Category: Germany

Berlin is one of the most affordable Western European cities, however as a visitor, it is important to follow general rules when traveling on a budget. This Berlin guide will help you plan your budget travel to the German capital city and provides beneficial and effective first-hand advice. Whether you are visiting for a weekend or a month, all these tips are relevant for effective budget travel!

I spent nearly 3 months in Berlin, during which I was on an extremely tight budget. Whether I was visiting music, finding somewhere to sleep, or seeking a cheap drink, my first consideration was consistently finding the cheapest option for everything. This is a budget travel Berlin guide created from my first-hand experiences in Berlin while scraping together the rest of the change in my pocket.

The first question of whether to travel to a destination should always be whether there are enough sights and attractions to see. From all my travels, I can say with the most confidence that Berlin encompasses something for everyone. From vast parks and historic museums to cozy bars and mesmerizing street art, Berlin is a cultural a true cultural gem.

To pick out your perfect daily itinerary in Berlin, I wrote a separate article on things to do in Berlin on a budget.

Berlin hosts almost 200 museums with topics like art, history, and science. While many visitors flock to the renowned Museum Island, some of the best-value museums lie in the various neighborhoods throughout the city. There are even a handful of museums that are free of charge! To navigate this extensive list of exhibits, check out my article on the best cheap (and free) museums in Berlin.

The hostel experience in Berlin is not like how you would expect it from other major European cities. Due to the city’s exhausting housing demands, many hostels are full of people working rather than traveling, creating a mixed environment for those looking for a social travel atmosphere and those attempting to find study spaces and quiet sleeping accommodations. Nonetheless, this also makes for a more unique and personal hostel experience.

Expect to pay roughly €25 to €40 for a night at one of these hostels. Pricing depends heavily on the weekend demand and events in the neighborhood for which the hostel is located.

I stayed at a fair share of hostels throughout the city, as I wanted to hop around and experience the different neighborhoods that Berlin offers. Here is a Berlin guide of my personal review (both good and bad) on each of them:

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

A&O Mitte is a hostel with an ungodly number of rooms tucked away in the developing Mitte neighborhood. The location of this hostel is relatively close to the exciting neighborhoods of Kreuzberg and Freidrichschain, giving a diverse option of cheap places to eat and drink. The hostel is huge with a fancy lobby, but outside drinks and food are not allowed. Furthermore, if you want to walk somewhere quick for dinner, expect to walk at least a half mile to something affordable.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

36 Rooms Kreuzberg should not be your first option when coming to Berlin. The hostel has no facilities whatsoever, therefor making your trip more expensive than you were anticipating. The one thing I liked about this hostel is that it is perfectly located in my favorite neighborhood in Berlin: Kreuzberg. Some of the cheapest street food, bars, and cafes litter this part of Berlin, making it exciting and worth staying in. 36 Rooms has its tradeoffs for sure…

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Lettem Sleep Hostel in Prenzlauerberg is my favorite hostel that I stayed at in Berlin. With reasonable pricing, a nice kitchen, and friendly staff, Lettem Sleep should be at the top of your list when traveling on a Budget to Berlin. Additionally, the hostel sits across the street from a lively park with ping pong, a soccer court, and a green space.

Berlin is one of the best places in the world for going out at night. With such a young population, the city provides something for many different tastes.

There is a type of bar that many would consider a traditional “Berliner bar” that is necessary to experience when visiting the city. With more candles than lights, quiet and jazzy music, and the faint (or strong) scent of cigarettes, you will soon realize you are in a “Berliner bar.”

The best neighborhoods to find affordable drinks in Berlin are Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, and Neukölln. As I spent most of my 2 months in Berlin in these neighborhoods, I created a Berlin guide on the best bars based on value, location, affordability, and vibes.

Berlin has a cash only culture. Many small businesses like shops, bars, and restaurants will not accept your card. However, most grocery stores will.

