Germany 4 Day Itinerary
Germany’s two most visited cities sit four hours apart by train and feel like they belong to different countries. Berlin operates on post-reunification energy: raw, evolving, historically dense, and cheap compared to most European capitals. Munich runs on Bavarian tradition: beer gardens, Alpine backdrops, and an efficient gentility that Berlin would find slightly suspicious. Four days splits neatly into two and two, and the high-speed rail link between them removes any need for a car.
Day 1: Berlin
Getting In
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020 after a decade of delay and scandal that became its own news story. The Airport Express (FEX) runs directly to Berlin Ostbahnhof and Hauptbahnhof in 30 minutes for around €4 with a standard AB zone ticket. A taxi to central Berlin runs €35-55. The city’s public transport (BVG network) is extensive and a 24-hour ticket costs around €9; a 7-day ticket costs approximately €41 and is worth it for a two-day stay if you’re moving around frequently.
Morning: Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag
The Brandenburg Gate is a ten-minute walk from the main tourist axis and is worth seeing early before the tour buses arrive. It was completed in 1791, served as the Nazi triumphalist backdrop for the 1936 Olympics, was cut off inside the Wall from 1961 to 1989, and is now routinely photographed by ten million visitors annually who have no idea what they’re looking at. Reading some of that history first makes a material difference to the experience.
The Reichstag dome is free to visit but requires advance registration on the Bundestag website, often weeks ahead. Book as soon as you know your travel dates. The rooftop walk inside the glass dome follows a spiral ramp to the apex with views over the government quarter and Tiergarten. The queue for the entrance moves slowly even with a reservation, so arrive five minutes early.
Afternoon: Museum Island
Five museums occupy a narrow island in the Spree River and together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A day pass (Bereichskarte) covering all five runs around €24. One critical point for 2025-2026 planning: the Pergamon Museum is currently closed for major reconstruction until approximately 2027. The separately ticketed Pergamon Das Panorama nearby shows some of the collection and a vast immersive panorama painting by Yadegar Asisi, which is worth €16 on its own terms but is not the same as the original building. The Neues Museum (with its Egyptian collection including the Nefertiti bust) and the Altes Museum (Greek and Roman antiquity) are both fully operational and extremely strong.
Avoid visiting on Monday: most Berlin state museums are closed.
Evening: East Side Gallery and Zur letzten Instanz
The East Side Gallery is a 1.3 km stretch of the surviving Berlin Wall along the Mühlenstrasse, converted into an open-air gallery by over 100 artists in 1990. Entry is free and the gallery is open around the clock. The most replicated image is Dmitri Vrubel’s “Fraternal Kiss” (Brezhnev and Honecker kissing). Go in the late afternoon when the light is on the western side of the wall; the art faces west.
For dinner, Zur letzten Instanz on Waisenstrasse, established in 1621, claims to be the oldest restaurant in Berlin. The food is hearty German: Eisbein (pork knuckle), Kassler (smoked pork loin), and potato soup that has stayed on the menu for decades. It has served Napoleon, Beethoven, and Charlie Chaplin if the stories are accurate. What is accurate is that the rabbit warren of rooms, low ceilings, and tiled stoves are the real thing. Book ahead for dinner.
Day 2: Berlin and Potsdam
Morning: Holocaust Memorial and the Jewish Museum
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe covers 19,000 square metres immediately south of the Brandenburg Gate with 2,711 concrete stelae of varying height. The underground information centre beneath it is significant and free. The surface itself is a disorienting experience designed to be; the stelae create an uneven labyrinth that physically reflects spatial disorientation.
The Jewish Museum Berlin, designed by Daniel Libeskind and opened in 2001, traces 2,000 years of Jewish life in Germany. The building’s architecture (zigzag plan, narrow slit windows, voids that cannot be entered) is as much the exhibit as the content. Entry costs around €8. Allow two hours minimum.
Afternoon: Potsdam and Sanssouci
Take the S7 train from central Berlin to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (around 40 minutes, included in the Berlin ABC zone ticket at approximately €4). Potsdam is the former residence of the Prussian kings and the parkland surrounding Sanssouci Palace is the main draw.
The Sanssouci+ day ticket covering all SPSG palaces in Potsdam costs €22 for adults. The palace itself (Frederick the Great’s summer residence, completed 1747) requires a timed entry slot; these sell out, so book on the SPSG website before you leave for Potsdam. The terraced vineyard gardens leading up to the palace entrance are free and excellent. The New Palace at the far end of the park is less visited and architecturally more ambitious.
The Sanssouci park is large (290 hectares); renting a bike in Potsdam for the afternoon makes exploring practical rather than exhausting.
Evening: Kreuzberg or Neukölln
Back in Berlin, the neighbourhoods of Kreuzberg and Neukölln in the south represent the city at its most current. Kreuzberg has a large Turkish and Kurdish population and the cheapest good food in the city: Markthalle Neun on Eisenbahnstrasse hosts a street food market on Thursday evenings (Streetfood Thursday) and is also a weekday fresh food market. The surrounding streets have the density of independent bars and restaurants that the touristy Mitte area lacks.
