Berlin: what to book before you go, how far ahead, and the closed days

💡 The Short Version: The Reichstag dome is free, but you register on the Bundestag’s own form, which takes dates only in the current and following month, and the dome is closed 19 to 30 October 2026. The TV Tower sells timed slots from €20, up to 90 days ahead, with no refunds. Museum Island is closed on Mondays, and one €24 day ticket covers every open museum. The Pergamon Museum is closed until 4 June 2027, and the Ishtar Gate stays closed into the 2030s. The Holocaust Memorial, the Topography of Terror, the Wall Memorial and the East Side Gallery are free. Hohenschönhausen is seen only on a tour, with English tours at 10:40, 12:40 and 14:40. From BER, the Airport Express reaches Hauptbahnhof in 22 to 23 minutes on an ABC ticket (€5.00). Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the Reichstag and government district tourad includes the dome registration and is from €16, and the Third Reich and Cold War walking tourad is from €16.73 (GetYourGuide).

What to book before you go

Prices are the adult rate in euros, from the operators. Buy from the operator: search results for the Reichstag, the TV Tower, the Pergamon Museum and the Neues Museum include sites with the sights’ names in their web addresses that are not the operators, and some of them sell tickets for sights that are free.

• The government quarter. The Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial and the Topography of Terror lie along one line. The Reichstag page has the walk-up route when the form is full.
• Museum Island. Museum Island tickets says which museums the €24 ticket opens, and the Pergamon Museum says what is open instead.
• The Wall. Three sites show it in different ways: Bernauer Straße for the history, the East Side Gallery for the murals and Checkpoint Charlie for the crossing.
• Museums beyond the island. Best museums in Berlin has the Topography of Terror, the Jewish Museum, the Humboldt Forum, Charlottenburg Palace and Tempelhof, and free things to do in Berlin lists what costs nothing.

Does a pass pay back?

The Museum Pass Berlin is €32 for three consecutive days at more than 30 museums, with permanent exhibitions only. The Berlin WelcomeCard adds public transport and discounts: the Classic card for 48 hours is €28.50 for zones AB. Museum Pass or WelcomeCard has the sums.

• For one day on Museum Island, buy the €24 day ticket. Five open museums cost €70 separately, and it pays from the second.
• For three museum days, the pass wins. It pays for itself with the third paid museum anywhere in the city.
• The Classic WelcomeCard costs more than day tickets for two to four days. Two 24-hour AB tickets are €22.40 against €28.50, so the card pays only through its discounts.
• The all-inclusive card pays only for a packed schedule. At €99 for 48 hours it needs about five paid sights.
• None of the passes covers everything. The Museum Pass leaves out the DDR Museum, the Stasi Museum, the TV Tower, the Berlin Cathedral and Charlottenburg Palace.

Hours and closed days

Hours are the operators’ own. Special dates are listed below the table.

Closed or changed

• The Reichstag dome: closed for cleaning from 28 September to 2 October and from 19 to 30 October 2026. The roof terrace stays open, and the audio guide is not available.
• The Pergamon Museum: closed since 2023. A large part reopens on 4 June 2027, and the Ishtar Gate, the Processional Way of Babylon and the Market Gate of Miletus stay closed into the 2030s. The Pergamon page says what is open now.
• The Alte Nationalgalerie: the second exhibition floor is closed from 29 September to 21 October 2026 and open again from 22 October.
• The Neues Museum: closed from 15 to 17 March 2027 for maintenance.
• Hamburger Bahnhof: open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 from 1 December 2026.
• Trains: regional and long-distance trains do not use the Stadtbahn through the centre from 14 June to 12 December 2026, and the way to Potsdam is the S7.
• The TV Tower: closed all day on 23 November 2026.
• Mondays: Museum Island, the Panorama, the Jewish Museum, the Holocaust Memorial’s information centre and Charlottenburg Palace are closed. The DDR Museum, the Berlin Cathedral, the TV Tower and the Topography of Terror are open.
• Tuesdays: the Humboldt Forum and the Tempelhof airport tours are closed. Museum Island is open.

Free things worth a line

• The Field of Stelae at the Holocaust Memorial is open 24 hours, and the information centre under it is free. See the Holocaust Memorial.
• The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße is free, as is the East Side Gallery, which is a 1.3 km stretch of the Wall open around the clock.
• The Jewish Museum’s core exhibition is free for everyone, and the Topography of Terror is free every day.
• The Brandenburg Gate is an open-air landmark on Pariser Platz with no entry and no hours.
• Tempelhofer Feld, the former airfield, is free, with seasonal hours.

