48 Hours in Berlin

Was this short city break worth it?

We had a very last minute change of plan that took us to Berlin for the weekend instead of walking up mountains in Austria (due to unseasonal stormy weather). We swallowed the cost of the flight change, cut our trip to two nights instead of three, and buckled up for a visit with not much time to plan!

Our Itinerary

I’m a big fan of Conde Nast Traveller’s instagram and read tips from 18 of the best things to do in Berlin as a way of creating an outline agenda. I was rather surprised to find a copy of Lonely Planet’s Pocket Berlin already on my bookshelf (!) after an abandoned and forgotten trip during the pandemic. It included a map and various itineraries for a short city break.

I also skim read several blogs to get a feel for the city and quickly discovered it’s quite spread out like London. We weren’t sure where to stay so plumped for Prenzlauer Berg, referred to as a safe, family neighbourhood and not too far north of Alexanderplatz where the train comes in from the airport. The Holiday Inn was in our budget and ideally located next to the tram stop.

Our weekend shortlist:

-          Mauerpark Flea Market

-          Berlin War Memorial

-          Prater Garten

-          Brandenberg Gate

-          Tiergarten

-          East Side Gallery

Day 1

Mauerpark Flea Market (Bernauer Strasse­)

Our hotel was fairly close to this Sunday-only affair (Eberswalder Str U-Bahn) and the perfect way to get stuck in to Berlin life after landing at 1130am. We spent a warm, sunny afternoon wandering around the outdoor market. Look out for the beer garden where no one minds if you eat a takeaway from one of the many food stalls as long as you’re buying beer. The market gets its name ‘mauer’ meaning ‘wall’ from its location where the Berlin Wall once ran down the middle of Bernauer Strasse to divide the east and west of the city.

Berlin War Memorial (Bernauer Strasse)

The market is at the start (or end) of a 1.4km walking trail that runs parallel to Bernauer Strasse.  It documents the history of the wall in this part of the city. The entrance is opposite the market but a bit tricky to find. Cross over and you’ll see it sandwiched between the apartment blocks where it finishes at the Berlin War Memorial (Eberswalder Str U-Bahn or Bernauer St U-Bahn).

The ‘no name’ restaurant…

Recommended by the Lonely Planet (in my 2019 edition…??), we found ourselves in a dark and almost empty restaurant a few stops on the tram from our hotel. We ate substantial portions of schnitzel, goulash and dumplings from, what I would call, a ‘tourist menu’. Filling but forgettable. The restaurant will remain nameless!

Prater Garten (Kastanienallee 7-9)

Afterwards, we walked down the road to the Prater Garten (Eberswalder Str U-Bahn or Subway U2), a large courtyard beer garden draped in fairy lights with long tables and benches and a pleasant, tranquil Sunday evening buzz. I suspect the mood is more energetic on a Friday and Saturday night – wouldn’t it be great to have places like this to hang out in the UK?

An Einem Sonntag im August (Kastanienallee 103)

We ended our night with a cocktail in this cool bar aptly named ‘On a Sunday in August’ – it was June, but close enough! Locals filled the seating outside and inside buzzed with chatter from groups lounging around in a mish-mash of faded second-hand armchairs. A handy location next to the tram stop (Eberswalder Str tram stop or U-Bahn).

Day 2

A walking tour

We went straight to Checkpoint Charlie (Kochstraße U-Bahn), the former border crossing between East and West Berlin, to immerse ourselves in the history. The outdoor museum is free and from here we walked along to the Topography of Terror (Niederkirchnerstrasse). Outside, there’s another free exhibition documenting events between 1933 and 1945, as well as the Berlin Wall Monument, a long section of the original wall that you can see up close.

We carried on to Potsdamer Platz, a busy square that melds old and new, and to the Brandenberg Gate (Brandenburger Tor U-Bahn). Our intention was to wander in Tiergarten park afterwards, however, the area we were in was cordoned off in preparation for Germany hosting the UEFA Euros. The Bauhaus Museum was also on our list, which is unfortunately being renovated at the moment. So we trekked over to the temporary Bauhaus Archive (Knesebeckstrasse 1, Ernst-Reuter-Platz U-Bahn), which had some interesting exhibits and a good shop, but left me lacking.

Umami restaurant (Knaackstraße 16-18)

We stayed local for our evening meal and got the tram (Marienburger Str tram stop) a couple of stops to Umami, a Vietanamese restaurant with great reviews. We turned up to a Monday night queue but were pleasantly surprised to be ushered in without waiting too long. The food was good, well-priced and the atmosphere lively. We wandered back to our hotel along a grand avenue flanked with imposing apartment buildings, confirming that Prenzlauer Berg is indeed a safe – and wealthy – neighbourhood. We ended our evening with a night cap at a locals’ bar.

Day 3

On our last morning, we headed off to Ostbahnhof station to leave our bags in a locker while we took a look at the nearby East Side Gallery (Mühlenstraße 3-100). It’s the world’s largest open-air gallery where 118 artists from 21 countries decorated a 1.3km section of the Berlin Wall with their murals. It’s bold, powerful and really needs an audio guide to do justice to the layers of storytelling.

From here, we crossed Oberbaum Bridge to go into Kreuzberg, once considered the ‘edgy’ part of the city that’s adorned with street art. We wandered through the Turkish market along the canal and stopped for lunch at Burgermeister where we completed our city break in a quirky spot – a converted public toilet beneath the elevated U-Bahn line!

I’m sure there’s a pun in here somewhere…  

So circling back – is 48 hours in Berlin worth it? Yes, I’d say so. Public transport is excellent (S-Bahn, U-Bahn, buses and trams) and affordable (9.90 euros for a 24-hour ticket), there’s plenty of free stuff to do, plus it’s a great place for walking/wandering to soak up the atmosphere.