The Klunkerkranich rooftop bar on top of the Neukölln Arcaden shopping centre is the kind of only-in-Berlin detail worth seeking out: open-air, with a garden, DJs, and a view of the city that does not appear on any postcard.
Day 3: Munich
Getting There
The ICE high-speed train from Berlin Hauptbahnhof to München Hauptbahnhof takes approximately 4 hours. Book via Deutsche Bahn (DB) in advance for the best fares; routes between Berlin and Munich are heavily booked on Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings. A Sparpreis (saver fare) can bring the cost under €30 each way if booked weeks ahead.
Afternoon: Marienplatz and the English Garden
Arriving around midday, drop luggage at your hotel and walk to Marienplatz, Munich’s central square. The Glockenspiel atop the Neues Rathaus performs at 11am, noon, and 5pm (and at 9pm in summer). If you arrive outside those times, the square and the Gothic architecture of the old and new Town Halls are worth seeing regardless. The interior of the Neues Rathaus tower costs a few euros and provides good views.
The English Garden (Englischer Garten) north of the city centre is larger than Central Park and in summer hosts a series of outdoor beer gardens, swimmers in the Eisbach urban surfing channel, and the general Bavarian conviction that afternoons should be spent outdoors. The Chinesischer Turm beer garden at its centre seats 7,000 people and is one of the oldest beer gardens in Munich. Go at 3pm rather than 6pm for a seat without a wait.
Evening: Augustiner Keller
Augustiner Keller, a 15-minute walk from Hauptbahnhof on the Arnulfstrasse, is the original Augustiner beer garden, distinct from the various Augustiner restaurants in the city centre. It seats over 5,000 people under chestnut trees and serves unfiltered Edelstoff lager directly from wooden barrels. The kitchen closes around 10pm; the beer garden stays open until midnight. Order the Obatzda (Bavarian cheese spread with paprika) and the roasted half chicken. This is the correct Munich beer garden, not the Hofbräuhaus, which by this point in its history is primarily an attraction rather than a beer garden.
Day 4: Munich and Neuschwanstein
Morning: Neuschwanstein Castle
Getting to Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps requires either a tour or an independent journey: take a train from Munich Hauptbahnhof to Füssen (roughly 2 hours, with one change), then a bus or taxi to the base of the castle at Hohenschwangau village. Leave Munich by 7:30am to arrive before the first timed entry slot.
Tickets cost €21 for adults and must be booked in advance at the official Ticket Centre (ticket.hohenschwangau.de). Around 10,000 people visit per day in high season and tickets at the site are effectively gone by mid-morning. The castle itself is a 30-40 minute walk up from the village or a short bus ride. The interior tour takes approximately 35 minutes and covers 14 of the 200 rooms completed before King Ludwig II died in 1886, with the Throne Room and Singer’s Hall being the most spectacular.
The Marienbrücke bridge slightly above the castle offers the most photographed view; go immediately when you arrive before groups form at the railing. The walk up to the bridge takes 15 minutes from the castle.
Hohenschwangau Castle, at the bottom of the hill, is a yellow 19th-century palace with its own interesting rooms and fewer visitors. A combined ticket with Neuschwanstein costs around €31 and is worth adding if you have time on the return journey.
Afternoon: Deutsches Museum
Back in Munich by late afternoon, the Deutsches Museum on Museum Island in the Isar river is the world’s largest science and technology museum. Entry costs around €15. The mining, aviation, and energy halls justify the ticket; the sheer scale (73,000 square metres) means you need to be selective. Spend 90 minutes focusing on the areas that genuinely interest you rather than attempting coverage.
Evening: Hofbräuhaus (with adjusted expectations)
Hofbräuhaus München on Platzl is the most famous beer hall in the world and has been a tourist destination since at least the 1920s. The experience is worth having once with open eyes about what it is: a 3,500-seat beer hall with an oompah band, one-litre Masskrug steins, and a crowd that is substantially international. The beer is excellent, the food is satisfactory, and the noise is considerable. Sit in the main Schwemme hall rather than the upstairs restaurant. Order the Weisswurst (white veal sausage) if it’s before noon; after noon, the roast pork and Brezen (pretzels) are the right order.
Practical Notes
Germany is a Schengen Area member. Citizens of EU countries, the US, Canada, and most OECD nations do not need a visa for stays under 90 days. The currency is the euro; the German Mark was replaced by the euro in 2002 and is not in circulation or informal use anywhere in Germany. German is the official language; English is widely spoken in Berlin and Munich, less so in rural Bavaria. Tipping around 10% is customary in sit-down restaurants; rounding up the bill is the standard method rather than leaving cash on the table.
The Museum Pass Berlin (€32 for three consecutive days, digital only from September 2025) provides free entry to over 30 state museums and is excellent value for anyone spending two full days in the city.