Germany: Wonderful landmarks in Beautiful Country

Aah Germany, always wanted to go there and I finally visited this November. Germany is a beautiful country with rich heritage and landmarks. It is also quite tourist friendly. Surprisingly it is the cheapest place in Europe that we have visited when it comes to food and they’ve got some goooood food. You can also count on German engineering for excellent transport network so it’s quite easy and fast to get around even with a baby & pushchair. There is so much to see and do in Berlin! Here are just some of the places I recommend:

Brandenburg Gate is the most known landmark in Germany and replaced an old gate which provided entry to the city. The gate we see now was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II to represent peace.
The Reichstag Building restored in 1999 became the unified Germany’s parliament again and is a must visit if you are in Berlin. It is worth a visit just for the top glass dome alone which provides excellent 360° of this great city. If you want a free tour of this building, you need to book several months in advance though as they sell out well in advance. Dome access tickets (free again) are available on site on the day but you need to queue for about an hour. I recommend going early around 8AM if you want to queue for dome access.

Tell me it’s not worth queuing for this??
Memorial of the Berlin Wall: The Berlin Wall Memorial explores and explains the division and history of Germany and its effect on people. Located in the middle of the capital and extending 1.4km, the memorial provided access to the remaining preserved part of this historic wall and explains how the border fortification developed and operated until the unification of East and West Germany.
Museum Island: Berlin is home to some excellent world class museums and five of them are located in an island on the river Spree. The island itself was a Unesco World Heritage site for it’s collection of classic buildings and architecture. You can have access to all the museums in this island for €18 and I recommend visiting them.
The Holocaust Memorial is a memorial in Berlin dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The memorial consists of concrete slabs arranged in grid pattern over a large area. The museum is actually underground and holds the names of all known Jewish Holocaust victims.
Potsdam’s Gardens is located in Potsdam just an hour away from Berlin. The palaces and gardens there are absolutely beautiful. Potsdam deserves a post of its own!
Berlin Cathedral located in the Museum city is the Protestant Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church in Berlin. It is a beautiful cathedral with a big dome and the best thing is that you can climb up to the dome.
Television Tower (Fernsehturm Berlin) : The TV tower of Berlin or Fernsehturm Berlin in the tallest structure of Germany. On a clear day you can see up to 42km away from the top. There is a rotating restaurant that rotates 360° every 30 minutes. Booking early is essential if want to dine here (recommended!!!).
Ritter Sport Colourful Chocoworld/Bunte SchokoWelt: The first and flagship store of Ritter Sports Chocolate, Bunte SchokoWelt spans three floors and sells chocolates, lots of chocolates cheap, very very cheap!!!
Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) Market is the Harrods of Berlin. If you are into designer shopping, this is where you need to go.
LOXX Miniatur Welten Berlin – Miniature World Loxx is a miniature world with the largest model railway in the world with digital control recreating the major architecture and scenes of Berlin. It is worth a visit with your child. We definitely had a good time there.
Potsdamer Platz/Sony Center: Modern touristy area in Berlin with tall buildings, restaurants, shops and IMAX movie theatre. Nice place to visit and have coffee during the evening when the Sony Center is illuminated.
Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin with interesting architecture consisting of two almost identical Churches (One German and the other French) and Konzerthaus concert hall in the middle. Provides good photo opportunities.