When traveling it Berlin, it is important to know which ATMs to visit. The is because many of them will charge you a surplus or mess up the current exchange rate. If your bank account is denominated in Euros, then most ATMs around the city will not charge you. Unfortunately, those same ATMs charge everyone else anywhere from a €5-€10 transaction fee along with any other exchange rate fee. I made this mistake too many times!

Avoiding the fees is not the hard, though. Locate a partner bank and grab cash from their ATMs. It will often not charge fees, but it does depend on your bank.

Berlin has to be the best city in Europe for public transport. Berlin is a city of more than 3 million people, but it is evenly spread throughout its neighborhoods. Due to this, an efficient public transport system is necessary!

To put it simply: the main forms of public transport are the U-Bahn (subway), S-Bahn (ground rail), TRAM, and bus system. When purchasing tickets, do not worry about buying induvial bus or train tickets. The tickets are based off time intervals, like 30 minutes, 1 hour, or multi-day tickets from the point when you validate them. Berlin is split between 3 different transportations sections based on pricing: A, B, and C. Most tickets that you buy should be AB tickets, as you will only need C tickets for places further away (like the airport).

Overall, public transportation will always be your best option in Berlin! As intimidating as it may seem, it is always a great expereince figuring out transporation in any city. Download the BVG app for bus and train times, as well as logistics and notifications.

Berlin is a city of endless activities. Most travelers browse past Berlin in a weekend. Like any place, the only way to get a true feeling for a city is to stay as long as possible. However, if you can only spare a few days, I wrote a walking Berlin guide of some of Berlin’s popular attractions. The more time you spend in Berlin, the more you will fall in love with it!

Berlin is a budget traveler’s dream city. With cheap beer, affordable hostels, and a seamless public transportation system, Berlin has it all. This Berlin guide is perfect to use as a resource before you take a journey to the German capital!

Berlin is one of the best cities in the world for sightseeing. Popular sites such as the Brandenburger Gate, Berliner TV Tower, the Reichstag building, and more are some of Germany’s most visited places. As Berlin is full of things to discover, it is nearly impossible to do everything during one trip. This article is a Berlin walking tour through some of the city’s most popular attractions!

This guide is meant for a half or full-day excursion, depending on how fast you walk and the amount of time you plan on spending at each site. Each section gives a brief history of the site, other resources to learn more, and my personal experience.

As you will see, Berlin is full of bike tours, segway tours, and walking tours with guides that pack the streets of Alexanderplatz. These tours can easily take up most of your travel budget to the German capital. This article is intended for those like me, who do not want to spend money on a walking tour, but are eager to learn about the destination.

For a more immersive experience, I recommend checking out Rick Steve’s Audio Guide through Berlin. He dives heavily into the history that has shaped the culture of Berlin. The guide is free and explains popular destinations like the Reichstag, the old Berlin Wall, and even Hitler’s former bunker.

The total walking distance for the tour will take about an hour and a half. Considering there are plenty of places to shop, museums to explore, and food to eat along the way, this tour could easily take all day to complete.

While this walking tour of Berlin has plenty of popular attractions, it fails to encompass the true cultural feel of the city. While Alexanderplatz is the geographic center of Berlin, it fails to display the true gems of the city. However, from a financial and time-oriented point of view, this guide provides a realistic representation of the amount of sightseeing you will be able to complete on a weekend trip.

The cost of this walking tour of Berlin is obviously free, however I recommend checking out at least 1 museum along the way. The museums in Berlin are amazing, and quite affordable compared to other Western European capital cities.

For some alternative ides for a budget travel trip to Berlin, I recommend diving into a separate article explaining some other affordable activities in Berlin.

Berlin is one of the best cities in the world for sightseeing. Sites like the Brandenburger Gate and the Berliner TV Tower are on the top bucket lists for people coming to visit the eccentric German capital. Visitors tend to pay for an expensive walking tour of Berlin, but this guide provides a free alternative to travelers from a broke perspective.

Introduction

Berlin is an exciting and electric cultural hub that has a little bit of everything. The German capital has some of the best urban parks, historical museums, sporting events, outdoor art murals, and an unmatched nightlife. Read more about what to do in Berlin on a budget!

