Language · 11 published
Country guide
Germany runs from the Baltic and North Sea coasts in the north down to the Alps in the south, and its 16 states have kept enough separateness that the country reads as a set of destinations rather than one. Over 83 million people live in them, more than any other European Union member. Berlin is the capital and the largest single city, Frankfurt is the financial centre, and the largest urban area is neither - it is the Ruhr, a belt of western towns that have grown into each other. Choosing between the Bavarian south, the Rhine, the Hanseatic north and the eastern cities is the actual planning decision; the distances are short and the places are not variations on one another.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · SSMTour Travel Editor
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photograph · Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
202 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
Reichstagsgebäude
The Reichstag Building stands on Platz der Republik in the Tiergarten district, on the left bank of the Spree, and it is the seat of the Bundestag, the German parliament.
Berliner Fernsehturm
Fernsehturm Berlin is the 368-metre television tower at Alexanderplatz, built in the German Democratic Republic and now used as a city observation attraction. High-speed lifts carry admitted visitors to the observation deck and rotating Sphere restaurant.
Museumsinsel
Museum Island is Berlin’s UNESCO-listed ensemble of State Museums between the Spree and Lustgarten. It includes Altes Museum, Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, Bode-Museum, Pergamonmuseum and the James-Simon-Galerie entrance and service building.
Brandenburger Tor
The Brandenburg Gate is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin, Germany. Commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia, it was completed in 1791 based on designs by Carl Gotthard Langhans.
Pergamonmuseum
Pergamon Museum, also known locally as Pergamonmuseum, is one of Berlin’s major archaeological museums on Museum Island. Its defining experience is the presentation of monumental ancient architecture reconstructed at an extraordinary scale inside the museum.
Schloss Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg Palace, known locally as Schloss Charlottenburg, stands as the largest and most significant palace complex in Berlin.
The Rotes Rathaus is the historic city hall of Berlin, serving as the seat of the Governing Mayor and the Senate of Berlin.
The Alte Pinakothek is Munich's gallery of Old Master painting, covering the fourteenth to the eighteenth century, and it is one of the oldest purpose-built picture galleries anywhere.
St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale Berlin
St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, locally known as St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale Berlin, is a Catholic cathedral near Bebelplatz in Berlin’s Mitte district.
The Englischer Garten is a public park five and a half kilometres long that runs north from the edge of Munich's old city into open countryside, and it is administered by the Bavarian Palace Administration rather than by the city.
The Glyptothek occupies the north side of Königsplatz and is Munich's oldest public museum; its operator describes it as the only museum in the world devoted exclusively to ancient sculpture.
Neues Rathaus
The Neues Rathaus fills the whole north side of Marienplatz and is a working building rather than a monument: the mayor, the city council and part of Munich's administration sit here, and the city counts more than 600 staff across…
Residenz
The Munich Residence was the seat of government and the home of Bavaria's dukes, electors and kings from 1508 until the monarchy ended in 1918.
Oktoberfest is Munich’s city festival on the Theresienwiese, a short walk from the old town in Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt.
Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan
Theatine Church of St. Cajetan is a prominent Catholic church beside Odeonsplatz in central Munich. Built in the Italian Baroque style during the seventeenth century, it is recognised by its pale yellow facade, monumental proportions, and ornate interior.
The Siegessäule, or Victory Column, stands in Berlin's Tiergarten park. Erected in the 1870s to commemorate Prussian military victories, the monument features a gilded bronze statue of Victoria at its summit.
Ehemaliger Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof
Berlin-Tempelhof Airport is a former airport whose immense terminal and airfield now form a public park and event landscape. Flights ended in 2008, leaving behind a place where aviation history and everyday city life meet.
The Neues Museum is a museum building on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. It was constructed between 1843 and 1855 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler.
The BMW Museum is a corporate museum dedicated to the history and heritage of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the Munich-based automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.
Altes Museum is a neoclassical museum on Berlin’s Museum Island and one of the most important buildings in the city’s historic centre. Karl Friedrich Schinkel designed the building, which opened in 1830 for the Prussian royal collection of classical antiquities.
