When in Berlin..

I've decided to do a little post on my recent trip to Berlin which was my Christmas present from Sean! People have asked me where I stayed and what there is to do so hopefully this will help if anyone is thinking of visiting there!

Where we stayed:

We stayed in apartments called Amano Home which are part of the Amano Hotel Group. It was absolutely gorgeous!! It had everything we needed from a kitchenette with a fridge, cooker, dishwasher and microwave, a huge TV and lounge area. The best thing about this was that each appliance was fitted into a cubby so you wouldn't even know they were there, and the mess could be hidden...

These apartments are so modern and the decor is to die for! Our bed was probably the most comfortable bed I've ever stayed in while being away from home.

The bathroom was one of my favourite parts, if anyone of you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat you would have seen that there was a window in the bathroom which looked out onto the rest of the apartment. The window had electric blinds which you could adjust depending on how much privacy/light you wanted. I made sure to take full advantage of this and had a glorious bath whilst watching Netflix!!

One of the best things about this apartment was the price- it only cost around €260 for two people for three nights. Although I didn't pay for it, it was one every one of Sean's pennies!! It was situated in a place called 'Torstraße', about a ten minute walk from Alexanderplatz which is the main centre area. If walking isn't your thing, there was also a Metro Station right at the side of the apartments which will get you there in half the walking time.

How we got there:

We flew into Schönefeld Airport with Ryanair. The flight took around 2hrs 30mins and once we arrived in Berlin we took a train to the city centre. If like us, you've never been to Berlin before transportation can be a little bit confusing at first. It seemed as though nothing was really sign-posted well and there was certainly no English translated posts, or many people around to help. We took a bit of a guess, jumped on a train and literally hoped for the best, luckily we got the right one!

To save you that hassle, when you come out of the Airport, go outside and turn left, from there it's about a 5 minute walk to the station. Once you get in and get your tickets (which you need to validate in the machine after you buy them), walk straight up until you see a platform on the left hand side for the S9 train. This will take you directly to Alexander Platz assuming you're staying in the heart of the city as we did. It takes less than a half an hour to get there. Otherwise, there's always the option of the Airport Express coaches.

What we did:

Given that I'm a bit of a History lover when it comes to WWII, it only made sense that we visited all things history while in Berlin. However, if that's not your scene there is still so much to do and see, it was impossible to fit everything into four days so we made sure to visit as many places as we could.

1. Berlin Zoo

Not quite history related but it is the oldest Zoo in Germany! Since Berlin can have quite a harsh Winter a lot of the animals were inside, but this didn't stop us from seeing them as they have the Zoo set up in a way that you can visit the animals in their indoor shelters. It cost about €15 in, but we spent close to 3 hours walking around so we got our money's worth for sure. They even had Pandas which made my day!

2. Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is one of Berlin's top tourist sights. It's a symbol of division during the Cold War, completed in 1791 and is the royal city gate. Aside from that, it's also fairly pretty to look at, and definitely the right place for a photo op! There's a Starbucks just the to side of the Gate and if you get the right seat you can enjoy a drink whilst looking at this beauty from the warmth of inside.

3. Holocaust Memorial

The Holocaust Memorial is dedicated to the Jews of Europe who were killed as a result of the Nazi-planned genocide in the Third Reich. It is a huge open space with 2711 massive grids of concrete columns all at various heights. It is definitely something you should visit in Berlin. While you're there, there's also a free information centre below the columns which brings you through the timeline of Jewish persecution and documentations and diary entries from individuals. Warning: it's a little bit heart-wrenching, prepare to be moved.

4. Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was the checkpoint between the two Berlins up to 1990. It was the point of entry into what was known as the American Sector. While it is now surrounded by McDonald's and the likes, it's an interesting sight to visit and there's plenty of museums along the way if you want to learn more!

5. TV Tower

The TV Tower is Germany's tallest structure and is pretty iconic to Berlin. The Tower is stunning to look at from the outside, but you can get an even nicer view of Berlin from the observation deck. You can do a full 360 walk about and see all Berlin has to offer from 203 metres high! And you can even have a drink from the bar while doing so. The tickets were around €13 but the view made it worth it.

6. Berlin Wall

While very little of the original Berlin Wall remains standing, it's nice to visit the memorial and get a feel for what happened when it was built. It's not really what I was expecting, but the longer I stayed here and read about the events during that time I really began to appreciate what it stood for.

The area itself is quite dull, grass surrounds the wall at the back which then goes on to a Graveyard. Throughout the walk here there were numerous warnings on the ground to watch out for pick pockets, so make sure you keep an eye on your belongings!

7. East Side Gallery

We didn't actually get a chance to go out here, but luckily our taxi to the airport drove by it when we were leaving.

The East Side Gallery is a memorial to the fall of the wall which was dismantled in 1989.

While most of it was destroyed, what was left became the world's largest open-air mural strip. It features more than 100 paintings by 129 artists from at least 20 different countries. It consists of political statements and artistic visions. I wish we had more time to stop an appreciate it!

Side note: When it came to food it was a little bit hard given the fact that I'm a fussy eater, but when I wasn't eating pizza we went to a restaurant called Carambar in Alexanderplatz. There's a huge variety of options and the food was lovely! It's also a bar/nightclub if you don't feel like walking further for a drink! There's definitely no shortage of restaurants and bars though.

Hope this helps,

R x

#Berlin #Germany #Travel #Citybreak #Tourists #Siteseeing #apartments