8 Best Sights in Berlin, Germany

Of all Berlin’s many transformations, this one—from airport to park—might be the quickest. The iconic airport (it was the site of the 1948–49 Berlin airlift) had its last flight in 2008. Only two years later, it opened as a park, complete with untouched runways. It's now one of the city’s most beloved and impressive outdoor spots, where bikers, skaters, kite flyers, urban gardeners, picnickers, and grillers all gather. Although the Nazi-era airport buildings are not open for wandering, you can explore them on a two-hour tour (book online).

In summer, a trip to the Arena Badeschiff is a must. The outdoor pool there is set on a boat anchored on the river Spree, offering great views of the Kreuzberg skyline. It's open May 1 to late August/September, daily 8–midnight.

Named after the surrounding neighborhood of Britz in southern Neukölln, this garden is really more of a large park—albeit one where flowers take center stage year-round in stunning seasonal exhibitions, like the Tulipan tulip festival in April and May or the dahlia festival in late August. Small brooks, streams, and other waterways surround the lake in the center of the park, while hills and meadows provide ample space to amble and play. The rose garden and so-called witches’ garden (actually a traditional herb garden) are year-round pleasures.

Two blocks west of gritty, noisy Karl-Marx-Strasse, this small, beautifully landscaped park, built in the 1910s, resembles a French chateau garden. Today it remains something of a hidden treasure, cherished by locals but barely known to outsiders. At one end of the park, water cascades down several steps of a multitiered fountain into a round pool; at the other end you'll find the stately former orangerie, which now houses a gallery and café, and presents a concert every Sunday in summer.

Every Berlin neighborhood has a Heimatmuseum, which literally translates as “homeland museum” and which acts as a repository for local lore and history. Most are dusty, ill-frequented places, but not the Museum Neukölln, which not only has gone above and beyond in terms of design and organization, but also might be Berlin’s most technologically advanced museum. Its permanent exhibition, “99 x Neukölln” is a wonderful grab bag of objects, both old and new, that represent the neighborhood, displayed in cases equipped with computer touch screens that tell each object's history, context, and connection to other objects in the room. The museum is on the grounds of Schloss Britz.

Back when this part of Neukölln was a Bohemian village, Richardplatz was its center, and today the square appears virtually untouched by time. Half-timber houses line one side, and some of the grandest turn-of-the-century apartment buildings face them on the other. It's worth exploring the lanes and alleyways running off the square and its extension, Richardstrasse; you’ll turn up some secret gardens and hidden buildings along the way. This square is the location of one of the city’s most charming Christmas markets, which takes place annually on the second weekend of Advent (usually either the first or second weekend in December): craftsmen and churches sell knitwear, candles, and all sorts of edible goodies under the light of old-fashioned gas lamps.

This sprawling country estate consists of a beautiful early-18th-century Schloss, a manor house, and grounds complete with a working farm—all of which are quite a contrast to the stark, modernist 1960s and 1970s housing that fills the Britz neighborhood. Don’t miss the small research library in the manor’s attic or the restaurant located in the so-called Schweizer Haus, the old dairyman’s living quarters, and manned by Matthias Buchholz, a Michelin-starred chef who left a career in Berlin’s top restaurants to make something of this local outpost. The Museum Neukölln is on the grounds, too, in the former cow stalls of the Schloss Britz, and you'll also find special exhibitions (such as Toulouse-Lautrec posters) inside the Schloss.

In a city dotted with lakes, pools, and thermal baths, this is one of the most attractive public bathing spots, a neoclassical beauty built in 1914 and renovated in 2009. Even if you don’t plan on taking a dip, it’s worth a peek: the unremarkable, gray concrete exterior, which seems designed to ward off tourists, conceals two stunning swimming halls, their pristine pools lined with columns and decorated with elaborate mosaics and gargoyles spouting water. To make the most of it, get a day pass for the pools and multiple saunas. Monday is women-only day in the sauna and Sunday evenings are nude-only (FKK).