Last Updated on September 8, 2026
Exploring Berlin by U-Bahn, Boat and Tram with a teenager
Berlin in August was a revelation. Not pristine, not empty, but somehow calmer than London in peak tourist season. It felt tidy and organised, with well designed infrastructure. With many Germans on holiday, Berlin felt spacious, with lower levels of traffic and more green space than I expected. We were mostly in the central Mitte district but across three days, also explored Tempelhof, Kurfürstendamm and Schöneberg.
Although our trip was last minute with little planning, a glance at the map showed Berlin was packed with things to do. Travelling with my 19-year-old son, I spent three full days exploring the city, each day accidentally curating a neat itinerary I couldn’t have planned better if I’d tried. This first day shows us making quick acquaintance with Berlin from the ground, water and air.
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Public Transport
Having spent 23 hours reaching Berlin (thank you Flixbus/Flixtrain) in order to give Ted a flavour of what interrailing might be like, we had a relaxed start to our first morning with two activities booked that afternoon. Given Ted’s passion for public transport systems, the obvious thing to do was to get BVG travel passes and make a few journeys getting a sense of Berlin’s geography.
We jumped on the U-bahn, using the north-south U6 line and were immediately captivated by the Wes Anderson-worthy interiors and rolling stock. Most trains, buses and trams in Berlin are yellow but they are less uniform than the London Underground.
S-Bahn trains, with their yellow and red carriages, usually run above ground serving more distant parts of the city, rather like Paris’s RER. Older stations still bear historic Fraktur blackletter signage, some have display panels about the city’s unconventional development; the U6 line is one that transported West Berliners through “ghost stations” in East Berlin but never stopping.
Tempelhof Airfield
Twenty minutes’ ride south brought us out on one side of Tempelhof airfield, the disused 1930s airport once used for the Berlin airlift. The vast rigid airport building curves around an airfield that’s now a public park, the original runways still intact. A circus was pitched up with Berliners biking and jogging around the edge.
There are exhibitions and guided tours at Tempelhof airport on Wednesdays to Sundays but even a walk around the outside reveals architecture with the unmistakeable visual language of 1930s Germany.
Hopping on a train to Warschauer Straße, Ted was keen to see the Oberbaumbrücke. I’d not heard of this landmark but on arrival saw the impact of the double-deck bridge carrying road traffic below and yellow U-Bahn trains above against red bricks and the blue sky.
Once a heavily guarded border crossing between East and West Berlin, the Oberbaumbrücke now links the districts of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, and is a symbol of German reunification. From here it’s a short walk to The Wall Museum and East Side Gallery, with its famous Socialist kiss mural and other street artworks on the longest remaining section of wall.
Instead, we were bound for the riverside close to the Berliner Dom before our afternoon bookings. We came via Hackescher Markt, a public square now home to shops and restaurants, noting it for dinner later. Between here and the Berliner Dom on Museuminsel, we found souvenir shopping opportunity at one of Berlin’s ubiquitous Ampelmann shops. These quirky green and red men seen on traffic crossings throughout the former East Germany, are immortalised in key rings, magnets and other gifts.
For a pitstop we had warm cardamon buns from Espresso House, which has branches dotted over the city. Although the same familiar format as other global chains, the wicker seating reminded me of those at German seaside resorts and charmed us; unfortunately the pesky wasps, instantly drawn to anything sweet, did not.
The DDR Museum
Quickly we whisked past queues into the DDR Museum, which we’d pre-booked via Get Your Guide. Being huge fans of Deutschland 83, we had a slightly unhealthy fascination with Stasi-chic and had heard you could still visit the Stasi HQ featured in the show. It turned out this austere building is elsewhere and the DDR Museum is a softer nostalgic interactive experience. We still enjoyed the hands-on mix of video, props and recreations.
You can root through the cupboards of an East German flat, spy on residents in a surveillance room or sit behind a big-wig’s desk. We tried on military hats, pressed our noses up against a Volvo stretched limousine used by GDR officials (definitely not a Trabant!) and saw architectural salvage from the since demolished Palast Der Republik.
Lighting, flooring and signage samples give a flavour of the gold glass-fronted building, home to East Germany’s Volkskammer, or parliament, as well as numerous cultural venues. It stood in front of the TV tower, where we would be going later.
One-Hour River Spree Cruise
Back outside it was perfect timing for an impromptu one-hour River Spree cruise. Berliner Wassertaxi departed from a pier right outside the DDR Museum. There are various boat tours offered along the river with cruises as long as four hours, incorporating the Berlin canal system, as well as evening tours with dinner served onboard.
