By our third day in Berlin, the city was starting to feel familiar.
The TV Tower became our anchor whenever we lost our sense of direction in central Berlin, and Alexanderplatz naturally settled into the role of our gateway to the city. Even the walk back to the Hilton felt comfortable by then. There was still plenty left on our list, but for the first time Berlin no longer felt overwhelming. It felt like a city we were beginning to understand.
Up until this point we had been focused on central Berlin, but today we were heading somewhere different. Looking back, it would become one of my favourite days of the entire trip.
A Cuckoo Clock and a Cold War Crossing
Our first destination was Checkpoint Charlie, but before we got there we stumbled across something unexpected.
A cuckoo clock shop.
My wife immediately recognised the clocks because her father had owned one while she was growing up. Naturally, we did what any sensible family would do and called him from Germany to show him the collection. His response was immediate.
“Can you bring me one back?”
Looking at the clocks, even the smaller ones, it quickly became obvious that fitting one into our luggage was going to be ambitious at best. We promised to think about it and continued on our way.
Before long we arrived at Checkpoint Charlie.
As someone who has spent years reading about the Cold War, standing there was one of those moments I’d been looking forward to. Today the site is clearly designed for tourists, with reconstructed guard posts and barriers helping visitors imagine what once stood there. The sandbags are now concrete replicas rather than the real thing, but that hardly matters.
What matters is the history.
This was once one of the most famous crossings between East and West Berlin, a place that symbolised the division of an entire city. We took a few photos, and explored the surrounding area. There isn’t a huge amount to do beyond the crossing itself and the museum, but if you have any interest in Cold War history, it’s absolutely worth stopping by.
The Wall That Never Really Left
One thing that struck me while walking through Berlin was how often fragments of the Berlin Wall appeared unexpectedly. Not the famous sections at the East Side Gallery. Smaller pieces. A fragment standing outside a building. Another displayed as public artwork. Sections covered in murals and artistic designs. Throughout the city, pieces of the Wall have been preserved and repurposed, turning something that once divided Berlin into something that now helps tell its story. Berlin never really lets you forget its past. And I think that’s one of the reasons the city feels so unique.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
From Checkpoint Charlie we continued walking through the city towards the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It’s one of those places that’s difficult to describe properly until you experience it. From a distance, it appears to be a field of concrete blocks. Up close, it becomes something entirely different. The pathways between the concrete stelae rise and fall, pulling visitors deeper into the memorial. As you wander through the maze-like structure, the sounds of the city begin to fade and the atmosphere changes completely.
Despite being surrounded by modern Berlin, it feels separate from everything around it. It’s a powerful reminder of the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust, and because it’s built directly into the city, it remains part of everyday life rather than hidden away in a museum.
Brandenburg Gate
From the memorial, we made our way towards one of Berlin’s most famous landmarks. The Brandenburg Gate. This was another one of those moments where years of documentaries, history books, and photographs suddenly became real. I’ve seen the Brandenburg Gate countless times. It’s there in footage of Cold War Berlin. It’s there in discussions about German reunification. It’s there in photographs stretching back generations.
And of course, it’s forever connected to Ronald Reagan’s famous challenge: “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Standing there, touching the stone, and looking up at the gate itself felt surprisingly special. The area was busy with visitors from all over the world, all doing essentially the same thing we were doing. Taking photos, admiring the monument, and appreciating a place that has witnessed so much history.
Hunting for Bikes
The next part of the day involved a challenge I hadn’t anticipated. Finding three rental bikes. We used the NextBike app and it informed us that bikes were available nearby. The bikes themselves seemed to have other ideas. We found one fairly quickly. The second took a little longer. The third appeared to be part of an elaborate scavenger hunt designed specifically to test our patience.
As we searched, we found ourselves walking around the Reichstag building, which wasn’t exactly a bad consolation prize. The Reichstag is impressive up close. Its famous glass dome rises above the building, and even from the outside it’s easy to see why it’s one of Berlin’s most recognisable landmarks. People wandered around the lawns enjoying the sunshine while tourists lined up to visit the interior.
While we were exploring the area, a classic Ferrari suddenly roared past, creating a brief contrast between modern luxury and the historic government buildings surrounding it. Eventually, after what felt like half an hour of searching, we successfully assembled three bikes.
Mission accomplished.
Riding Through Tiergarten
The moment we entered Tiergarten, the day changed. Tiergarten is enormous. What had once been royal hunting grounds is now one of the best urban parks I’ve ever experienced. It was autumn when we visited, and the park seemed determined to show off.
Orange and yellow leaves drifted from the trees as we rode along winding paths. Small streams crossed beneath bridges. Ponds reflected the colours of the surrounding forest. Every turn seemed to reveal another postcard-worthy view. For a while, we stopped feeling like tourists. We simply became people riding bikes through a beautiful park.
Around us, Berliners jogged, cycled, walked their dogs, and went about their day. The park wasn’t just a tourist attraction. It was a living part of the city. That was probably what I enjoyed most.
The Victory Column
Eventually we arrived at the Victory Column. Rising from the centre of a huge traffic circle, it’s one of Berlin’s most distinctive monuments. We stopped for photos and watched visitors making their way to the top. There are tunnels beneath the roads that allow people to safely reach the monument, and for a while we considered heading across and climbing it ourselves. In the end, we decided to keep moving.
The zoo was waiting.
Berlin Zoo
The real highlight of this section of the day belonged to my son. Berlin Zoo. The plan was simple. See all the animals. Save the baby pandas until last. Finish on a high note.
As with many travel plans, reality had different ideas. We spent hours exploring the zoo, visiting bear enclosures, mountain goats, and a huge variety of animals from around the world. One surprising highlight was the Australian section. There was something amusing about travelling halfway around the world only to stop and admire kangaroos and wallabies.
Eventually we made our way back towards the pandas. The queue was enormous. Not long. Not moderately inconvenient.
Enormous.
Looking at it, we estimated the wait would be close to two hours. Reluctantly, we accepted defeat. There would be no baby pandas today. My son was disappointed. I was disappointed. But not disappointed enough to stand in that line. Instead we continued exploring the rest of the zoo and made the most of the time we had.
Back Through the Park
With the zoo behind us, we climbed back onto our bikes and began the ride back through Tiergarten. This time we took a different route. The afternoon light filtered through the trees, the park felt even more peaceful, and we spent the ride simply enjoying the experience. Some attractions are memorable because of what you see. Tiergarten was memorable because of how it felt. It wasn’t a destination. It was a place that made a large city feel calm.
We briefly considered visiting the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church near the zoo, but by this stage we were running low on both time and energy. Like several places in Berlin, it became another reason to return someday.
One Last Look at Berlin
Eventually we returned the bikes near Brandenburg Gate and began the walk back towards the hotel. Along the way we wandered through familiar streets, and enjoyed one final look at parts of Museum Island. The city felt different now than it had on our first day. Not because Berlin had changed. Because we had.
The city felt familiar and recognisable. Back at the Hilton, we packed our luggage and prepared for the next leg of our journey. Amsterdam awaited. But Berlin had left a lasting impression. Between the history, the parks, the monuments, the hidden Wall fragments, and a bike ride through falling autumn leaves, it had become one of the highlights of the entire trip. And as we finished packing for the train the next morning, I already knew one thing. Berlin wasn’t a place I’d visited once. It was a place I’d return to.
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