Both are entirely valid, but if you’ve never been in Berlin before, you’d be doing yourself a massive disservice not sampling some of the city’s world-class museums. Take some time out to level up with some cleverly curated displays of knowledge. Berlin has a lot of art, history and science to dish out to those looking to learn.

First stop: Museum Island

Just a 20-minute walk from the Mitte hostel, this hub of world-class museums is a truly awe-inspiring place, featuring the Old and New Museums (Altes Museum and Neues Museum), The Old National Gallery (Alte Nationalgalerie), The Bode Museum and the Pergamon Museum. Every single building in the complex, including the soon-to-be-opened Humboldt Forum, is an architectural masterpiece, and one can get lost spending hours in any one of them.

While we absolutely recommend going to visit both Gemäldegalerie and Hamburger Bahnhof to see classic and modern masterpieces respectively, we want to suggest paying a visit to Urban Nation, over by Nollendorfplatz. Inside this free-to-enter museum you’ll find some of the most impressive street art and urban works you’ll ever see – taken from their originally temporary settings and preserved permanently to be appreciated by everyone. If photography is more your thing, it’s well worth your time going by the Helmut Newton Foundation to see his incredible collection of work.



There really are so many unmissable museums in the city, but if there are three others, we strongly recommend you visit, it’s the Palace of Tears, The Jewish Museum and The German Museum of Technology. The first two will move you in deep, sad, poignant ways, while the third is simply a fantastic history of German technological ingenuity, leaving you with plenty of conversation starters to dip into when you next see your boring uncle who only likes talking about cars.

So that’s that, if you only thought you’d be expanding your mind on the Berghain dancefloor at 5am, you were wrong. Head on out and get those brains bulging.