Six Things to do in Berlin
The Cornish Abroad

Six Things to do in Berlin

Truthfully there are a million things to do in Berlin, but here are just six things that Scottie and I really enjoyed during our stay. 

currywurst

Grab Some Currywurst

If you’re looking for fast food in Germany, currywurst should be at the top of the list. Comprised of a bratwurst covered in incredible spicy ketchup and typically served with skinny chips or bread, this is a very unassuming but tasty snack. Currywurst is so popular in Germany that it’s eaten in every corner, has its own commemorative coin and a dedicated museum.

Check Out the Bears

Dotted throughout Berlin’s streets are some unusually coloured mammals. The idea was concocted by Klaus and Eva Herlitz alongside sculptor Roman Strobl in 2001, with around 350 bears in total painted bright colours. Many of them were auctioned off for charity (euro 2,414,000), but a large number remain on Berlin’s streets.

Visitors have concocted a map so that everyone else can visit the bears too, here’s an example.

buddy bear

Take a Boat Tour

One of the first things we did when arriving in Berlin was take a boat trip up the Spree. The river winds its way through the city centre and passes right past a whole bunch of famous sites including Museum Island, the Berlin Cathedral and the Reichstag, or take a longer trip onto the Landwehr Canal to take in the Tiergarten as well.

Head to the Berliner Dom

In the centre of Berlin is a significant landmark in the city’s history. This magnificent domed cathedral’s history dates from the 15th century and stands on the location of the formed Berlin City Palace. The design of both the interior and exterior has changed several times since its inception; most of the original building was demolished in 1893 and the current rendition started the following year. Unfortunately, like so many other parts of Berlin it was severely damaged during WWII, and it went through a large restoration which was completed in 1993.

There are normally tours throughout the day, or you can explore the church at your leisure. Make your way through the chapels, up the 270 steps to the roofs walkway or dive down to the Hohenzollern crypt and see five centuries of burials and nearly 100 sarcophagi.

Tour the East Side Gallery

On the eastern side of the city is the worlds longest open air gallery. Following the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, 118 artists began painting the remaining sections of wall to create the East Side Gallery, covered with more than a hundred different paintings. There is over a kilometre of wall to explore or you could take a dedicated tour to gain even more insight into the walls elicit history.

Take Some Photos in a Photoautomat

One surprising little feature scattered throughout Berlin and other German cities are a number of analogue photo booths. Today there are 35 booths in total whose history dates from 2004 when two locals installed a booth at Rosenthaler Platz. This was an older booth that the two restored after a trip to Switzerland, where a company runs around 150 similar photobooths. The two friends then decided to turn this into a venture of their own, collecting and restoring booths from all over the world to install on Berlin’s streets.

There are whole lists of photoautomat locations on the internet (here’s one) and at the steep price of €2, its no surprise that these are very popular with locals and tourists alike.