Zitadelle Spandau
The Spandau Citadel, known locally as Zitadelle Spandau, is a fortress complex in Berlin's Spandau district. Constructed in the 16th century on the site of earlier medieval fortifications, it represents one of Europe's best-preserved Renaissance military structures.
Bode-Museum
The Bode-Museum stands on the northern tip of Museum Island in Berlin, its domed structure visible across the Spree river. Opened in 1904 and originally named the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, it was renamed in 1956 after its first director, Wilhelm von Bode.
Hofgarten
Hofgarten is a formal garden in central Munich, located adjacent to the Residenz palace complex. The garden was originally laid out in the early 17th century as a Renaissance-style court garden for the Bavarian rulers.
The Olympic Tower is shut. Olympiapark München GmbH closed it on 1 June 2024 for renovation, and it had not reopened when this page was checked on 26 August 2026, so nothing described here can be entered today.
The Alte Nationalgalerie is a prominent art museum on Berlin's Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its neoclassical temple design, completed in 1876, houses nineteenth-century paintings and sculptures.
Gendarmenmarkt is a historic public square in the Mitte district of central Berlin. The ensemble comprises the Konzerthaus concert hall flanked by the German Cathedral and the French Cathedral, two nearly identical domed church structures.
Haus der Kunst is a major contemporary art institution in Munich, located beside Englischer Garten. It presents temporary exhibitions rather than maintaining a permanent collection, so each visit is shaped by the programme on view.
The Pinakothek der Moderne is a major museum of modern and contemporary art in Munich, Germany. It forms part of the city's museum quarter, located in the Maxvorstadt district near the other Pinakothek museums.
The Neue Pinakothek is an art museum in Munich, Germany. It forms part of the city's museum quarter alongside the Alte Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne.
Neue Wache is a neoclassical memorial on Berlin’s Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district. Karl Friedrich Schinkel designed the building, completed in 1818 as a guardhouse for Prussian troops.
Neues Schloss Schleißheim
The Schleißheim palace complex, locally known as Neues Schloss Schleißheim, stands among the most significant Baroque palace ensembles in Germany. Located in the Munich metropolitan area, this architectural complex comprises multiple palaces and extensive gardens developed over several centuries.
The Deutsches Museum stands on an island in the Isar in central Munich, at Museumsinsel 1, and is a museum of science and technology rather than of art or of city history.
Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is Germany's central Holocaust memorial, and it is two things at one address rather than one.
Bavaria is a monumental bronze statue standing prominently in Munich's Theresienwiese, the traditional grounds of Oktoberfest. Cast in the 19th century, this female personification of the Bavarian homeland ranks among Europe's largest bronze sculptures.
Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen
The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial is a museum and memorial site located in the Lichtenberg district of Berlin. It occupies the grounds of a former Soviet and later Stasi remand prison that operated during the German Democratic Republic period.
The East Side Gallery is an open-air gallery on a preserved section of the former Berlin Wall in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. It stretches along Mühlenstraße and comprises approximately 1,316 metres of concrete wall surface.
Feldherrnhalle is a monumental loggia on the Odeonsplatz in central Munich. Commissioned by King Ludwig I and completed in 1844, it was modelled on the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence.
Botanischer Garten
Berlin’s Botanic Garden is a large living plant collection in Dahlem, paired institutionally with the Botanical Museum. The garden, greenhouses and major outdoor collections remain open, but the Botanical Museum exhibition areas are closed for modernisation until approximately 2027.
Siegestor is a nineteenth-century triumphal arch at the northern end of Ludwigstraße, where the avenue becomes Leopoldstraße in Munich. King Ludwig I commissioned the monument to commemorate Bavarian military achievements, and Friedrich von Gärtner designed it.
Urania-Weltzeituhr
The World Clock, or Urania-Weltzeituhr, is a public landmark on Alexanderplatz in Berlin’s Mitte district. Its rotating display presents the time for twenty-four world cities and international time zones.
Gropius-Bau
Martin-Gropius-Bau is a Berlin exhibition house in a landmark nineteenth-century building near Potsdamer Platz and the former Berlin Wall corridor.
