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Berlin · Essentials

Essential Berlin: from Brandenburg Gate to Alexanderplatz

If it's your first time in Berlin, start here. You'll follow the city's historic axis from the Brandenburg Gate along Unter den Linden to Museum Island, then carry on to the Art Nouveau courtyards of the Spandau quarter and the great square of former East Berlin.

  • 6 stops
  • 3.6 km
  • 2 h 15 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
Aerial view of the Humboldt Forum, the cathedral and the Lustgarten

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Brandenburg GateBerlin's great symbol and the perfect starting point: this is where Unter den Linden begins.
  2. 2 BebelplatzAn elegant square with a window in the ground revealing empty bookshelves.
  3. 3 Lustgarten and Museum IslandAn entire island devoted to art, presided over by Prussia's first public museum and a giant granite bowl.
  4. 4 Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom)The Hohenzollerns' grand imperial church, with a crypt where nearly a hundred members of the dynasty rest.
  5. 5 Hackesche HöfeEight linked courtyards, Art Nouveau tiles and, next door, a story of courage.
  6. 6 AlexanderplatzThe square named after a tsar, which inspired a novel and saw East Germany's biggest demonstration.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Essential Berlin: from Brandenburg Gate to Alexanderplatz

The great icons

The Brandenburg Gate, the cathedral, Museum Island and the TV Tower.

History on every corner

From Frederick the Great to the fall of the Wall, without stepping into a single museum.

From West to East

A walk that crosses the old border and ends in the heart of socialist Berlin.

Keep exploring

More routes in Berlin

Back to Berlin
HistoryFrom the Reichstag to the Wall: the century that split Berlin Mysteries & legendsHidden Berlin: mummies, ghosts and the Pope's revenge