This guide will give you an insider’s scoop on the best things to do in Berlin. If you want to learn about practical information like where to stay, time needed, or how to get around, I urge you to read Berlin: The Ultimate Travel Guide (COMING SOON). Berlin is an affordable city compared to the rest of Western Europe, making it an ideal budget travel destination.

My time in Berlin on a Budget

I spent about 2 months in Berlin, getting an immersive experience. I spent most of my time in the neighborhoods of Prenzlauerberg, Neukolln, Kreuzberg, and Frierichshain. It is such a huge city that it is easy to find a new experience every day. Most of my free time in Berlin was spent checking out museums, walking around Berlin’s unmatched urban parks, grabbing drinks with friends, and walking almost everywhere.

If you picture yourself spending your time in Berlin doing similar activities, I urge you to read further!

What to in Berlin on a Budget

Berlin is far from short of things to do, as the city hosts something for everyone. The following list is based on some of the best budget friendly things to do in the German capital!

Visit one of Berlin’s many cheap (or free) museums

Berlin is home to some of the best museums in the world. If you like history, you can check out the Pergamon Museum, the Bunker, or the German Resistance Museum. If you are into science, the Humboldt Forum hosts some world-class exhibits from some of the smartest students. Finally, if you enjoy street art, you can check out Urban Nation or the East Side Gallery. Most of these museums and exhibits are free as well!

During my 2 months in Berlin, I visited more than 20 museums. To help you find the best way to spend your time, I filtered my favorite museums and wrote my article on the Best Cheap (and Free) Museums in Berlin.

Hangout in a green Berliner park

The parks in Berlin are abundant and popular. Some of the best times I spent in the city was with a beer at a park while listening to some live music. Berliners love their ping-pong, pilsners, mini football fields, greenery, and gardens. You will find all these things at almost every park you find. Here are some of the best parks to spend an evening in:

Mauer Park is hands down the best park in the city. The park was given the name Mauer, meaning wall in German, because it is a former no-entry zone during the time of the Cold War. Now, it is the most exciting green space with a skate park, grills, benches, and a big hill to watch the sunset from. Every night that I visited there was a drum circle or some other live music.

On Sundays, Mauer Park hosts one of the largest flee markets in the city, where you can buy almost anything you need. Because of how popular it has become, it is not the cheapest flee market in the city, but it is worth checking out regardless.

Treptower Park is a fun place to hang out along the Spree River. Here, you will find a nice riverside walkway, nice benches, and a large grass field to play sports in. During warmer months, vendors line up along the water offering coffee, beer, food, and more. It is, however, a little bit more expensive than we would like. The Soviet War Memorial is also located in the southeastern part of the field.

Tempelhofer Feld is a former airport located just south of the Neukolln neighborhood in Berlin. When the airport officially closed in 2008, it quickly became a place for outdoor recreation and some of the largest music festivals. The former airfield makes an ideal location for sports like windsurfing, biking, running, and kite flying. It is an ideal place to go on a walk and get away from the city that surrounds it.

Groβer Tiergarten is a forested park that is an ideal park to take a break in whenever you are doing the traditional Berlin site sightseeing. This is because it is situated between the Victory Column and the Brandenburger Tor. Some monuments that you will find scattered throughout the park are the Friedrich Wilhelm III monument, the Beethoven-Haydn-Mozart Memorial, the Löwengruppe sculpture, and another Soviet War Memorial.

One lesser-known park in Berlin that is worth a shout is the Volkspark Friedrichshain (also known as Groβer Bunkerberg). The park sits on a hill of a former Nazi anti-aircraft site, but the building was destroyed after the war. The hill springs out of a generally flat Berlin landscape, so it provides some unexpectedly great views. I recommend taking a nice walk up the spiraling trail!

Go on a hike up to Teufelsberg

Teufelsberg is a unique attraction that is located in the Forst Grunwald, neighboring the Charlottenburg neighborhood. Teufelsburg actually means “devil’s mountain” in German. It is not an official mountain, because it is not naturally made. After WWII, Berlin needed somewhere to put all of the rubble of the fallen buildings, so they designated it to be away from the center of the city. This created a hill that became a strategic location for the United States to set up an elevated radio station.

