1 Day in Berlin with Royal Caribbean

As part of our Baltic Sea Cruise with Royal Caribbean (read all about it here), we docked in Rostock, a northern coastal German city. We only had one day in Germany, but knew we wanted to see Berlin! As part of a Royal Caribbean organized tour we woke up bright and early, hopped into the tour bus and made the 2.5/3 hour drive from Rostock to Berlin. Here is how we spent our 1 day!

I. Reichstag Building

Our day started at the Reichstag building. There are a couple of options for being a tourist at the Reichstag (watching a plenary session, taking a guided tour, getting tickets to the dome), but we loved the dome the most! You don't realize how intricate and beautiful (and structurally impressive!) it is until you get up close. If architecture or visual art is your thing, the ticket to the dome is for you! There is a lot of history attached to the building, so there's really something for everyone at the Reichstag. Pro tip: have your camera ready for this spot. Quintessential Berlin views!

  

 

II. Holocaust Memorial

The Holocaust Memorial was our next stop. It's an important place to reflect on a dark history and pay homage to all of the lives lost during that time. It can be very emotionally heavy, so we recommend saving this for last (taking into consideration business hours 10AM-8PM).

III. Brandenburg Gate

Next up was the Brandenburg Gate, which was (if you can believe it), even more amazing in person. It might because we're sentimental, but there's just something so powerful about a large city gate. Also, like most places in Berlin, the gate is loaded with important history. There's no time of day or day of the week when the Brandenburg Gate isn't busy, so getting a great photo here is a challenge.

IV. Local Food

As for food, our fast frenzy tour was the best foodie exploration, but we've found this handy guide in case you have more time than we did! Some of the spots are quick eats, so even if you don't have a lot of time you can make a quick pit stop for a solid meal (as long as you plan ahead and map it out!) Our number one piece of advice? You can't go wrong with a quintessential sausage and beer in Germany!

V. Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall is arguably the most important monument to visit while in the city. Unfortunately for us, our tour was running a bit behind on time so by the time we arrived here were given about 5 minutes to hop out and snap photos. If you're visiting Berlin make the wall a priority and make sure you have plenty of time to walk the wall and take in all of the powerful artwork, a piece of living history. A reminder today to always build bridges, not walls.

 

 

VI. Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie is another historically important part of the city to visit. It's erected the way it looked during the Cold War, complete with old signs and period actor guards. It's a quick way to go back in time! This is the section of the Berlin Wall that was a crossing point between East and West Berlin.

 

 

VII. Charlottenburg Palace

Charlottenburg Palace is the largest in Berlin and an extraordinary example of baroque architecture. Sadly, time was not on our side today and we were not able to go inside. Based on the articles we've read, a standard tour of the palace will take about 2 hours and there are also gardens you can enjoy (weather dependent).  We were really sad to miss this one!

 

Berlin really deserves more time than we were able to give it this round. Make no mistake - we'll be back! Have you been or are you going soon? Share with us your favorite Berlin spots for our next trip!