Walks in Berlin
Alright, friends,
in this article, we explore walks in Berlin and why the best way to understand the city is simply by exploring it on foot.
I share a few personal thoughts about discovering Berlin beyond the classic tourist attractions and introduce three walks from our guide.
They lead through very different parts of the city — from quiet residential neighborhoods to forests and former industrial sites.
Berlin Is Not a Tourist Attraction
Berlin is a city you can never fully know. It’s simply too large, too diverse, and too full of contradictions. There is no such thing as complete “Berlin knowledge.” Even after 30 years in the city, a short S-Bahn ride or a quick drive can suddenly bring you to a place you’ve never seen before.
That’s exactly why walks in Berlin are so special. They work just as well for locals, newcomers, and visitors. When you explore Berlin on foot, you automatically notice things you would never see from a train or a car.
As a child, I remember how we often rode our bikes into other districts of the city. We would park the bikes somewhere, go for a short walk, and grab an ice cream along the way.
For me, this small kind of discovery has always been part of Berlin.
Later, after more than ten years working in the hotel industry, I kept noticing the same thing: many visitors move almost exclusively around their hotel or the city’s most famous spots. Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz, Hackescher Markt — for many people, that’s where their Berlin trip begins and ends.
I always found that a bit strange, and also a little disappointing.
Because Berlin is not a tourist attraction.
Berlin is a city.
And you don’t understand cities only through their postcard locations.
If you spend your entire time in Hamburg at the Jungfernstieg, or in Munich only on Maximilianstraße, you won’t really get a feeling for the everyday life of the city.
walks from our guide
Berlin is a large city, and every district feels a little different. Some walks in Berlin lead through forests and lakes, others pass former industrial sites or quiet residential neighborhoods.
This variety is exactly what makes exploring Berlin on foot so interesting.
Discover Berlin on Foot
That’s why I always recommend the same simple thing: get off the train one stop earlier. Walk the rest of the way. Instead of following the main street, take a side street and discover the city for yourself.
Berlin is not always beautiful. Sometimes it’s loud, chaotic, dirty, or improvised. But that’s exactly where the character of the city comes from.
This article is simply meant as a small invitation to explore Berlin on foot more often. Take a different route home. Walk a few stations instead of taking the train.
The following walks are intentionally not written as detailed step-by-step directions. Part of the joy of walking is discovering the route yourself. If needed, you can simply enter the marked places into Google Maps and find your own way there.
As a small example, I’m sharing three walks from our guide. You’ll find many more routes in our Berlin Insider Tips.
Berliner Balkon
This walk leads through a lesser-known corner in the eastern part of Berlin. The districts of Biesdorf, Kaulsdorf, and Mahlsdorf together form the largest area of single-family and semi-detached houses in Germany.
The route begins at the Kaulsdorfer Busch garden colony. From there, a small path leads to Butzer See, one of the three Kaulsdorfer lakes. The walk then continues along a wooded area and across open meadows toward Habermannsee.
Following Kressenweg and Hornungweg, you eventually reach the so-called Berliner Balkon. At around 57 meters above sea level, the spot offers a surprisingly wide view across the surrounding landscape. On clear days, you can even see the Müggelberge, the highest natural hills in Berlin.
The walk ends near Gutshaus Mahlsdorf and the tram line 62.
This area reveals a side of Berlin that many visitors — and even some newcomers to the city — don’t expect: quiet, green, and almost village-like.
Walk to the Grunewald Tower
The Grunewald is one of the largest forest areas in Berlin and perfect for a walk through the city’s green side. The starting point is Grunewald S-Bahn station at Schmetterlingsplatz. From there, the route first leads to the so-called Kiesgrube, a large sandy area within a protected nature reserve.
The walk then continues through the forest to Teufelssee, a popular swimming lake in the middle of the Grunewald. From there, the path leads through mixed woodland with pines, oaks, and beeches up to Karlsberg.
At the top stands the destination of this walk: the Grunewald Tower. Built in 1899, the tower rises 55 meters high. Those who climb the 202 steps are rewarded with an impressive view over the Havel and western Berlin.
Urban Nature in Schöneberg
This walk combines Berlin’s city history, traces of the Ice Age, and what many locals call urban nature.
The starting point is Kaiserin-Augusta-Straße, from where the route leads to Alboinplatz. Here you’ll find the Blanke Helle, a small lake formed during the last Ice Age — a so-called kettle hole.
Following Eythstraße, the walk continues to the Krummen Pfuhl and then to the Lindenhof-Siedlung, a garden city from the 1920s with the Lindenhof pond at its center.
The walk ends at the Natur-Park Schöneberger Südgelände. This former railway yard has been transformed into a park where nature has slowly reclaimed the area among old tracks, a historic steam locomotive, and an abandoned water tower.
From there, the route continues to the Insulaner, a rubble hill topped by the Wilhelm Foerster Observatory, which offers a wide view across Berlin.
Few places show the contrasts of Berlin so clearly — nature, history, and city life all side by side.
Discovering Berlin by Walking
Many of the things that make Berlin special aren’t found on lists of famous sights. You discover them along the way — while walking down a street you’ve never seen before, looking into a hidden courtyard, or having a short conversation with someone sitting on a park bench.
Walks in Berlin might be the simplest way to really get to know this city.
If you’d like to explore more routes like these, you’ll find many additional Berlin Insider Tips in our guide — places where you can experience Berlin beyond the classic tourist attractions.
And if you want to dive even deeper into the city, you might also enjoy our other articles about lakes in Berlin, lost places, Spätis, or graffiti in Berlin.
Berlin is not a tourist attraction. Berlin is a city.
See you in the real Berlin – or here in the next blog.
Take care 🖤
Most images in this article are sample images and were not taken at the places featured.
Check out our blogs on the history of Berlin.
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