In the 1950s, the massive center was built and used during the Cold War. When the wall fell, there was no use for the building and the technology was outdated at this point. Street artists quickly took over the structure, just as they did throughout the city as a symbol of a new age of peace and love. Teufelsberg today has some of the best murals in the city. Since the building is elevated on top of an artificial mountain, it also makes for the best views of Berlin and the surrounding forest.

It is now privately owned, so unfortunately there is a steep €8 entrance price. But, it seems worth it as they continually are renovating the old building and hire artists. I spent nearly 2 hours here! Pack lunch and chill for a bit at the top of the building!

As remote as it may see, Teufelsberg is actually well-connected to the rest of the city. You can take the S3, S5, or S9 to Heerstrasse Station, then walk about 30 minutes through the neighborhood and up the hill. However, once you are close, you will see a big white tower. The park surrounding the hill has many trails that lead to the top.

Take a personal walking tour through Berlin’s famous monuments

It is a requirement to at least see all of the traditional touristy spots in Berlin. Some of these locations include: Brandenburger Tor, the European Jewish Memorial, and the Reichstag.

After walking this tour far too many times, I found the most efficient route that will allow you to hit all the “must-sees” in Berlin. Read about it in my recent blog post! (COMING SOON)

Take a day trip to Potsdam

Potsdam is a historical and picturesque city just south east of Berlin. Thankfully due to its proximity to the city, Berlin’s public transportation system extends out to Potsdam, making it an ideal location for a day trip.

I recommend starting your day on Brandenburger Straβe and heading east towards the mini Brandenburger Gate of Potsdam. Walk past the gate and spend the rest of your day walking through Schlosspark Sanssouci. Here, you will find beautiful gardens, old buildings, and a few monuments. Overall, you can easily spend an entire day walking around Potsdam taking in all the sights.

Walk the Streetart & Myth mural trail in Kreuzberg

The Streetart & Myth Mural Trail is in the famous neighborhood in Berlin called Kreuzberg. This neighborhood was a cheap alternative place to live compared to the other West Berlin neighborhoods in the times of the Berlin Wall. Because of this, it became a known artistic district.

There are 12 murals officially added to the mural trail, but along the way, you will see street art on almost every corner. To get a free personal tour of the trail, download the “ABOUT BERLIN” app and find the tour with the Streetart & Myth Mural Trail in Berlin.

Go out for the night in Berlin

Berlin is the best city in the world for nightlife. The famous club scene is what drives people to the city, but I am not here to tell you how to get into one of the famous exclusive clubs. Rather, this is a guide to the best bars, dance bars, and nighttime entertainment in Berlin. Thankfully, the city is quite affordable when it comes to grabbing drinks, but it is all dependent on the neighborhood you are in.

I recommend reading the list of my favorite places to drink in Berlin while being budget cautious. (COMING SOON)

Conclusion

Berlin is an exciting and affordable location that has something for everyone. With a rich history, diverse culture, immense art scene, and unbeatable nightlife, the German capital is a traveler’s dream. You can visit one of Berlin’s countless museums, and chill parks, or even take a day trip to Potsdam. There are countless things to do in Berlin on a budget, making the city a true traveler’s gem!

Introduction

Berlin is full of cheap (and free) museums covering all topics of interest. The German capital had a fascinating recent history, making it a top destination for an educational experience. It is possible to visit some of Berlin’s most popular museums without spending a single euro! In this article, I explain my favorite museums, while providing a brief preview on what you can expect on your visit. Follow this guide to help you decide which cheap museums to visit when planning your budget travel to Berlin!

What to expect from Berlin museums

Berlin museums range heavily on length, mood, and topic. Almost every one of the museums are extensive and require at least 2 hours. It is not necessary to reserve tickets online to any of the museums on the following list, other than the crowded Pergamon Museum. Generally, ticket prices are not cheaper online.