The Brandenburg Gate from Pariser Platz. Photo: Thomas Wolf, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Free things to do in Berlin has the rest, with the trap on each.

Berlin’s city tax

Hotels and rentals collect the city tax, the Übernachtungsteuer, on top of the room price. It is 7.5% of the net price of the night, worked out without VAT and without breakfast or other services, and it applies to business stays too.

Getting in from the airport

Berlin airport to the city compares the options. BER is in fare zone C, so a trip to the centre needs an ABC ticket.

• Airport Express (FEX): to Hauptbahnhof via Potsdamer Platz and Südkreuz in 22 to 23 minutes. With the RE20 regional train there are four trains an hour until December 2026, and the ticket is an ABC single at €5.00.
• S9: to Alexanderplatz in 43 minutes and to Hauptbahnhof in 50 minutes, every 20 minutes.
• Express bus X7: to U Rudow on the U7, every 5 to 10 minutes.
• Taxi: from the ranks in front of Terminal 1, charged by the meter.

The Stadtbahn works from 14 June to 12 December 2026 shorten or divert some Airport Express and RE20 trips, so read the planner on the day.

Getting around

The S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams, buses and the BVG ferries share one ticket. Berlin public transport has the zones and the rules. Zone A is inside the S-Bahn ring, B runs to the city boundary, and C covers Potsdam, BER and Oranienburg.

The 24-hour ticket covers one adult and up to three children aged 6 to 14. There is no 7-day ticket: it was withdrawn on 1 January 2026. Paper tickets must be stamped at the yellow or red validators before you travel, and digital tickets activated in the app. There are no turnstiles, inspectors may be in plain clothes, and the fine is €60. Trains run all night on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Deutschlandticket is €63 a month, rising to €66.80 on 1 January 2027. It is sold only as a monthly subscription, and it is not valid on ICE trains.

Entry rules for Germany

Germany is in the Schengen area, so the 90 days count across every Schengen country you visit.

The photo and fingerprints are the EU’s Entry/Exit System, which replaces passport stamps for non-EU visitors and has been fully operational since 10 April 2026. It costs nothing and needs nothing before you travel (EU). The ETIAS travel authorisation, a €20 online form for visa-free visitors, is not yet required: the EU says ETIAS is not in operation and will announce the start date several months ahead (ETIAS).

Germany has border controls on all its land borders from 16 September 2026 to 15 March 2027. A day trip to Potsdam, Dresden, Leipzig or the Spreewald crosses none, but carry a passport or national ID card on any trip into Poland or Czechia.

The rules above come from the UK, Canadian and Australian government travel pages, the EU’s passport rule for visa-free visitors and its guidance for EU citizens. For official safety advice, see the UK Foreign Office and US State Department pages for Germany.

Day trips

Day trips from Berlin compares every trip by train, regional ticket and tour. The train times below are for the timetable valid to 12 December 2026. The ones with something to know:

• Potsdam: the S7 runs from Hauptbahnhof in 35 to 37 minutes, every 10 minutes, on an ABC ticket. Sanssouci Palace is closed on Mondays.
• Sachsenhausen Memorial: entry is free. The S1 to Oranienburg takes about 45 minutes, then bus 804 or a 20-minute walk.
• Dresden: the Railjet takes 1 hour 34 minutes to 1 hour 55 minutes, about every two hours.
• The Spreewald: the RE20 to Lübbenau takes about 1 hour 10 minutes, hourly.

Tours, food, drink and when to go

Berlin walking tours, Spree river cruises and Berlin underground tours set the guided options side by side. Where to eat in Berlin lists the restaurants, currywurst and döner in Berlin says where to stand and order, and Berlin food tours compares the guided ones. Berlin clubs has the door facts. Best time to visit Berlin gives the weather by month, with the Berlin Christmas markets 2026 and Berlin New Year’s Eve 2026 for the dates that change a visit.

Other cities nearby

Prague, Vienna and Kraków each have a guide to what to book. Poland and Czechia have border controls on their German borders, so carry a passport or national ID card.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• 2023: the Pergamon Museum closed completely. A large part reopens on 4 June 2027.
• 1 January 2026: Berlin fares changed, with the AB single at €4.00, and the 7-day ticket was withdrawn.
• 1 March 2026: the Berlin Cathedral was fully open again, with the Hohenzollern Crypt, and step-free.
• 10 April 2026: the EU Entry/Exit System became fully operational.
• 14 June to 12 December 2026: regional and long-distance trains do not use the Stadtbahn through the centre.
• 16 September 2026 to 15 March 2027: border controls on all German land borders.
• 1 December 2026: Hamburger Bahnhof moves to Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00.
• 1 January 2027: the Deutschlandticket rises to €66.80.
• 4 June 2027: the Pergamon Museum reopens in part.

