Berlin – the capital of Germany – is a fascinating city to visit. In comparison to Stockholm, where we live, Berlin is an expansive city with so much history. For a tourist, the city offers everything. Excellent scenic places including lakes and rivers, monuments with decades of history which influenced the whole of Europe, and all the time connected well by good public transportation.

We had an opportunity to be in Berlin for a couple of days in April. In search of Spring which didn’t arrive yet in Stockholm, we decided to enjoy the sun in the German capital. Overall, we spent about 4 days in the city which wasn’t enough to cover everything.

For transportation, we always prefer the metro/local trains. Get a map of the metro, mark out the places to visit and identify the nearest metro and then go! Berlin has a fantastic metro (U Bahn/S Bahn) and the ideal way to travel is to get a 24 hour pass (6 – 8 Euros).

We landed midday Saturday. Easyjet has super cheap and convenient flight from Stockholm to Berlin Tegel. We picked out an apartment close to the Berlin Zoo – slightly off track from the major attractions but quite affordable and 2 minutes walk from a nearby U Bahn. After checking in, we made our way to Alexanderplatz.

Alexanderplatz is a major tourist attraction for Berlin. The TV Tower (Fernsehtrum) stands tall at more than 350 m, right in the Alexanderplatz. We walked around the tower, but I would recommend to go to the top of the tower for a fantastic view of the city.

Just behind the TV Tower, is an open square with lot of small fountains and green spaces – perfect for a pleasant spring day which it was. St. Mary’s Church overlooks the open area. After a brief halt, we made our way to one of the most famous monuments in the city.

5 minutes walk from Alexanderplatz sits the Berlin Cathedral/Berlin Dom which sits in the Museum Island. The Cathedral does not have much history (built and completed around early 20th century), but has amazing architecture – outside with its large Green Dome and inside with its high ceilings and the musical organ. Surely, a must visit place.

There were other museums in the Museum Island, but we called it a day and went back to the apartment. On the way, we had a brief stopover at an Indian Store – Asia Might – to pick up some groceries as we had a kitchenette in the accommodation.

After a brief walk around the city, we were back at the apartment early and made plans for the next day. Berlin offers an endless list of touristic monuments, parks, history for travellers and it was a challenge to fit them all in couple of days time. Next day, the itinerary included: East Side Gallery, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, and Holocaust Memorial. Read the rest of it in: Berlin Part 2 (Link – to be updated).