Feet now flagging, we benefited from table service for very reasonably priced drinks and live audio commentary (in German and English). Relaxing in the sunshine, buildings such as the Humboldt Forum, House of World Cultures and the government district, notably the Reichstag with its famous glass dome, floated past.
Berliner Fernsehturm (TV Tower)
On shore, we were fifteen minutes’ walk from Alexanderplatz and the Berliner Fernsehturm, or TV Tower, which seems to hover in your peripheral vision no matter where you are. Built in 1969, it’s the tallest structure in Germany, and at 368 metres, substantially higher than London’s Shard. Our ears popped in the lift zooming to the viewing gallery up in the sphere.
We’d also pre-booked the TV Tower with Get Your Guide and chosen a sunset slot although this meant facing the sun to pick out landmarks to the west. We easily picked out Tempelhof from that morning and got a sense how huge the Tiergarten is – more forest than mere park.
There’s a bar serving drinks on the observation deck and a restaurant on the level above (pre-booked only). We spent around 30 minutes admiring the view but we could have stayed longer.
This was a sensibly budgeted trip with a teenager, so no gourmet dinners. At Restauration 1840, in one of the Hackescher Markt arches, we were keen to try German favourite: currywurst. These weren’t hot dogs as I anticipated, and not really curry: ours was a long sausage covered with tasty sweet-and-sour paprika gravy. Washed down with a glass of beer, I can see the appeal.
The Berlin Wall Memorial
Although tired, we were not quite ready for bed yet. So to make use of our transport ticket, we randomly boarded a tram at dusk to see where it took us. We found ourselves at the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer, or Berlin Wall Memorial. Although there’s an indoor section to this museum, a lot of it is outside and accessible 24 hours a day.
As well as a length of the original wall, there’s a stretch laid with vertical rods on the old border. Also here, part of the “death strip”, roughly fifty metres wide, is now parkland. This green area, once heavily fortified, is punctuated with more information panels and listening posts telling stories of the post-1945 and Cold War era. We were on the site of the Gothic revival Versöhnungkirche, the Church of Reconciliation, which was so close to the wall that its tower was used as an observation point by border guards. There now stands a modern memorial chapel clad with wooden panels.
Accommodation
It had been a highly stimulating day and we were glad of our surprisingly luxurious hotel room at Eurostars Berlin. In a very central location, we were only two minutes’ walk from key Berlin interchange Friedrichstraße Bahnhof, and a short stroll to the big museums on Museuminsel or riverside restaurants along the Spree.
I say “surprisingly luxurious”, for Eurostars had cost barely more than a weekend room in a Travelodge, even as a late booking with breakfast included. There was a spa-style swimming pool, gym and sauna on the top floor. The glassy atrium lobby with bar area was businesslike, but the spacious room was comfortable with fluffy towelling robes, a huge bathroom and mini-bar. With its generous morning buffet serving pickled herring and Sekt German sparkling wine (!) alongside pretzels for breakfast, I was taking a shine to Germany.
Fact box
We self-booked all of our activities less than 24 hours before leaving and were away for five nights, one of which was overnight coach travel.
We travelled to Berlin using Flixbus from London Victoria Coach Station and a Flixtrain connection from Dortmund to Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Journey times and fares vary; it can be as low as £62 pp and 19 hours, although we paid £150 pp in peak season and took 23 hours.
The bus was comfortable with air con, good legroom and a loo onboard. The train was more old-fashioned and cramped. Seats can be reserved. You will disembark at the port for passport checks.
We flew back with Ryanair; flights can be as low as £15-19 although six days ahead we paid £80 pp plus baggage fee. Berlin Brandenburg Airport is around 23 minutes from Berlin Hauptbahnhof with regular direct express services.
Berlin’s BVG public transport day tickets for zones ABC (regular fare €12.90) are valid to reach the airport. An AB zone day ticket (€11.20) was enough for our other days.
We used Get Your Guide to pre-book the DDR Museum (€12) and Berlin TV Tower (€25). The DDR Museum entry was “skip the line” at any point on your booked date, for the TV Tower we had an allotted time.
Berliner Wassertaxi was €16 without pre-booking required, the pier was directly outside the DDR Museum.
Berlin Eurostars hotel was €500 for four nights in a double or twin room including breakfast; we booked via Lastminute.com.
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