Gemäldegalerie am Kulturforum
The Gemäldegalerie Berlin, locally known as Gemäldegalerie am Kulturforum, is a major art museum in Berlin, Germany.
Hackesche Höfe is a historic courtyard complex in Berlin's Mitte district, situated in the Spandauer Vorstadt area near Hackescher Markt. Constructed in the early twentieth century around 1906-1907, the ensemble comprises eight interconnected courtyards with Art Nouveau architectural detailing.
Isartor is one of Munich's surviving medieval city gates and marks the eastern edge of the historic Altstadt.
Grunewaldturm
Grunewald Tower, known locally as Grunewaldturm, stands as a historic observation structure within Berlin's expansive Grunewald forest area. The tower offers elevated vantage points over surrounding woodland and nearby waterways.
The Märkisches Museum is a museum in Berlin dedicated to the history and culture of the city and its surrounding Mark Brandenburg region.
Villa Stuck is the former home and studio of painter Franz von Stuck in Munich’s Bogenhausen district. The late nineteenth-century villa now functions as a public museum, preserving the setting in which Stuck lived and worked.
Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Berlin State Opera, locally called Staatsoper Unter den Linden, is a working opera and ballet house on Berlin’s Unter den Linden boulevard.
Jüdisches Museum
The Jewish Museum Berlin is a major cultural institution dedicated to two millennia of German-Jewish history and culture.
Das Buddhistische Haus is a Buddhist temple complex in Frohnau, northern Berlin. Founded in the early twentieth century, it is regarded as one of Europe’s oldest Buddhist institutions.
Checkpoint Charlie marks the former Allied crossing on Friedrichstraße between the American and Soviet sectors of divided Berlin.
The Maximilianeum is a monumental palatial building located on the right bank of the Isar River in Munich. It serves as the seat of the Bavarian State Parliament (Bayerischer Landtag).
Potsdamer Platz is a major public square and traffic intersection in central Berlin. Historically one of Europe's busiest squares, it was devastated during World War II and left desolate during the Cold War when the Berlin Wall bisected it.
Treptower Park is a large public park in the Treptow-Köpenick district of Berlin. The park extends along the River Spree and is one of the city's most significant green spaces.
Zeiss-Großplanetarium
Zeiss Major Planetarium, known locally as Zeiss-Großplanetarium, is a dedicated astronomy venue in Berlin. Its large dome gives the building a memorable profile in the city, while the programme combines public education with immersive entertainment.
Berlin Hauptbahnhof
Berlin Central Station, known locally as Berlin Hauptbahnhof, is the city’s principal railway hub and one of Berlin’s most striking modern buildings.
Olympiapark is a large sports and leisure complex in northern Munich, constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympic Games. The site encompasses approximately 850,000 square metres on the Oberwiesenfeld, combining sporting facilities, parkland, and architectural landmarks.
Sendlinger Tor is one of Munich's three remaining medieval city gates, standing at the southern end of the historic old town.
Lenbachhaus is a Munich art museum housed partly in the former Italianate villa of painter Franz von Lenbach. Historic rooms connect with a modern extension whose golden-bronze aluminium facade gives the building a distinctive appearance.
Marx-Engels-Forum
Marx-Engels Forum is an open-air park and memorial ensemble in central Berlin’s Mitte district, beside the Spree River. The site commemorates Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, whose writings shaped socialist and communist movements around the world.
Ruhmeshalle is a sweeping nineteenth-century Doric colonnade on Munich’s Theresienwiese, the open grounds associated with Oktoberfest. Leo von Klenze designed the monument as a hall of fame for distinguished Bavarians.
Sowjetisches Ehrenmal Schönholzer Heide
The Soviet War Memorial Schönholzer Heide is a monumental cemetery and memorial complex in Berlin’s Pankow district. It commemorates Soviet soldiers who died during the Battle of Berlin in 1945.
Konzerthaus Berlin is a classical concert hall on Gendarmenmarkt, the historic square framed by the German and French Cathedrals. The building occupies a central position in Berlin’s cultural landscape and is valued both for its music programme and its architecture.
Königsplatz is a historic square in Munich's Maxvorstadt district, designed in the early 19th century as part of King Ludwig I's vision for a monumental arts district.
