Berlin is big and spread out, but its main sights fall into a few clusters that are easy to link by U-Bahn and S-Bahn. This plan covers the essentials in three days, mixing history, museums and neighbourhoods. A 24-hour ticket or a Berlin WelcomeCard makes getting around simple.

Before you go

Book two things ahead. The Reichstag dome is free, but you must register online on the Bundestag website, ideally as soon as your dates are fixed. For Museum Island, buy tickets online; if you will see more than one museum, the €24 Museum Island ticket covers all of them for a day. Remember that many museums close on Mondays, including the Neues Museum, Charlottenburg Palace and the Jewish Museum, so plan your days around that.

Day 1: Government quarter, Unter den Linden and Museum Island

Start at the Reichstag with an early slot in the glass dome, then walk five minutes to the Brandenburg Gate. Just south, spend time at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe; the field is open at all hours, and the underground Information Centre opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10am.

Walk east along Unter den Linden past Bebelplatz and the State Opera to Museum Island. See the bust of Nefertiti in the Neues Museum, then climb the dome of Berlin Cathedral for the view, or visit the hands-on DDR Museum on the riverbank, which stays open until 9pm. End the day with sunset from the TV Tower at Alexanderplatz, open until 11pm.

Day 2: The Berlin Wall and the Nazi past

Begin at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse, where a stretch of the border strip survives in full depth. The grounds open at 8am, and the Visitor Center and observation tower open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am. Take the S-Bahn south to Checkpoint Charlie and decide whether to spend time in the Wall Museum, then walk five minutes to the Topography of Terror, a free documentation centre on the site of the Gestapo and SS headquarters, open daily until 8pm.

In the afternoon, head east to the East Side Gallery, 1.3 kilometres of painted Wall along the Spree. Walk from Ostbahnhof to the Oberbaum Bridge and finish in Friedrichshain or cross into Kreuzberg for dinner.

Day 3: Kreuzberg, the Jewish Museum and West Berlin

Spend the morning at the Jewish Museum Berlin, where the core exhibition is free, in Daniel Libeskind’s zigzag building. Then explore Kreuzberg’s canal-side streets and markets.

In the afternoon, go west to Charlottenburg Palace for Prussian state rooms and formal gardens, closed on Mondays. Finish at Breitscheidplatz with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, its bomb-damaged tower and glowing blue new church, and a walk along the Kurfürstendamm. Families might swap the palace for Berlin Zoo next door.

Getting around

A single AB ticket costs €4.00 and lasts two hours; a 24-hour AB ticket costs €11.20. The FEX Airport Express reaches Hauptbahnhof from BER in about 23 minutes on a €5.00 ABC ticket. Validate paper tickets before you travel. Bus 100 between Alexanderplatz and Zoologischer Garten passes many of the sights in this plan.

If you have more time

Add a day trip to Potsdam for Sanssouci Palace and its park, or visit the Sachsenhausen memorial north of the city. Within Berlin, the Tiergarten, Tempelhof Field, the Gemäldegalerie and an evening in Prenzlauer Berg or Neukölln all reward a slower pace.