Germany · Self-guided walk
Berlin in one walk 8 sights, 70 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Berlin Old Town: 8 sights on one 4.8 km loop, about 70 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 4.8 km, a loop
- Time
- about 70 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Brandenburger Tor
- Steps
- on Gendarmenmarkt
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Berlin walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Berlin, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Brandenburger Tor
the start · inside open Mon–Sun 00:00–24:00
The west end of the walk, and the only landmark here with a chariot parked on the roof. Everyone stops. I keep chewing.
Next: Akademie der Künste, 180 m, about 3 min.
2. Akademie der Künste
about 3 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Sun 10:00–20:00
The one building on Pariser Platz you can see straight into. Everything else up there is stone with its face done up. This one shows you the inside.
Next: Gendarmenmarkt, 1,180 m, about 18 min, along Behrenstraße, Gendarmenmarkt.
3. Gendarmenmarkt
about 20 minutes of walking from the start
A square with a building on three of its sides and nothing in the middle but space. Berlin does not usually hand you space. Take it.
Next: Hausvogteiplatz, 410 m, about 6 min, along Gendarmenmarkt, Taubenstraße, Hausvogteiplatz.
4. Hausvogteiplatz
about 26 minutes of walking from the start
Small, and most people cross it without ever looking down. Something at the station entrance is worth stopping for. I am not telling you what.
Next: Berliner Dom, 850 m, about 13 min, along Jägerstraße, Schinkelplatz, Schloßbrücke.
5. Berliner Dom
about 39 minutes of walking from the start
It sits on the island with a lawn in front of it, and the roof has gone green. Copper does that, slowly. I approve of slowly.
Next: Pergamonmuseum, 330 m, about 5 min, along Am Lustgarten, Bodestraße.
6. Pergamonmuseum
about 44 minutes of walking from the start
One of five museums packed onto a single island, with a channel of water down one side. The island is the densest stretch of the walk. Bring an appetite.
Next: Neue Wache, 520 m, about 8 min, along Bodestraße, Unter den Linden.
7. Neue Wache
about 52 minutes of walking from the start
Small, square, and set well back among the trees, where the avenue is at its widest. Easy to walk past. I never do.
Next: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, 390 m, about 6 min, along Unter den Linden, Charlottenstraße.
8. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
about 58 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Sat 08:00–22:00, Sun 10:00–18:00
It takes up so much of the avenue that you walk its front for a while before you reach a door. Good dots. Long building.
Back to the start: Brandenburger Tor, 960 m, about 14 min, along Friedrichstraße, Unter den Linden.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Berlin.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 107 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Berlin Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.