Things to do in Potsdam

Berliner Fernsehturm, also known as the Berlin TV Tower, was constructed in the 60s by the administration of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Standing at 368 meters-high, it's the tallest structure in Germany and easily visible throughout most of Berlin.

The Neues Museum reopened in 2009, after extensive renovations. Since then, it has attracted more than a million visitors per year. It houses two major collections.

The popular Pergamon Museum in Berlin is a great solution to a first world problem; it was built because there wasn't enough room in the nearby Bode Museum for all its artistic and archaeological relics. Construction carried on even through WWI and the great inflation of the 1920s. The then completed Pergamon was also badly damaged at the end of WWII (though fortunately its contents escaped damage). NOTE: The Pergamon Museum will be closed until 2027.

Yadegar Asisi's remarkable Panorama returns to Museum Island, new and improved after its lauded initial run back in 2011. Visitors to the Pergamon Museum's temporary exhibition hall are transported back to 129 AD, enveloped by a panoramic reconstruction of Pergamon during the time of Emperor Hadrian. As you wander an ancient metropolis, some of the most important works in the museum's collection are on show, making for one of the most unique cultural experiences around.

Panoramapunkt, on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, allows visitors to get up to the 24th and 25th floors for amazing views of the city. There's also an exhibition on the history of the square.

Designed by Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind, the Jewish Museum Berlin is one of the German capital's most iconic buildings. More than a repository of Jewish cultural history (although it certainly is that too), the building's startling architecture and design are central to the museum experience itself. The place is full of symbolic spaces that reflect the lived reality and history of German-Jews.

Featuring some of the world's most well-known glares, stares, smiles, and raised eyebrows, Berlin's Madame Tussauds features celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio or Marlene Dietrich, as well as poignant historical figures including Karl Marx, Anne Frank, Bertolt Brecht, and Angela Merkel.

The Neue Nationalgalerie at the Berlin Kulturforum is a world-class architectural icon from the mind of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969), built to house 20th-century art. A major refurbishment was carried out during the late 2010s to bring the ‘60s-era building up to modern standards. The column-free “universal space” is a classic of modernism and serves as the perfect location for works from European and North American masters like Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, Francis Bacon, and Andy Warhol, amongst many others. Some of the museum’s most famous works are Potsdamer Platz by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, The Skat Players by Otto Dix, and Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue IV by Barnett Newman. A rotating calendar of special exhibitions also takes place in the Neue Nationalgalerie, so keep an eye out for their latest offerings.

The Alte Nationalgalerie is an art gallery located in Berlin, Germany. It can be found in the UNESCO recognized Museum Island complex, and showcases a beautiful collection of Neoclassical, Romantic, and Impressionist artwork.

The Berlin chapter of the international science exhibition sensation BODY WORLDS takes you on a voyage of discovery beneath the surface of the skin. The aim of the exhibition is to give visitors an understanding of what the human body's inner workings can tell us about ourselves and our lives, and how under the skin, people of all cultures and ethnicities are fundamentally the same.

Interactive museum of optical illusion and modern art. The new DeJa Vu Museum offers a wide range of exhibits for all ages on approximately 1000m² on two levels. As one of the largest museums in Europe, it includes diverse exhibits that can be divided into different categories: Digital exhibits Physical exhibits Optical exhibits Interactive exhibits Permanent exhibits

The state capital of Potsdam is just half an hour from Berlin - and with its parks, lakes and UNESCO World Heritage sites, it offers a unique oasis just outside the metropolis. Discover the historic city center, explore the fascinating palaces and gardens, and experience the most important collection of Impressionist art in Germany at the Museum Barberini: more than 100 works by 20 artists, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte and Paul Signac, take visitors through the history of French Impressionism in the Hasso Plattner Collection. With 38 paintings by Claude Monet, nowhere in Europe outside of Paris are more works by this artist gathered in one place. Potsdam is thus one of the world's most important centers of Impressionist landscape painting.

Blur the boundaries between real and virtual

Berlin Icebar is a bar and visitor attraction offering beverages in sub-zero temperatures. Everything in the bar is crafted from ice, including the furniture, walls, and glasses.

Illuseum Berlin is a family-friendly museum of beguiling optical illusions, sense-defying physics exhibits, and interactive trickery all rooted in science. It is located in the center of Berlin – or is it?

The Gemäldegalerie is an art gallery located close to the south-east corner of the Großer Tiergarten in Berlin. The museum houses the major works of the Berlin State Museums, including a number of masterpieces from the 13th-18th centuries by German masters. The nearest station is U Potsdamer Platz.

This highly interactive museum lets visitors feel what it was like to live behind the wall - in the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). It chronicles, via video and film, daily life as it was under Communism. The museum also includes hundreds of ways to help you experience life behind the iron curtain, including watching East German TV shows, being 'bugged', voting in a (rigged) election and taking a (simulated) car ride in an iconic Trabi.

See the best of Berlin on a bus tour of the city