Museum für Fotografie
Museum of Photography, or Museum für Fotografie, is a Berlin museum devoted to photographic art, history, and preservation. It belongs among the city’s visual-arts destinations because photography is treated as both an artistic medium and a record of changing societies.
Karlstor
Karlstor is one of three remaining medieval city gates in Munich, Germany. It stands at the western end of Neuhauser Straße, marking the boundary between the historic city center and the Karlsplatz area.
The Humboldt Forum occupies the rebuilt Berlin Palace on Schlossplatz, at the eastern end of Unter den Linden and across the Lustgarten from the Berlin Cathedral.
Berliner Dom
Berlin Cathedral, known locally as Berliner Dom, stands as a prominent landmark on Museum Island in the heart of Berlin. This Protestant church serves as a major place of worship and houses the Hohenzollern crypt.
Archenhold-Sternwarte
Archenhold Observatory, known locally as Archenhold-Sternwarte, is a public astronomical observatory located in Berlin's Treptower Park. It was established in 1896 and houses what was once the world's longest movable refracting telescope.
The Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg is the botanical garden of Munich, operated in association with the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. It serves as both a scientific research facility and a public garden.
AEG Turbinenfabrik
AEG’s Turbine factory, known as the AEG Turbinenfabrik, is a landmark of Berlin’s industrial architecture in Moabit. Peter Behrens designed the building for AEG, and it was completed in 1909.
Cuvilliés-Theater
Cuvilliés Theatre is a historic rococo theatre in Munich’s Residenz complex. François de Cuvilliés designed the eighteenth-century court theatre for the Bavarian royal family, and the building remains one of Europe’s important surviving rococo theatre interiors.
The Justizpalast is a historic courthouse building in Munich, Germany. Constructed in the late 19th century, it serves as a significant judicial and architectural landmark in the city.
Sowjetisches Ehrenmal
The Soviet War Memorial in Berlin is a monumental commemorative site erected by the Soviet Union to honor Red Army soldiers who fell in the Battle of Berlin in 1945.
The Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, stands as Munich's cathedral and one of its most recognizable landmarks. Its distinctive twin domes, visible across the city skyline, have become symbolic of Munich itself.
Schloss Fürstenried
Fürstenried Palace, also known as Schloss Fürstenried, is a Baroque palace in Munich’s southwestern Fürstenried district. Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria built it in the early eighteenth century as a hunting lodge.
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
The Bavarian National Museum, known locally as Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, stands as one of Munich's principal cultural institutions. Located on the Prinzregentenstraße, this museum occupies a substantial purpose-built structure designed in historicist style.
Alliierten-Museum
The Allied Museum in Dahlem presents the history of the Western powers in Berlin from 1945 to 1994.
Müggelturm
Müggel-Tower, or Müggelturm, is an observation tower in Berlin’s southeastern Köpenick district. The tower stands in the Müggelberge hills above a landscape of forest, lakes, and the broad waters of Müggelsee, Berlin’s largest lake.
Zoo Berlin
Berlin Zoological Garden, known locally as Zoo Berlin, is a major zoological garden in Berlin, Germany. It is one of the city's most prominent attractions and features among Berlin's top ten visitor destinations according to official tourism sources.
Museum Brandhorst is a contemporary art museum in Munich's Maxvorstadt district. It opened in 2009 and houses the collection of Udo and Anette Brandhorst, featuring works from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
DDR-Museum
The DDR Museum is an interactive Berlin museum about everyday life in the former German Democratic Republic. Rather than presenting East German history only through cases of documents, it invites visitors into reconstructed domestic spaces and hands-on displays.
Alter Botanischer Garten is a historic public park in central Munich near Karlsplatz-Stachus. The site housed Munich’s original botanical garden from 1812 until the gardens moved to Nymphenburg in 1914.
Sankt-Anna-Klosterkirche
Abbey Church of St. Anna, locally known as Sankt-Anna-Klosterkirche, is a religious building in Munich and serves as the church of a Benedictine abbey. The church has an active religious purpose as well as architectural and cultural interest for visitors.
