When planning a trip, we think about traveling by train or plane, but the reality is that bus is often cheaper or covers routes that other transportation options can’t. Let’s tell you about our experience.

We have used Flixbus between Germany and Poland, more specifically between Berlin and Poznan, and we will tell you how it turned out.

The prices this company offers are often very cheap, and it covers many routes within Europe, so it was a decision we made quickly.

Search the Flixbus website for my routes within Europe

It includes one checked bag and one carry-on bag, so our suitcases were safe and sound. If you need to add luggage, you can also do so online for a fee.

Tickets can be purchased online in advance. Schedule changes are flexible.

The Flixbus departure from Berlin was from the Südkreuz terminal to the Poznan terminal. In Berlin, there are several bus options, so choose the one that’s most convenient for you.

When the bus arrives, you will load your luggage into the hold yourself. If you wish, you can identify it in advance, as we did.

The permitted weight is 20 kg for a large suitcase and 7 kg for a small one. They are flexible, or at least they were in our case, but just in case, keep in mind the weight, as well as the dimensions, are specified on the website.

The journeys were smooth and on time. This was our experience, and you should always take precautions in case you are delayed, especially if you are already heading to the airport to return, as was our case on the way back.

We returned from Poznan directly to Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which was very convenient for us to catch our return flight. As I was saying, just in case, we decided to travel early in the morning, and the flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until the afternoon. It arrived on time, very punctually, so we waited inside the airport for that time, but… better safe than sorry.

They have an app where you can store your tickets and also check schedules and make changes to them, as well as purchase new ones.

In short, the experience was positive and we will definitely use them again.

Have you seen our tour of Berlin? ►Berlin, what to see and do in the city

Video about Flixbus

NOTE: The information in this article is based on our own experience and is entirely objective. This article contains affiliate links.

La entrada FLIXBUS se publicó primero en Europa acompañada.

Berlin is the capital of Germany, after the Second World War, the city was divided; the eastern part of the city became the capital of the German Democratic Republic, while the western part belonged to the Federal Republic of Germany. Remains of the wall remind us of this and it will be one of the tours we will do in this city.

How many days should you spend? Like any big city, if you can stay for a week, that’s great, but we’re realistic and we know that most people can’t, at least not those who travel from America and are going on a tour of many cities. We stayed for 3 days and it wasn’t enough, so if you can add a little more, that’s better, but if not, you’ll take advantage of having that first contact with the city and finding out if you like it and if you want to come back, because everyone’s tastes are always different. It’s obvious, but it has to be repeated.

Those of you who follow us always know that our recommendations come exclusively from activities or things that we use, and we leave you here our opinion and how it turned out for us.

Day 1►What to see in Berlin

Free Tour

We’re going to start as always with a free tour. For those who aren’t regulars of our videos, we’ll tell you that the name free only means that it’s free to make the reservation, but not the tour, since you’ll then have to leave a payment that you’ll decide. You’ll set a price for that tour at the end of it depending on what you think of it. It’s a payment and not a tip, so leave something in line with what the tour was like.

Remember to make a reservation in advance, as they generally don’t go out if they don’t have a minimum number of participants planned for the tour. Particularly this free tour that we did with Jorge was excellent, a passionate history buff who knew how to convey it. Sometimes it happens that we can feel more or less affinity with the way of communicating of the guide we have been assigned, but as a general rule I still think that when arriving in a city the first activity should be a walking tour.

►Free Tour Berlin

The one we did started at the Brandenburg Gate, so it’s a great time to show you this impressive gate.

Brandenburg Gate

This neoclassical monument from the 18th century built by order of the King of Prussia, Federick Wilhelm II is one of the best known monuments in Germany, and was built on the location of the former city gate at the beginning of the road leading from Berlin to< wpml_nbsp >Brandenburg City.

We are now going to give you this second recommendation of something that we use a lot! Unlimited Internet in this city and throughout the trip we made within Europe with the Holafly eSims.

It’s not our first time, we’ve been using them since our previous trips, but the truth is that they continue to be very good for us. You don’t find hidden costs, you don’t have to take your SIM out of your phone, you don’t waste time looking for physical SIMs in stores, and you already know what you’re going to spend before starting the trip. For Europe you have eSims from 5 to 90 days, we chose the 30-day ones and during that time we had unlimited internet, which we used without ever thinking about how many gigabytes we were consuming.

►Did you see our article on how to activate it, and pros and cons of the eSim?

We leave our followers a code so that by booking from our link they can get a discount.

►Book your Holafly eSim ►Discount code: EUROPAACOMPAÑADA5

Holafly offers internet service in more than 160 countries and in 45 of them it has unlimited data, as in this case from Europe and that has been so good for us.

As I said before, we only recommend what has been beneficial to us during our trip, and in this case it has been widely beneficial as always.

Our steps will now lead us to the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

They are a group of slabs arranged in a wide sloping field designed by  architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold, commemorates the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

It is a place of memory, so although the indications of what is prohibited are written on the floor at the entrance, it is only a matter of common sense and respect that we must maintain during the tour of the monument.

