Berlin is home to more than 170 museums, with collections that span ancient civilizations to pivotal chapters in modern art. For guests arriving aboard a Princess® cruise to Berlin, the Jewish Museum is a major highlight, and a guided excursion from Warnemünde includes a visit. There are many things to do in Berlin, but in this article, we home in on the museums and the incredible discoveries that await you in places like Museum Island.

Key takeaways

Princess guests can explore Berlin’s Jewish history through a guided experience that visits the Jewish Museum, the historic Jewish Quarter and other significant sites across the city.

Museum Island brings five major museums together on a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with collections that span ancient Egypt, classical antiquity and 19th-century European art.

Some of Berlin’s museums make architecture part of the story itself, particularly the Jewish Museum, where Daniel Libeskind’s symbolic design shapes how visitors experience the exhibits.

Visit the Jewish Museum on a guided excursion

The Jewish Museum Berlin explores more than 1,700 years of Jewish life and culture in Germany, with exhibits showcasing important periods of German-Jewish history. Just as notable is the structure of the museum itself, which architect Daniel Libeskind designed so its spaces contribute to the story visitors encounter inside.

Libeskind called his zigzagging design “Between the Lines.” Its form is meant to mimic a fractured Star of David, while angled walls, underground axes and empty concrete voids reflect interruptions and absences in German-Jewish history. The architecture is an integral part of the museum experience.

The Garden of Exile continues that experience into the outdoors. Forty-nine concrete columns rise from sloping ground, meant to create a deliberate sense of instability as visitors walk between them. Russian olives grow from the tops of the columns as a symbol of hope.

Princess guests can visit the museum on the Berlin by Train & Jewish History excursion. The excursion is a 12.5-hour day, including about 2.5 hours each way by chartered train, and the museum visit includes a partly guided tour of the building and a box lunch. Guests should wear conservative clothing that covers shoulders and knees and expect a security screening at the museum. The day also includes a stop at the Holocaust Memorial and a guided walking tour of the old Jewish Quarter, where guests pass the New Synagogue and Centrum Judaicum. Together, these stops give guests a thought-provoking look at Jewish history and heritage in Berlin.

Front facade of a yellow Baroque building featuring a red roof and entrance banners under a clear blue sky.
Experience the profound history and striking design of Berlin’s Jewish Museum.

Museum Island’s five world-famous museums

Set along the Spree River in central Berlin, Museum Island brings five major museums together within one UNESCO World Heritage Site. Each has a different focus. On the Berlin on Your Own by Train excursion, guests have about five to six hours of free time in Berlin to prioritize the collections that interest them most:

  • Altes Museum: Greek and Roman antiquities fill one of Museum Island’s landmark neoclassical buildings.
  • Neues Museum: Ancient Egyptian collections include the more than 3,000-year-old bust of Nefertiti, one of the island’s most recognizable works.
  • Alte Nationalgalerie: Paintings and sculptures span major 19th-century movements, including Romanticism, Impressionism and early Modernism.
  • Bode-Museum: Sculpture, Byzantine art and an extensive coin collection share this distinctive building at the northern tip of the island.
  • Pergamonmuseum: Monumental ancient architecture and archaeological collections have made this one of Berlin’s best-known museums.

The Pergamon museum is closed for renovation and has a confirmed reopening date of June 4, 2027, when the North Wing and central section will welcome visitors again, with the Pergamon Altar back on view. The South Wing is scheduled to follow from 2037. Until then, a 360-degree panorama of ancient Pergamon is open on Museum Island as part of the exhibition Pergamonmuseum. Das Panorama.

If your schedule allows for several stops, the Museum Island day ticket provides admission to the island’s participating museums in a single day, though most are closed on Mondays. That makes Museum Island particularly convenient for guests who want to concentrate their museum time in one part of the city.

Sunlit view across a river looking at a long classical stone colonnade leading toward the green-domed Berlin Cathedral framed by lush green trees.
 Immerse yourself in the world-class treasures scattered across Berlin’s Museum Island.
A group of people stands on the deck of a cruise ship, enjoying the view of the open sea. The wooden deck and railing are visible, with the ship's wake trailing behind. The setting sun casts a warm glow over the scene, creating a serene and relaxing atmosphere.

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Beyond Museum Island to the Kulturforum and the Humboldt Forum

Museum Island may have Berlin’s highest concentration of historic museums, but major collections extend across the city. Near Potsdamer Platz, the Kulturforum brings several cultural institutions together in a complex known for its 20th-century modernist architecture. The Gemäldegalerie houses European paintings dating from the 13th to 18th centuries, while the Kunstgewerbemuseum focuses on decorative arts such as furniture, textiles and ceramics. The complex is also home to the Berlin Philharmonic concert hall.

Back in Berlin’s historic center, the Humboldt Forum occupies a reconstruction of the former Berlin Palace, with a contemporary interior behind three recreated Baroque façades. Opened in stages beginning in 2020, it is one of the city’s newest major cultural institutions. Its collections include objects from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, with exhibitions drawn from the Ethnological Museum and Museum of Asian Art.

Water fountain surrounded by green plants and white flowers in a cobbled plaza with the imposing domed Humboldt Forum palace in the background under a blue and white sky.
Explore the restored glory of the Humboldt Forum set behind bubbling plaza fountains.

An unusual museum worth knowing about

Berlin’s museum scene also reaches beyond traditional art and antiquities. The DDR Museum focuses on everyday life in the former East Germany, with interactive exhibits that explore subjects such as housing, education, work and leisure behind the Berlin Wall. Visitors can step inside a recreated prefabricated apartment and even sit behind the wheel of a Trabant in a driving simulation.

For guests interested in Berlin’s Cold War history, the museum offers a different perspective on the era by focusing on what daily life looked like for the people who lived through it.

A call at Warnemünde puts one of Europe’s great museum cities within reach. Princess excursions can take you into Berlin for a guided look at its Jewish history or for about five to six hours of free time to explore on your own.

See what’s available through Berlin excursions, then browse European cruises that call at Warnemünde.

Line of colorful vintage Trabant cars driving down an asphalt road alongside a preserved section of the concrete Berlin Wall behind a metal wire fence.
Vintage Trabant cars bring East German everyday life to mind at Berlin’s DDR Museum.
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