The best of Berlin and a top secret bunker tour

If you’re a history buff, Berlin is the city for you! So much of what we’ve learned in history books in school is located in this one city. I gave myself a few days and thought it was the perfect amount of time. As I previously mentioned in my Munich post, Wombat’s was my accommodation of choice during this backpacking trip since there was one in almost every city I visited, including Berlin, and offered affordable accommodations with trendy hotel vibes, depending on the city.

Taking in the view of the Berliner Fernsehturm (tv tower) from the rooftop bar
Beautiful building I spotted while in search of the Berlin Wall
Wombat's roof top bar

berlin wall

wall # number 1

There is more than one Berlin wall location so don’t be surprised if you see a few on a city map. This one which is a very small piece of the wall is located alongside the Topography of Terror Museum and is called the Berlin Wall “Monument”, there is also a Berlin wall “Memorial”

berlin wall

wall # number 2

The “East Side Gallery” is the Wall that probably comes to mind when you hear the term Berlin Wall and is a bit tricky to find since it’s located further away from the main tourist sites. My hostel mate and I spent a good amount of time walking around Berlin in search of the famous wall. It was fun since we talked and laughed the entire way but taking the train back to our accommodations was a nice relief since we walked 3 miles from Topography of Terror to find this wall. Do your feet a favor and take the metro you’ll thank me later.

what to visit

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Brandenburg Gate
Topography of Terror Museum
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
Berliner Dom
Berliner Dom
The Holocaust Memorial (4.7-acre site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs)
The Holocaust Memorial
The Holocaust Memorial
DDR Museum - an interesting "hands on" museum - yes you can touch!
Various rooms give you an idea of what it may have felt like to live through World War II

things to do

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Picnic in front of Berliner Dom
Try the vegan ice cream at Eissalon Tanne B
Visit Tiergarten home to the Berlin Zoo and known as "Berlin's Central Park"
Tiergarten also has a lovely tea house
Before tea have a picnic. If you haven't already noticed, picnics in Europe are my thang.

My number one recommendation which you won’t find on typical “must-see/do lists” of Berlin is an underground bunker tour with Berliner Unterwelten. They have a few tours but I went with Tour 1 – Dark Worlds (Expeience WW2 bombing raids through the eyes of civilians)

It was such a unique experience going underground and seeing the actual bunkers where people hid during air raids. You will see real artifacts recovered from the rubble and get a glimpse into the lives of the people who lived underground. 

Video: Wanna see surfers catch a wave on the Eisbach river? Be sure to spend some time in the lovely city of Munich Germany. 

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