Berlin Travel Guide

Brandenburg Gate

[Photo taken with my Huawei smartphone]

10 Fun Facts about Berlin

• Berlin has the largest train station in Europe. 
• Berlin is nine times bigger than Paris. Yup! That is why sometimes you feel you are the only one walking alone in the whole park/garden because it's so huge and spacious!
• Berlin is the only city in the world with three active opera houses. The auditoriums of the Berliner Staatsoper, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Komische Oper can play to a total of 4,411 audience members.On top of that, Berlin has over 150 theaters and halls for every type of event. 
• There are nine castles in Berlin. These include the Schloss Charlottenburg and the Köpenicker Schloss, as well as six former manors and mansions, which are also called Schlösschen (little castles) in common parlance. 
• The East Side Gallery is the longest open air gallery in the world and also has the longest surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall at 1,316 km. The section showcases 100 murals that were painted by 118 artists from 21countries.
• Did you know that over 60 tons of kebab meat are eaten in Berlin every day? There are more kebab stores in Berlin than in Istanbul.
• Berlin has more bridges than Venice – around 1,700 of them. But because Berlin is huge and it's all spread out, the bridges are not as close as those you see around the tiny island of Venice. It is also said that Berlin has more waterways than Amsterdam, Stockholm and Venice combined!
• The Berlin Zoo is not only the most visited Zoo in Europe but also hosts 1,380 different animal species and over 18,662 animals. The Zoo is said to have the largest stock of animals in the world.
• With almost 200 museums, Berlin is said to have more museums than rainy days as according to the weather analysis data, Berlin has 106 rainy days per year.
• Street musicians are only allowed to play in 42 out of 173 underground stations for up to 1 hour or up to 15 minutes on pedestrian zones.

My Experience In Berlin

Berlin being the largest city and the capital city of Germany is actually a very multi-racial and world-class city. It has attracted so many foreign expats and tourists each year that only 1 in every 4 people in Berlin is a local. And if you're worried about language barrier, you can put your fear aside because people under the age of 40 can speak English although with heavy German accent.

Germans may seem unfriendly with that cold expressionless look on their face but they are actually very helpful and kind. I still remember the first day I was in Berlin, I had no small notes to buy the ticket at the ticket machine and when I ask a local who was buying his ticket next to me if he has any small notes to change with my big note, he just pull out his wallet and handed me some small notes without saying or asking anything. It was that trust and kindness that is shown by the people there.

On another incident, I was supposed to walk to a bus stop to take a bus to Dresden but I got lost. I approached a lady at a random bus stop and she took out her tablet to open the map and search for me the direction from where we're standing. She showed me the map and taught me how to get there. In order to get reassurance, she asked another lady who was also waiting at the bus stop. I was so touched by their kindness to help a lost tourist.

Initially, Berlin was not really at the top of my choice of city to visit in Germany because I prefer to visit old towns, seeing old castles, palaces, somewhere more towards the old German sights but I'm glad I didn't skip Berlin because Berlin is a city that shows you the past, the present, and the future.

If you like to know about the past, Berlin offers great, beautiful palaces, many big museums filled with historical stuff and paintings that you can never finished visiting. And if you like something futuristic, you can see lots of modern architecture and high-rise buildings and towers with unique and out-of-this-world design. In short, no matter which type of traveller you are, Berlin has something to offer for everyone.

Here are 10 places that I recommend for those who are visiting Berlin for the first time.

1. Brandenburg Gate
2. Humboldt University (Berlin's oldest university where Marx and Engels studied and the Brothers Grimm and Albert Einstein taught)
3. Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (also known as Holocaust Memorial)
4. Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral; a majestic 1800s cathedral with an organ with 7,000 pipes, royal tombs and a dome for city view)
5. Tiergarten Park (the largesst and oldest park)
6. Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace, Baroque summer palace with huge garden and rooms filled with paintings, tapestries, and porcelain exhibits)
7. Gendarmenmarkt (It's a beautiful square with 3 promiment buildings; the Konzerthaus, Deutscher Dom, and Franzosischer Dom)
8. Pergamon Museum (if you only have time for one museum, this is the one!)
9. Zoologischer Garten Berlin (The Berlin Zoological Garden is the oldest and best-known zoo in Germany. Opened in 1844 it covers 35 hectares and is located in Berlin's Tiergarten)
10. Galeries Lafayette (a futuristic looking shopping mall with glass funnel that reflects light like mutated hologram designed by architect Jean Nouvel. This mall offers food with high quality and good brands of clothing and other merchandise products)

REMINDER: Please check online or the official website for the opening and closing time, admission fee for palace/museum you wish to visit.