Plan the trip

• Where to sleep: where to stay in Berlin compares the areas, and hotels near the Brandenburg Gate lists the hotels beside it.
• Getting there and about: Berlin airport to the city and Berlin public transport.
• When to go: best time to visit Berlin, the Berlin Christmas markets 2026 and Berlin New Year’s Eve 2026.
• The sights: the Reichstag dome, Museum Island, the Pergamon Museum, the TV Tower, the Berlin Cathedral and the DDR Museum each have a ticket guide. Best museums in Berlin covers the rest, and Museum Pass or WelcomeCard runs the pass sums. Free things to do in Berlin gathers what costs nothing.
• History: the Holocaust Memorial, the Berlin Wall Memorial, the East Side Gallery, Checkpoint Charlie and the Stasi Museum and Hohenschönhausen.
• How many days: 3 days in Berlin builds the plan round the bookings and the closed days.
• Tours: Berlin walking tours, Spree river cruises, Berlin underground tours and Berlin food tours.
• Food and drink: where to eat in Berlin, currywurst and döner and Berlin clubs.
• Day trips: day trips from Berlin, with Potsdam, the Sachsenhausen Memorial, Dresden and the Spreewald.

Itineraries

Day-by-day plans for a first visit.

Itinerary

3 Days in Berlin: Itinerary with What to Book

Three days in Berlin: the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and the memorials on day one, Museum Island, the Cathedral and the TV Tower on day two, and the Wall on day three. What to book, the Monday and Tuesday closures and how the Museum Pass sums come out.

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Which ticket to buy

The official ticket, the tours that include entry, and which sells out first.

Tickets

Reichstag Dome Tickets: Free Booking and Slots

The Reichstag dome and roof terrace are free, but you register on the Bundestag's own form, which takes dates only in the current and following month. Unfilled places go out at the service centre, the dome is closed 19 to 30 October 2026, and a guided tour from €16 includes the registration.

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Tickets

Museum Island Berlin Tickets: Prices and Hours

The Museumsinsel ticket is €24 for one day and opens the Neues Museum with Nefertiti, the Altes Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Bode-Museum and the Pergamon Panorama. It pays from the second museum. Every museum on the island is closed on Mondays, and the Pergamon Museum itself is closed until 4 June 2027.

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Tickets

Pergamon Museum Berlin: Closed Until June 2027

The Pergamon Museum has been closed since 2023. A large part reopens on 4 June 2027, with the Pergamon Altar and the Museum of Islamic Art. The Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way of Babylon stay closed into the 2030s. Pergamonmuseum. Das Panorama is open for €12, Tuesday to Sunday.

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Tickets

Berlin WelcomeCard or Museum Pass: Which Pays?

The Museum Pass Berlin is €32 for three days at more than 30 museums and pays with a third museum. The Classic WelcomeCard costs more than day tickets for two to four days, and the €99 all-inclusive card pays only for about five paid sights in two days. The sums, and what each leaves out.

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Tickets

Berlin TV Tower Tickets: Prices, Slots, Rules

The Berlin TV Tower observation deck, 203 m up, is from €20 online for a timed slot. Tickets go on sale 90 days ahead, cannot be refunded and can be rebooked until 10 minutes before. Suitcases and shopping bags are refused, there are no lockers, and the tower is closed on 23 November 2026.

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Tickets

Berlin Cathedral Tickets: Dome View and Crypt

One €15 ticket to the Berliner Dom includes the audio guide, the Hohenzollern Crypt, the museum and the panoramic view from the dome. It needs no time slot, is valid for a year, and the cathedral opens at 12:00 on Sundays. Bags over A3 and suitcases are refused.

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Tickets

Holocaust Memorial Berlin: Visiting the Field of Stelae

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is free. The Field of Stelae is open 24 hours a day, and the information centre beneath it is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, closed on Mondays. There is a security gate and a wait, luggage over 55 x 40 x 20 cm is not taken in, and photos are allowed without flash.

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Tickets

Berlin Wall Memorial: Bernauer Strasse Visit Guide

The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße is free. The 1.4 km outdoor exhibition is open daily from 8:00 to 22:00, the Visitor Centre, Documentation Centre and viewing tower are open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and closed on Mondays. Guided tours are €5.