Several of these places that I name here will be visited with the free tour, so I always recommend doing it at the beginning, otherwise you will end up visiting things twice and that may take away time to add others.

Topography of Terror

What is the topography of Terror? It is a museum with a large open-air part with documentation and photos about the time of the Nazi regime. It is located on the site occupied before the destruction of the buildings, which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 belonged to the SS and the Gestapo. We can also see here one of the parts of what was the Berlin Wall.

The first exhibitions at the site took place in 1987, as part of Berlin’s 750th anniversary.In 1992, two years after German reunification , a foundation was established to care for the site and, the following year, initiated an architectural competition to design a permanent museum. In 2010, the construction of the new Documentation Center was completed.  

The permanent exhibition Topography of Terror focuses on the central institutions of the SS and police in the Third Reich and the crimes they committed throughout Europe. The exhibition panels feature mainly historical photographs, which are supplemented by introductory texts and short quotations. Underneath the panels are desks on which thematically assigned documents are displayed. 

As I always say, these are visits that must be made, to get close to what was in this case that very, very painful part of history and to be able to inform and document the facts.

Admission is free.

Check Point Charlie

As we said at the beginning of the video, this city has witnessed many parts of history, including World War II, which is what we have seen in the previous points we visited, and it has also witnessed the Cold War, to the point of being divided by a wall from 1961 to 1989.

We are here at Check Point Charlie. The Check Point Charlie, was one of the border crossings of the Berlin Wall. It was located in the Friedrichstraße and opened the passage to the Allied control zone with the Soviet one, which was only allowed to be used by military and embassy employees of the Allies, and foreigners.

Although it seems a little unprepared for tourists at the moment, it is a place worth visiting for at least a few minutes.

Gendarmenmarkt

Our steps will take us to the Gendarmenmarkt square to see the twin churches.

We found the square under renovation, so we had to see it from a distance, but it is also good to know that this happens and often, one plans to see something and finds it under renovation and maintenance work, do not be discouraged by this, there will be other things to see and on another visit you will find it fully fixed.

Berlin Parliament

Our tour today will end at the parliament, in the Reichstag building visiting its dome.

Let’s start from the beginning, have you already thought about visiting it, do you want to do it? Well, don’t leave it to the last minute to reserve your entrance, don’t wait until you are there to wait in line to see if you can get a ticket. Make the reservation online, you can do it up to a month in advance of the visit.

Here is the website ► Deutscher Bundestag, you enter, fill out some information they ask you to create a user account (the form is in English but it is not complicated at all) then they ask you to give them three possible dates and times when you can visit, the first one you put being the one that has priority, and they will soon send you a confirmation to your email with the day and time within those you chose when there is availability. Admission is free.

It took me a few minutes to make the reservation, and they confirmed the time slot I chose in the first place. On that day you have to arrive fifteen minutes before the security control, and take with you the confirmation of the reservation and identity card or passport. (Don’t forget the latter).

The visit is done with an audio guide in Spanish and it is a worthwhile tour.

After World War II, the parliament building was destroyed and there was an intense debate about its demolition or reconstruction. Finally, in 1956 they opted to rebuild it. This reconstruction project was awarded to the architect Norman Foster. On the old building he designed a glass dome, open at the top and bottom, which is accessed by an elevator and from which you can see the< Plenary of Parliament. Once there you can ascend by a circular ramp, to the top of its 47 meters and see Berlin at 360 °. The truth is that it was a view that we enjoyed doing.

Hotel in Berlin

When it comes to choosing a hotel, those who follow me know that I want it to be quite central, the prices I had been finding were somewhat high, and this hotel gave me a relatively normal price, so we chose the Martas Hotel Allegra Berlin. Very close to Friedrichstraße station, which makes it well connected to the rest of the city.

You have several bars and restaurants in the area, so we found it comfortable.

It is a Martas hotel that operates as an annex, opposite you check in and have the reception at the Martas Albrechtshof. The room was very spacious although dated, without a safe or minibar, but the truth is that we liked the area and had a good time.

Day 2► What to see in Berlin

For this second day, I’ll tell you that we used the Berlin Welcome Card. As with all passes, you have to carefully study what you want to visit and whether you will really get the most out of it. During this trip we have used many and the experience has only been positive with some.

Berlin Welcome Card

The Berlin Welcome Card is basically a transport pass and you also have the option of entering the museums on Museum Island. You have passes for zones AB if you are only going to travel around the city centre or zones ABC which already include transfers from the airport or a visit to Potsdam.

We chose zones AB + Museum Island for 72 hours. The cost was €53. It also includes some discounts such as the climb to the TV tower or the Cathedral.

►Berlin Welcome Card

We were already planning to visit all five museums, and that’s where the pass is already offset, since each entry costs between 10 and 13 euros depending on the museum. So the pass would already be offset and we would have free transportation for those 3 days. In this case, it was positive for us. I’ll tell you how we made the reservations as we see the visits.

Berlin Cathedral

We will start by entering and climbing the dome of the Berlin Cathedral to get breathtaking views from there. The entrance fee is €10 and you have the climb to the dome.

