Sights Overview

Berlin is laid out on an epic scale -- western Berlin alone is four times the size of the city of Paris. When the city-state of Berlin was incorporated in 1920, it swallowed towns and villages far beyond the downtown area. Of its 12 boroughs, the five of most interest to visitors are Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in the west; Tiergarten (a district of the Mitte borough) and Kreuzberg in the center; Mitte, the historic core of the city in the eastern part of town; and Prenzlauer Berg in the northeast. Southwest Berlin has lovely escapes in the secluded forests and lakes of the Grunewald area.

Many of the 17 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (national museums of Berlin) are world-renowned and offer several ticket options (children under 17 are welcomed free of charge). A single ticket ranges EUR 4-EUR 8. A three-day pass (Tageskarte) to all state museums costs EUR 15. The SchauLust Museen ticket (EUR 12) allows entrance to all state museums plus many others for three consecutive days. State museums tend to cluster near one another and usually a single entrance ticket grants admission to all museums in that area. These areas include Charlottenburg (EUR 6), Dahlem (EUR 6), the Kulturforum (including the out-of-the-way Hamburger Bahnhof, EUR 8), and Museum Island (EUR 12). All these entrance tickets are for the permanent exhibitions and include an audio guide; special exhibits cost extra. State museums are free on Thursday for the last four open hours (there is a fee for the audio guide during free hours).