Sightseeing for free. With S-Bahn, U-Bahn, bus and tram (streetcar) you can easily discover Berlin on your own. We have put together the best sightseeing routes for you. And if you want to cheer yourself up on a gray rainy day with the prospect of a colorful mural, here are the best routes for a street art city tour.
Tip: With the Berlin WelcomeCard you can travel for free on public transport and get discounts from many partners.
Tip 1: U2, U3 Bülowstraße - URBAN NATION | ONE WALL
The facade of the URBAN NATION Museum of Contemporary Art is probably the most colorful wall in the city. Again and again, street artists create new murals here, which often hit the spirit of the times. The Broken Fingaz Crew's current theme is human communication, inspired by the Latin proverb "Man is man's wolf". The recurring motif thus addresses togetherness in the age of digital communication. Will the wolf be able to distinguish fake information from real information through its sense of smell?
Where: Bülowstraße 7, Schöneberg
Route: U2, U3 between Bülowstraße and Nollendorfplatz
Tip: Discover even more street art on our ABOUT BERLIN app, our free city guide for Berlin fans. Among other things, you'll find a video tour of the URBAN NATION Museum.
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Tip 2: U2, U3 Bülowstraße - Untitled: Shepard Fairey, D*Face, Cyrcle und Word to Mother
Do you see the woman peeking out from behind a curtain? For her, it's the first glimpse of the real world - and thus a timid step towards personal freedom. This is the interpretation of the artist, Shepard Fairey. In addition to his work, you can discover many other street art icons during a ride on the elevated train along Bülowstraße. Among them are D*Face, Maya Hayuk, Cyrcle, Word To Mother, Miss Van, The London Police,
Herakut, and Snik and Evoca 1. It's worth getting out!
Where: Bülowstrasse 31/32, Schöneberg
Route: U2, U3 between Bülowstrasse and Nollendorfplatz
Discover more street art icons
Tip 3: Ringbahn - Herakut: This game called life
You can find beautiful murals from Herakut all over the city. They are part of the Giant Storybook project, for which Herakut travelled around the world in 2012 to show that there are themes and ideas that engage and connect all people in the world. The mural, which you can see from the Ringbahn, shows a mother in a red dress (not the one in the picture). The sleeves resembling armour, symbolizing the inner strength we discover as soon as we care for someone else: "In this game called life there is a hidden resource of strength. You'll find it once you start caring about someone." Almost all murals by the street artist duo Herakut contain a message.
Where: Sickingerstrasse 2, Moabit
Route: Ringbahn, between Jungfernheide and Beusselstraße (near Berlin Beusselstraße station)
Tip: Discover more murals by Herakut in our ABOUT BERLIN app.
Tip 4: Ringbahn - The sun will sink into the ocean
A white horse stands in a flooded palace. The setting sun glitters on the water and a few white doves have just fluttered in through the open window. Despite the flooding, the mural by Ricky Lee Gordon radiates hope rather than a doomsday mood.
Where: Landsberger Allee 121, Prenzlauer Berg
Route: S8, S85 and Ringbahn, near Landsberger Allee station
Bicycle tour for street art fan
Tip 5: Ringbahn - Victor Ash: Tree Children and Astronaut
Tree Children is just one of the many murals that French street artist Victor Ash has immortalized himself with in Berlin. His most famous mural is Astronaut | Cosmonaut at Oranienstraße 195, which you can see from the U1 and U8.
Where: Lynarstraße 1, Wedding
Route: Ringbahn between Wedding and Berlin Gesundbrunnen (near Wedding station)
Tip: Create your very own street art tour on ABOUT BERLIN, our free city guide app.
Tip 6: S-Bahn Hackescher Markt: Anne Frank
Jimmy C.'s mural in the backyard of Haus Schwarzenberg is based on a photo of Anne Frank. It is no coincidence that a large picture of the courageous Jewish girl can be seen here from the S-Bahn. The Anne Frank Center is also nearby, surrounded by graffiti, artists' studios, bars and galleries.
Where: Rosenthaler Straße 39, Mitte
Route: S3, S5, S7, S9 Hackescher Markt
Tip 7: U1, U3 - BRAVE WALL
Artist Katerina Voronina has created a monument to Brazilian human rights activist Marielle Franco with her mural on the occasion of International Women's Day. At a height of eight stories, Franco's impressive profile provides space for many, many women - in all their facets. The mural was created with the support of the URBAN NATION Museum of Contemporary Art.
Where: Gitschiner Straße 65, Kreuzberg
Route: U1, U3 between Prinzenstraße and Kottbusser Tor
More about the URBAN NATION Museum
Tip 8: U1, U3 - Daphne & Apollo
If you photograph this mural and edit the picture, you will experience a real surprise. Just invert the photo, that means you edit the image in such a way that you reverse the color spectrum. Because then suddenly Daphne becomes colored and Apollo dissolves into a black and white negative version. This interplay is an allusion to the hopeless love story from Greek mythology, in which Daphne detaches herself from her human form because Apollo's courtship simply becomes too much for her.
Where: Wassertorstraße 65, Kreuzberg
Route: U1, U3 between Prinzenstraße and Kottbusser Tor
More "instagrammable" Street Art Spots
Tip 9: Tram M2 - Attack of the 50ft Woman
The enormous female figure has its origins in the science fiction flick "Attack of the 50ft Woman". While the production falls more into the "trashy B-movie" category, the film still manages to be discussed and celebrated as an early work of emancipation and female power.
Where: Am Friedrichshain 33
Route: Bus 200, Tram M1, M2, M4, M5, M6, M8
Tip: With our ABOUT BERLIN App you can take a self-guided street art tour through Friedrichshain.
Tip 10: Tram M2 - Wrinkles in the City
The photo-realistic mural of Mr. ZYIA at Soho House is one of a total of 15 that the French artist JR is installing on facades in Berlin as part of his "Wrinkles in the City" project in 2013. With the oversized portraits, he brings old people, who are otherwise often pushed to the fringes of society, right into the middle of the urban space. Many of the murals from this project have unfortunately since disappeared.
Where: Soho House Berlin, Torstr. 1, Mitte
Route: Tram M2 between Alexanderplatz and Prenzlauer Allee/Ostseestraße
Discover more murals in Berlin!
Tip 11: Tram M10 - Well Done Steakart
With this mural, the artist group "The Dixons" (Xi-Design) sets a monument to the "incisive" event of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification. If you look closely you can see the outline of Berlin in the bold drawing of the steak.
Where: Bernauer Str. 11
Route: U8 Bernauer Straße, Tram M10 and Bus 247
Tip: Discover more great murals in Berlin with our free digital city guide. Featuring self guided tours for street art fans? Download our free ABOUT BERLIN app now.
There are many stories to tell. ABOUT BERLIN.