You will likely be told to stash your bag before going into an exhibit. I recommend bringing a €1 coin, as you will need it to use one of the free lockers.

Almost every museum on this list offers an audio guide. To get a full immersive experience, an audio guide makes a huge difference.

Top cheap (or free) museums in Berlin

Below is a list of cheap (or free) museums that I visited while I stayed in Berlin for 3 months. As I was on a budget, I sought value over popularity. Below I will give you tips on the specific museum, along with some of my favorite parts of each.

Humbold Forum

The Humboldt Forum is a large museum with dozens of exhibits and events both permanent and temporary. It is one of the best free museums in Berlin, as many of the exhibits are either free or cheap. and are always free for students. I recommend checking out the available exhibitions for the day you are visiting via the Humboldt Forum’s website!

Berlin Global

Berlin Global is a neat permanent exhibition. As a student, I got in for free, but otherwise it is €6. Expect to spend about 1.5 hours here. The museum acts as a city museum, but in an interactive manner. When you enter, an employee will give you a wristband and instructions for the exhibit.

When you enter each room, you make a decision based on your morals and beliefs. At the end of the exhibit, you will turn your wristband into an evaluation based on your decisions throughout the time in the exhibit. A computer will print a card that rates your decisions based on freedom, equality, security, and tradition. The whole idea of this is that Berlin had to make some tough decisions through their history, and the exhibit tries to highlight the complexity of those choices.

The exhibit starts in the 1870s, giving various illustrations of how Berlin influenced the world. It covers loads of topics like clothing, borders, immigration, and even a silent disco.

Nach die Natur

Nach die Natur (After nature) exhibit is completely free . The exhibit acts as a display case for the brilliant minds at Humboldt University and their studies. It is broken into 3 sections: a research wall, display objects, and archives from the University. I recommend giving yourself a little bit over an hour for the exhibit.

The first section of the exhibit brings you into a blue-colored room with 8 different screens explaining various theories within nature. It focuses on how we, as humans, can harvest the power of nature for our own benefit. Next, there is a large room with more than 40 (estimate) glass boxes hanging from the ceiling. Each box contains a different research topic. This is a cool place for someone who wants to learn a little bit about everything that is going on at Humboldt University.

My favorite displays within Nach die Natur

The one that caught my attention was the Cluster of Excellence Neuro Care. It stated that we are studying certain fish brains to discover a cure to Parkinson’s disease. Another video was describing how students are studying different types of matter within fungi to discover a new stronger building material.

The second and more lengthy section of the Nach die Natur exhibit uses objects to help explain a deeper level of understanding. The objects ranged broadly from scientific evidence to social demonstrations. I enjoyed the Adaptive Digital Twin, showing a holographic model of a human brain that helps for MRI scanning. Also, the Let There Be Light display explains how model receptors in our brains respond to light without having eyes. It shows how proteins work together to trigger vision, potentially leading to a way allowing blind people to see.

The Canister Masks display is an ironic plastic African tribal mask used to represent the exploitation of European countries in poor African nations. There are loads of political statement displays that are mixed in with many scientific observations and experiments. The exhibit does a fantastic job covering various educational studies.

The Bunker Museum

The Bunker Museum is an emotionally intense immersive museum. It is another cheap Berlin museum, as entry tickets cost €12 (€6 for students). An audio guide is also included in the price for entrance. The museum has more than 30 rooms, taking you through an extensive timeline of Adolf Hitler’s life. This museum is long, so consider giving yourself at least 2 hours to thoroughly experience it. It supports the fact that Hitler was the reason behind Germany’s dark recent history.

The museum was created in an old bunker that was meant to house Hitler, creating an authentic and dark atmosphere and there are more than 35 rooms in total. It starts by explaining the different groups that were oppressed by Hitler’s Nazi Germany. You will go downstairs, where it takes you through the early childhood of Hitler. The timeline progresses until around the 1930s, where the museum turns into more Nazi-centric and explains political figures associated with Hitler, the Jewish massacres, and the German public perceptions.