Musikinstrumenten-Museum
Berlin Musical Instrument Museum, known locally as Musikinstrumenten-Museum, is a specialist Berlin museum devoted to musical instruments.
Kunstgewerbemuseum
Berlin’s Museum of Decorative Arts, the Kunstgewerbemuseum, explores the history of applied art and design through objects made for use, display and ceremony. It forms part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and brings together craftsmanship across several centuries.
Neue Synagoge
The Neue Synagoge, or New Synagogue Berlin, stands on Oranienburger Straße as one of the city's most significant Jewish heritage landmarks.
BMW Welt is a major visitor destination in Munich associated with the Bavarian automaker. The facility serves as a delivery center, exhibition space, and brand experience venue.
Stage Theater des Westens
Theater des Westens is a major Berlin theatre venue in Charlottenburg, operating under the Stage Theater des Westens name. It belongs in a Berlin evening plan for travellers who want a full theatrical production in an established performance setting.
Museum Berlin-Karlshorst is a memorial and historical museum in Berlin’s eastern Karlshorst district. It occupies the building where German armed forces signed the unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945, bringing the Second World War in Europe to its end.
James-Simon-Galerie
The James Simon Gallery serves as the main entrance building for Berlin's Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Named after Jewish art patron James Simon, the structure was designed by British architect David Chipperfield.
Topographie des Terrors
The Topography of Terror is an outdoor and indoor history museum in Berlin, Germany. It stands on the former site of the Gestapo and SS headquarters, the central instruments of Nazi persecution.
Denkmal für die im Nationalsozialismus ermordeten Sinti und Roma Europas
The Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism is a Berlin monument dedicated to European Sinti and Roma murdered under Nazi rule.
Bierpinsel is a distinctive tower structure in Berlin, Germany. The building features an unusual architectural design that has made it a recognizable landmark in the city's urban landscape.
Sammlung Schack
The Schack Collection, known locally as Sammlung Schack, is an art museum in Munich. It ranks as a notable visitor destination within the city's cultural offerings.
Chinesischer Turm
The Chinese Tower is a wooden pagoda-style structure located in Munich's Englischer Garten, one of the world's largest urban parks. Built in 1790, the tower stands approximately 25 metres tall and was designed by architect Johann Baptist Lechner.
Prinzregententheater is a major theatre building in Munich, Germany. Constructed in the early twentieth century, it represents an important period of Bavarian cultural patronage under Prince Regent Luitpold.
Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst
The State Museum of Egyptian Art, locally Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, is Munich’s specialist museum for ancient Egyptian art and archaeology. Its identity comes from a concentrated collection of sculptures, reliefs, funerary objects, and related artefacts connected with Egyptian culture.
Wilmersdorfer Moschee
Berlin Mosque, also known as Wilmersdorfer Moschee, is an active Islamic place of worship in Berlin’s Wilmersdorf district. It serves a local Muslim community and forms part of the city’s diverse religious landscape.
Paläontologisches Museum
The Palaeontological Museum in Munich is a specialized natural-history museum devoted to fossils, ancient life and the geological story of evolution. It forms part of the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology, connecting public display with scientific research.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Seven to ten days works for Berlin plus one connected region, or for a focused Rhine, Bavaria or northern-city route. Germany’s rail network makes multi-city travel practical, but changing bases every night still reduces useful time.
Germany’s Federal Foreign Office is the official visa reference. Review its nationality-specific entry rules and the Schengen application guidance for the passport and route being used.
Intercity and high-speed trains connect Germany’s major cities, with regional services completing shorter journeys. Deutsche Bahn publishes the integrated timetable; airport choice should follow the route rather than defaulting to one national gateway.
May through September favours outdoor city and countryside travel, while December has a distinct seasonal-market pattern. Alpine, North Sea and urban conditions differ enough that the intended region should determine clothing and reservations.
Germany uses the euro (EUR). Cash and card practices are not stated as a single national rule in the cited source, so travellers should carry a backup and check the payment method before ordering or boarding.
For Germany, 112 reaches medical and fire services and 110 reaches police. Type C and F plugs use 230 V, and mains tap water is recorded as safe.