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Tickets

East Side Gallery Berlin: Hours, Entry, What to Know

The East Side Gallery is 1.3 km of the Berlin Wall between Ostbahnhof and the Oberbaumbrücke, painted by 118 artists. It is free and open around the clock. The information centre at Mühlenstraße 73 is open daily 10:00 to 17:00, closed on Fridays from November. The Wall Museum beside it is a private museum.

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Tickets

Checkpoint Charlie Berlin: What to See and What to Pay

Checkpoint Charlie is free to see, with a free outdoor exhibition by the Stiftung Berliner Mauer. The Mauermuseum beside it is a private museum at €18.50, open daily 10:00 to 20:00, and the asisi Wall panorama is €14. The free Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße covers the history of the Wall.

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Tickets

DDR Museum Berlin Tickets: Prices and Hours

The DDR Museum is €13.90 (€8.50 concession), open every day from 9:00 to 21:00, opposite Berlin Cathedral. Tickets are sold online and at the desk. The all-inclusive WelcomeCard includes it, and the Museum Pass Berlin does not.

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Tickets

Stasi Museum or Hohenschonhausen? Tickets and Tours

The Stasi Museum is the former ministry headquarters, €12, open daily, with an English tour at 15:00 Monday to Saturday for €5 extra. The Hohenschönhausen Memorial is the former remand prison, seen only on a tour: €9, in English daily at 10:40, 12:40 and 14:40.

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Tickets

Best Museums in Berlin: Prices and Closed Days

Berlin's museums beyond Museum Island with price, hours and closed day for each: the Gemäldegalerie, the Neue Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, the Humboldt Forum at €9, the free Jewish Museum core exhibition and Topography of Terror, Charlottenburg Palace and Tempelhof. Most close on Mondays.

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Tickets

Berlin Walking Tours: Free, Paid and Themed

Berlin walking tours: tip-based walks at the Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz, paid city walks from €15, Third Reich and Cold War tours from €16.73, bike tours from €24 and hop-on hop-off buses from €21. Where each starts, how long it takes and what it covers.

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Tickets

Free Things to Do in Berlin: What Costs Nothing

Berlin's free sights with the rule on each: the Reichstag dome with a registration, the Holocaust Memorial, the Topography of Terror, the Berlin Wall Memorial, the East Side Gallery, the Jewish Museum's core exhibition, five Humboldt Forum exhibitions and Tempelhofer Feld. Several close on Mondays.

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Tickets

Spree River Cruises in Berlin: Which Boat, What Cost

Spree cruises in Berlin: 1-hour boats from €17.60 to €22.50, 2-hour city tours from €30.50, solar boats to the East Side Gallery from €26.50, and a 3-hour bridge trip at €35.50. Where each boat leaves, what it passes, and the November and December timetable.

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Tickets

Berlin Underground Tours: Bunkers and Cold War Tunnels

Berliner Unterwelten runs seven public bunker and tunnel tours of 90 minutes at €18 (€13 reduced), with tickets sold only in its online shop 30 days ahead. Meeting points, the shoe and photo rules, the Flak Tower season to October, and the Berlin Story Bunker at €18.

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Day trips from Berlin

Out and back in a day, with the tours compared against going on your own.

Day trip

Day Trips from Berlin: Train, Tour or Drive

Potsdam is 35 minutes from Berlin Hauptbahnhof by S7, Leipzig 1 hour 15 by ICE, Dresden 1 hour 34 by Railjet and the Spreewald 1 hour 9 by RE20. Sachsenhausen and the House of the Wannsee Conference are free memorial sites. The day trips compared on fare, time and what a tour adds.

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Day trip

Potsdam Day Trip from Berlin: Train or Tour

Potsdam is 35 minutes from Berlin Hauptbahnhof on the S7, every 10 minutes, on an ABC ticket (€5.00 single). Sanssouci Palace is €14 and closed Mondays, the New Palace €14 and closed Tuesdays, the sanssouci+ ticket €22. The trains, the palaces and the tours.

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Day trip

Sachsenhausen Memorial from Berlin: How to Visit

Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum in Oranienburg is free to enter. From Berlin it is about 55 minutes: the S1 from Friedrichstraße to Oranienburg, then bus 804 or a 20-minute walk, on an ABC ticket. The route, what the memorial covers and the guided tours from Berlin.

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Day trip

Dresden Day Trip from Berlin: Train or Tour

Dresden is 1 hour 34 to 1 hour 39 by direct Railjet from Berlin Hauptbahnhof, every two hours. The Frauenkirche is free and its dome €12, the Residenzschloss €18 and closed Tuesdays, the Zwinger €18, with its Picture Gallery closed on Mondays. The trains, the fares and the tour from Berlin.