If you get the Berlin Welcome Card like we did, the price is €6.50. You do it online, just choose the option that says with Berlin Welcome Card, it won’t ask you for your pass number or anything, just on the day you pick up the ticket remember that you must present your reservation + your berlin welcome card. ►Website Berlin Cathedral Tickets

The visit to the interior of the cathedral is worth it, it is very beautiful, but if you dare to visit the 270 steps the views from the top are very good, totally recommended.

Museum Island

Visiting Berlin and not spending time visiting its museums would be almost unforgivable since it is one of the most important museums in the world. the most important museum complexes in the world, but we know that not everyone likes to visit the same ones, so we leave you a summary of each one so that you can choose if you are only going to do some. The complex, declared a  World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is made up of five prestigious museums that house archaeological and art collections.

Pergamon Museum. Here we find the Pergamon Altar built more than 2000 years ago, the Gate of Ashtoreth, the Market Gate of Miletus among many other things. Admission is €13

We were unable to see the Pergamon Altar because it was under renovation and from October 2023 the museum will be closed for maintenance work.

New Museum. We will find Egyptian and prehistoric art here. We highlight the bust of Nefertiti, of which obviously no photographs can be taken. Entrance fee €12

Old National Gallery. The building alone is worthwhile, you can see realistic paintings and sculptures from the 19th century. Entrance fee € 10.

Ancient Museum. A large part of the Old Museum Berlin is dedicated to ancient Greece, stone sculptures, bronze figures, vases or jewelry are on display. Entrance fee €10

Bode Museum. It houses a Collection of Sculptures and the Collection of Byzantine Art. Entrance fee €10

In the case of some of these museums (Pergamon and Old National Gallery) a time reservation is necessary if you plan to visit them with the tourist pass. Go to the official website in advance and reserve your time for free with the Berlin Welcome Card option, then on the day of your visit you will present your reservation and the pass to obtain your entrance ticket. ►Museum website time reservation

Let’s leave so much museum and go to the TV tower to see Berlin from above!

TV Tower & Alexander Platz

On a hike we will arrive at Alexander Platz, see there its iconic clock and then climb the tv tower.

You can get the ticket at the ticket office, the price of the climb is €24.50, leaving approximately €18 with the Berlin Welcome Card.

►Entrance to the Berlin TV Tower

The Berlin TV Tower is a broadcasting tower. It is a well-known landmark, and as we said, very close to the Alexanderplatz. The tower was built in 1969 by the then German Democratic Republic.

From Alexander Platz you will see the silhouette of the Park Inn tower, it also has a rooftop to climb to get views, but we haven’t.

If you have energy and time to spare, you can visit the Tiergarten park and take a look at the Victory Column. The park is very large and if you are tired of walking it is better to leave it for another day.

Tomorrow the history of the communist era in Berlin awaited us and therefore the visit to the wall.

Day 3► What to see in Berlin

FREE tour Cold War and Berlin Wall

We started the day with a free tour about that era of the city. So we chose the Cold War and Berlin Wall tour. Remember that every time you choose to do a free tour you will have to set aside a certain amount of time, which is between 2 and a half and 3 hours. So if we start at around 10 in the morning you will finish around 13 hours.

►Cold War and Berlin Wall Tour

The tour could be done on their own, yes, but the truth is that it is worth getting more information from someone who tells us about it in a simple way so that understanding it is easier. Remember what was said above about free tours, remember to make the reservation in advance and leave a payment according to a guided tour.

East Side Galerie

At least ours, and I assume they are all similar, ended up at the East Side Galerie. The part of the wall that has been preserved and where many artists express their art with paintings.

So after finishing the tour we will start the tour on our own. The area is beautiful, there are bars to stop by the river to take a break and we will arrive at the Oberbaum Bridge.

Oberbaum Bridge

The Oberbaum Bridge is a double-deck bridge that crosses the River Spree. When the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, the bridge became the border between East and West Berlin.

We took the opportunity to cross it and enjoy the area, which is really pretty, we stopped to eat something nearby and continued on the subway to visit the Memorial Church.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The Evangelical Lutheran church located in Charlottenburg was destroyed in the Second World War, and has been preserved in a state of ruin as a memorial. It consists of several bodies and was declared a protected monument.

A different visit to make. The area was very lively, several food stalls in the square and a festive atmosphere set the stage to end that day in Berlin.

What to add if you have more days

We still had the Charlottenburg Palace to visit, but it would be impossible, like so many other places for which I had not had the time.

A visit to Potsdam and another to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp Two very different visits from each other but a short train ride from Berlin are good plans if you have several days in Berlin.

We are asked many times about the travel insurance we use, we travel with Iati insurance, if you are about to choose it I tell you that from our link they have a 5% discount. ►5% discount on Iati travel insurance

Map

Day One (Purple), Day Two (Red), Day 3 (Yellow), Things to Add (Green)

Video what to see in Berlin

NOTE: The information in this article is based on our own experience, being totally objective. This article contains affiliate links

La entrada Berlin, what to see in 3 days. se publicó primero en Europa acompañada.