Towards the end, the museum describes Hitler’s suicide by recreating the room in which it was committed. After, you will be taken through the transition that Germany has gone through after the grip of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Due to the dark images, you are not allowed to take pictures in the museum.

German Resistance Museum

The German Resistance Museum is a free museum in Berlin describing the people that resisted the socialist Nazi regime. It is a testament to the various individuals and groups that attempted to liberate the German people. The museum has loads of information, so give yourself more than an hour to read through all the exhibitions. It is organized into sections based on groups formed and events that occurred during and before WWII.

One room that struck me was the Kreisau Circle exhibition. The group was formed during WWII with the goal of establishing law and logistics on implementing a democratic system for the post-Nazi era. One room in the museum gives a detailed background into the leaders of the Kreisau Circle’s leaders, Freya and James Grafin Moltke. Unfortunately, most all the circle’s plans were never implemented due to the Gestapo secret police, who discovered their activities in early 1944.

The most well-known exhibit in the museum is the section detailing the attempted coup of July 20^th, 1944 (also known as Operation Valkyrie). The coup was an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler from a bomb that was planted in a suitcase in his conference room. Operation Valkyrie failed because someone moved the suitcase unexpectedly, and the blast was not strong enough to penetrate the large, oak table that the bomb sat under. Hitler got away unscathed, and everyone who was suspected of being involved in the assassination attempt was executed.

Overall, the museum highlights some interesting events that you likely have never heard of before. It is unique, as it explains a more hopeful side to recent German history. Most of the events described are overshadowed by the dark events of the Nazis, so it is refreshing to hear a different point of view.

Roads not Taken Exhibit (Deutches Historisches Museum)

The Deutches Historisches Museum’s permanent exhibits are currently closed until further notice, but the building still hosts some temporary exhibits, including the Roads Not Taken exhibition. The cheap Berlin museum is €6, but only €3 for students. The museum will take you about an hour and a half.

The exhibition starts in 1848 when democracy in current day Germany was being adopted. The museum is a theoretic history museum of how things could have panned out for Germany, and the rest of the world, if certain decisions were made differently. The exhibit highlights pivotal moments in the country’s history. It is at times highly spectacle, but realistic and factually backed.

One section that was interesting to me was the American nuclear threat. Apparently, the United States was planning a nuclear weapon on Germany to end WWII in 1945. Subsequently, the US chose not to do this because of a failed German attempt to destroy a key bridge over the Rhine River. Since US troops were able to advance by foot, they were able to capture German territory without the use of a nuclear weapon. The section poses the question: what if the Rhine bridge was destroyed, forcing the Americans into a harder decision?

I also enjoyed the 1936 German Occupation of the Rhineland display. After WWI, Germany agreed to de-militarize in the neutral Rhineland zone that separated French and German troops. In the wake of WWII, Hitler ordered the German military into this zone, breaking an agreement and gaining public support. Shortly before, Italy invades Ethiopia, breaking a pact between France, England, and Italy. With rising tensions, Hitler took advantage of a perfect opportunity. The exhibit poses the question whether Germany would have made this offensive move had Italy not made the Allied forces upset first.

The East Side Gallery

The East Side Gallery is one of the first places that you will want to visit as a tourist in Berlin. The famous Berlin wall fell in 1989. Immediately following the collapse, more than 100 artists from all over the world came to paint their creativity on the wall. The pieces signify global unity, love, and peace throughout thew world.

The art can be seen along 1.3 km section of actual concrete slabs of the former wall. Because of its sheer length, it is actually the longest open-aired art gallery in the world. I recommend taking your time along the wall and spend about an hour and a half appreciating every bit of it. The walk will take you into fun parts of the city that you can explore after. It is an open-aired exhibit, so it is free of charge.

The Pergamon Museum

The Pergamon Museum is Berlin’s most famous museum. It is a collection of ancient artifacts focused on current day Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, Inda, Central Asia, Northern African and Mediterranean countries. Germany’s close historical ties between Austria and the Ottoman Empire allowed the museum to collect an extensive list of rare artifacts. The ground floor focuses on collections from the ancient near east and the upstairs takes you through the history of Islamic cultures.

