What if I told you that the best place to see Berlin from above is not the huge TV Tower in the middle of Alexanderplatz? It might sound weird at first but it makes a lot of sense after you think about it.
Do you want to take pictures of Berlin with its main tourist spot in there right? So, you need to go somewhere where the TV Tower can be seen. Somewhere as tall as the tower but way less crowded. That place exists and it is the Park Inn Hotel Alexanderplatz Viewing Platform and I going to tell you everything about it now.
I believe that you never really know a city if you haven’t seen it like the birds do. You have to see a city from above to understand its flow and how it developed. And I have done this pretty much everywhere that I go, from Belo Horizonte to Dresden, from Helsinki to Santiago. I really love seeing cities from above and, by the pictures here, you can see that I’m not wrong to have this love.
But Berlin is a notoriously flat city and most people don’t complain about it. Even though I come from a city in the mountains in the middle of Brazil, I have to say that I miss the mountains but I love to ride my bike without any special gear through the streets of Berlin. When you reach one of the many viewpoints around Berlin, you can see how the German capital transforms into a sprawling metropolis. A metropolis filled with empty spaces of unconnected areas, urban stretches of land that were abandoned and some bizarre architectural sights that look even better from above.
The Best Place to see Berlin From Above
My favorite place to see Berlin from above is the viewing platform on the 40th floor of Park Inn Hotel Alexanderplatz. But this is a recent discovery if I can call it like that. I, kind of, always knew that there was a viewing platform on the top of this huge hotel on Alexanderplatz. The problem is that I never went there and I have no idea why.
Everything change in the beginning of October when my friends at Alemanizando invited Fotostrasse to jump from the top of the hotel. Yes, you can do that for the warmer months. That was the first time I went to see Berlin from above from the hotel and I took so many pictures of it that most of my friends visiting the city want me to take them there. After that first time, I went back there with the guys from Viagem Criativa. The last time I was there was with another friend and it was the first time that I scheduled it to be there around sunset. I had my Canon 7D camera with me and most of the pictures here are from this last time in early January 2017.
The Park Inn at Alexanderplatz is right in the middle of the city, with one of Berlin’s highest viewing points since the building is the second tallest in the German capital. From the lobby, you will take the weirdly fast elevator up to the 37th floor. From there you have to walk up the staircase to the 40th floor and pay the 4EUR fee to enter the viewing platform. Even if you’re staying at the hotel, you will have to pay the fee. But don’t worry about the price there, it’s more than worth and way cheaper than the TV Tower.
Up there on the viewing platform, you’ll have a less than 180 free view from Berlin. And you can see how the city changes from pre-industrial buildings coming from the north to a booming modern city close to Alexanderplatz. In front of you will be the TV Tower and you can split the city with the tower. On the left side of it, you can see Kreuzberg, Neukölln, a small part of Mitte and everything on the south side of the city. On the right side of it, you can see Potsdamer Platz, Berliner Dom, Tiergarten and the neighborhoods of Mitte, Wedding and Prenzlauer Berg.
From there you can see the trams crossing Alexanderplatz, the S-Bahn going through the train stations and the Spree River close to Friedrichstrasse. The German flags fly high over the Reichstag and the Tiergarten is there blooming with all its trees. It’s truly gorgeous and I know I will be there a few more times when friends come to visit me in Berlin. Specially during the sunset time when you can take pictures of the city being lit by the last rays of the sun in a beautiful and special way.
If you want to see Berlin from Above from the Park Inn Hotel Alexanderplatz Viewing Platform, you will have to pay 4€ per person. The viewing platform is open from noon to 22:00 on the summertime and from noon to 18:00 on colder months. There is a lift to the 37th floor but the remaining 3 floors and on your own so keep that in mind if you want to visit the place.
Park Inn Hotel Alexanderplatz Viewing Platform
Alexanderplatz 7, 10178 Berlin, 40th floor