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Day trip

Spreewald Day Trip from Berlin: Boats and Trains

Lübbenau, the base for the Spreewald, is 1 hour 9 to 1 hour 13 minutes from Berlin Hauptbahnhof on the direct RE20, hourly. Punt trips are €17 for 2 hours and €20 for 3, the Lehde open-air museum €8, and the Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket €36.50 for up to five. The trains, the boats and the tour.

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Where to stay

Areas and hotels, chosen for a visitor rather than a resident.

Where to stay

Where to Stay in Berlin: Areas and Hotels

For a first visit, stay in Mitte or at Potsdamer Platz, within about 2.4 km of the Brandenburg Gate. Nine Berlin areas compared with hotels, addresses, rooms and Michelin Keys, the 7.5% city tax and the dates that fill the city.

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Where to stay

Hotels Near Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, by Distance

Hotels near the Brandenburg Gate by straight-line distance, from the Hotel Adlon Kempinski at 260 m to the Hotel de Rome at 1.09 km: the Ritz-Carlton with two Michelin Keys, the Mandala with FACIL, and what each is like.

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Airport transfers

From the airport to the centre, every option priced and timed.

Airport

BER Airport to Berlin City Centre: Train, Bus, Taxi

From BER the Airport Express reaches Berlin Hauptbahnhof in 22 to 23 minutes on a €5.00 ABC ticket, with four trains an hour with the RE20. The S9 takes 43 minutes to Alexanderplatz. Express buses, taxis, night services, left luggage and the Stadtbahn warning to 12 December 2026.

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Getting around

Tickets, passes and the transport a visitor actually uses.

Getting around

Berlin Public Transport: Tickets, Zones and Fares

A Berlin single ticket is €4.00 inside zones A and B and €5.00 with zone C, which includes Potsdam and BER; a 24-hour ticket is €11.20 or €12.90. Zones, validation, the €60 fine, night service, the Deutschlandticket at €63 a month, bikes and the main stations.

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What's on, month by month

Festivals, holidays and closures that change a visit.

Events

Best Time to Visit Berlin: Weather by Month

Berlin month by month from the WMO's 1991 to 2020 normals: highs of 15.1°C in April and 25.2°C in July, 41 hours of sun in December, 7.7 hours of daylight on 15 December. The Berlinale from 10 February 2027, the Marathon on 26 September and the Christmas markets.

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Events

Berlin Christmas Markets 2026: Dates and Hours

Berlin's main Christmas markets open on Monday 23 November 2026. Gendarmenmarkt charges €2; Charlottenburg Palace, the Rotes Rathaus, Alexanderplatz and Breitscheidplatz are free. Dates, hours, closing days and the Christmas Garden's ticket prices.

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Events

Berlin New Year's Eve 2026: Brandenburg Gate Party

Berlin on 31 December 2026: Yeah 27! at the Brandenburg Gate with free tickets from December, the €9 party at Gendarmenmarkt, the TV Tower dinner with Tim Raue at €390, and the opening hours of the dome, the museums and the markets.

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Food and drink

Where to eat, what to order and when to book.

Food and drink

Where to Eat in Berlin: What Sources Agree On

Where to eat in Berlin: Rutz with three Michelin stars, then the places 85 English and German publishers name most: Markthalle Neun, Tim Raue, Cookies Cream, Konnopke's Imbiss and Nobelhart & Schmutzig, with hours, prices and booking rules.

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Food and drink

Currywurst and Döner in Berlin: Where and When

Currywurst and döner in Berlin: Konnopke's Imbiss (closed Sunday and Monday), Curry 36 (open to 05:00), Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap on Mehringdamm and Rüyam, with the hours, the skin question and the names the lists repeat.

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Food and drink

Berlin Food Tours Compared: Prices and Tastings

Berlin food tours from €44.10 for the 3-hour Mitte Culinary Food Tour to €100.64 for the Downtown Food Tour with 8 tastings, a €45 döner tour, a Markthalle Neun tour, the 778-review BRLO brewery tour from €18, and how to choose.

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Food and drink

Berlin Nightlife and Clubs: Ages, Nights and Doors

Berlin clubs from the clubs' own pages: Berghain is 18+ with a Klubnacht every Saturday from 23:59, Sisyphos is 21+, and Tresor says a ticket does not guarantee entry. Pub crawls from €14, club tours from €31.50, and what to expect at the door.

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