registration required)
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe	Free
Berlin Wall Memorial and East Side Gallery	Free
Berlin Wall Foundation public guided tour	EUR 5 (EUR 3 reduced)
Neues Museum	EUR 14
Museum Island ticket	EUR 24
Museum Pass Berlin, 3 days	EUR 32
Taxi from Alexanderplatz to BER	About EUR 58
TV Tower, Topography of Terror	Check the official site

Following this plan with a 24-hour AB ticket each day, your transport and sights come to about EUR 11 on Days 1 and 3 and about EUR 35 on Day 2 with the Museum Island ticket, excluding the TV Tower.

Practical tips

• Entry and visas: Germany is part of the Schengen Area, and entry rules depend on your passport. Check the latest requirements on the German Federal Foreign Office portal: auswaertiges-amt.de/en/visa-service.
• Mondays: The Neues Museum, the Holocaust memorial’s Information Centre and the indoor centres at Bernauer Strasse are closed. Plan outdoor sights for Monday.
• Holidays: The Reichstag dome is closed all day on 24 December and from 16:00 on 31 December. The Berlin Wall Memorial’s Visitor Centre is closed on 24, 25 and 31 December 2026, and the East Side Gallery visitor information closes from 24 December 2026 to 2 January 2027.
• Respect at memorials: The Holocaust memorial is a place of remembrance for up to six million Jewish victims. Keep your voice low and your behaviour respectful, and the experience will be all the more meaningful.
• Money: Berlin taxi drivers are not obliged to accept every card, so carry some cash. On the bus you pay the driver, but not in cash; buy tickets in the app or at a machine to keep things simple.
• Tipping: According to Berlin.de, 5 to 10 percent is appropriate in sit-down cafés and casual restaurants, and 10 percent in nice restaurants. Hand the money to your server and say the total you want to pay, rather than leaving it on the table. In taxis, rounding up is common.
• SIM and eSIM: Arrange an eSIM or roaming before you fly so the BVG app works from the moment you land.

Heads-up

Berlin is a joy to explore, and a few simple habits keep it that way:

• Always validate paper tickets. Ticket inspectors in Berlin wear plain clothes, and anyone caught without a valid ticket pays a EUR 60 higher fare. That includes people who forgot to stamp their ticket, and Berlin.de says no exceptions are made for tourists.
• Get the right zone from the airport. An AB ticket does not cover BER. You need ABC.
• Use official taxi ranks. At BER, licensed taxis wait at the ranks in front of Terminal 1 on level E0. Inside the city, the taximeter fare applies unless you choose the official fixed-price option before the journey; individual price deals with drivers are only allowed for trips beyond the city limits.
• Do not count on the Pergamonmuseum. It stays closed until its partial reopening on 4 June 2027.
• Do not turn up at the Reichstag without registration or original ID. Same-day spots are not guaranteed, and photocopies of passports are refused.
• Fares change on 1 January 2027. VBB fares rise by an average of 3.72 percent; the AB single stays at EUR 4.00. If you travel next year, recheck prices on the BVG site.

FAQ

Is three days enough for Berlin?

Yes, for the highlights. This plan covers the government quarter, Museum Island, two major Wall sites and three distinct neighbourhoods. With more time, add Potsdam, which is in fare zone C.

Do I need to book the Reichstag dome in advance?

Yes. Visits are free but advance registration is required through the German Bundestag’s official online form. Same-day registration at the service centre is only possible if places remain.

Which ticket do I need from BER Airport?

An ABC ticket. A single costs EUR 5.00 and is valid for 120 minutes in one direction. The FEX reaches Hauptbahnhof in about 23 minutes.

Is the Pergamonmuseum open?

Not yet. The State Museums of Berlin plan to reopen its North Wing and central building on 4 June 2027. Meanwhile, the Neues Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday.

Which famous sights are free?

Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and its Information Centre, the Berlin Wall Memorial, the East Side Gallery and the Reichstag dome (with registration) are all free.

What if one of my days is a Monday?

Use it for the outdoor sights: Brandenburg Gate, the Field of Stelae, the East Side Gallery and the open-air exhibition at Bernauer Strasse, which is open daily 8:00-22:00.