The museum costs €12 or €6 reduced. I recommend spending at least 2 hours here. For this museum, you must buy your ticket online, as it is a timed entry system.

This museum had tons to it, so I made a list of some highlights that I found interesting that you should check out!

The James Simon Gallery is the first room go through when you enter the museum. The purpose of the room is to display some of the most impressive large stone pieces that have been discovered in the past 100 years. Most of the gallery was destroyed in WWII, but with extensive effort, many of the objectes were recreated. My favorite display in the room were more than 200 ancient texts from Mesopotamia describing day-to-day life. There is also the massive Statue of Hadad, an ancient weather god.

Uruk is the world’s most ancient (known) city. There is a 5000-year-old household that was discovered this is on display at the Pergamon. This old structure is amazing and highlights the information that our scientist can gather from just a few pieces of stones. There is also a ritual vase from the Uruk times that is on display in the exhibit.

The largest display in the museum is the market gate that was recreated from 100 AD. In ancient Rome, markets were the center of all trade, commerce, and life in a town. The gate was moved from the ancient town of Miletus to the Pergamon museum. Another cool feature is the Orpheus Mosaic, a typical dining room tile art display from a wealthy Roman home. I cannot wrap my head around how exactly they managed to move this structure across the world, but it makes the display that much more impressive.

The entire first floor is dedicated to a timeline of Islamic history. The exhibit starts at the founding of Islam in the 7^th century. It is decorated in artifacts with bold colors and intricate designs. In Islamic art there are no depictions of living things, so all the artwork is done through design and writings.

I enjoyed the installation showing some old wallpaper found inside the home from Samarra, the former capital of the Islamic world founded in year 836. Samarra flourished in this time period, as it sat on the Silk Road, allowing them to import lavished goods from China like pottery and jewelry. The advancement of wealth was a product of their growth in science and medicine.

Futurium Museum

The Futurium is the best free museum in Berlin for science lovers. It is a thought provoking and organized museum that makes you question society structures with regard towards a sustainable future. Topics that are covered in the museum are sustainable energy, durable alternatives to steel and concrete, circular economics models, the future of vaccinations, and even a robot.

The museum starts on the first floor, where you will receive a wristband that will track your activity. Throughout the exhibits, you will be asked to make decisions on your own behalf, and on the natural world. When you finish, you will walk up the spiral staircase to the second floor. Here, you will deposit your wristband and receive a notecard evaluating your decisions and comparing you to other visitors.

Urban Nation

Urban Nation is an interesting free art museum located in the Schonenberg neighborhood. The museum is a politically-driven art installation with topics like media influences, immigration, peace, and personal freedom. The use of pop-culture in this temporary art museum is controversial, but entertaining.

I enjoyed the “deepfake” commercial, showing faces of famous people saying things on an interview that would normally get them cancelled. The crazy thing is, you cannot tell that it is actually a fake video. As entertaining as it is scary, this is a must-see thing at Urban Nation.

Overall, Urban Nation is a fun art museum to visit in Berlin. Spend about an hour through the exhibits with an open mind.

Topography of Terror

Topography of Terror is one of the most popular free museums in Berlin. The eye-opening museum has 2 parts: outdoor and indoor. If you do not know much about the history of the Nazi regime, spend about an hour in the outdoor section, as it takes you through a timeline of the rise of the Nazis.

Once inside, spend more than an hour reading through the terrifying stories. Do not expect to feel very good after this chilling presentation. The museum is organized by time date, and by the country that was prosecuted. The museum acts as a testament and reminder to the world how dangerous a hateful socialist regime can be. The Topography of Terror will send you away sad, but aware of the horrific events that took place across Europe during and before WWII.

Conclusion

Berlin is a top destination for museum lovers. The German capital hosts some of the best free and cheap museums in the world. Because of the city’s turbulent recent history, there are loads of stories to learn. Berlin is a true modern-day creative centerpiece.