Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin

Long before the graffiti and the wall, no one spoke of Germany but Prussia, an empire of palaces, power and dynasties. The greatest vestige of this era is Charlottenburg Palace, designed as a summer residence for Queen Sophie Charlotte.

Inside the palace, classical music concerts and elegant dinners are also held at the Orangery. Therefore, most tickets to visit Charlottenburg Palace include one of these experiences.

In addition, Charlottenburg Palace consists of two areas that can be visited: the interior and the gardens. Access to the gardens is free and many visitors agree that the tour of the gardens surpasses even the interior of the Palace.

Choose a guided tour to optimize the experience

When visiting such spectacular places as this, the best option is always to book a guided tour that will take you to discover the best of such an important palace as the Charlottenburg and its gardens. The expert guide will accompany you on the tour to tell you the historical details of the monument and you can also skip the queues at the entrance and choose yourself which rooms you want to see during the tour.

With the guided tour of Charlottenburg Palace and gardens you will enjoy a fully personalized activity in which you will learn all the details of this baroque palace built in the late seventeenth century as a summer residence of royalty. It is full of history and its incredible architecture surrounded by a beautiful garden also in French baroque style.

Thanks to the expert guide, you will learn about its history and all areas of both the palace and the gardens. Although visiting the exterior is free of charge, I recommend the full tour of the palace, as it will teach you to better appreciate this Prussian jewel, as well as its partial destruction during the bombing of the British in World War II and its heroic reconstruction during the Cold War, as a symbol of Prussian imperialism.

The concert at Charlottenburg Palace is worthwhile in its own right, which is why there is an exclusive type of ticket to enjoy the show. You can choose between four types of seats for the concert: VIP, A, B and C depending on the distance from the stage, with category A being the best located. The VIP category also includes a glass of champagne during the intermission of the concert.

During the concert you can listen to pieces of classical and late baroque music by composers such as Mozart, Bach or Handel by the Berlin Resident Orchestra. In addition to the quality of the music, the atmosphere is very special, as you will rarely have the opportunity to enjoy a concert in a sumptuous 18th century palace.

How to book

You can book this experience online at different ticket websites, but remember to do it well in advance, otherwise it will be difficult to find availability. The ticket for the Charlottenburg Palace concert does not include hotel pick-up and drop-off, so you will have to make your own way to the palace (it is easily accessible by subway from the center of Berlin). Also not included are the checkroom (€1) and the hand program (€3).

Inside the Palace

Whether you visit the interior of the Palace with a package that includes other experiences such as dinner or a concert, or whether you purchase tickets at the box office, there are several rooms and relics that you cannot miss:

In the gardens

How to get to Charlottenburg Palace

Charlottenburg Palace is located a bit far away from the center of Berlin, so it is more than an hour and a half walk from, for example, the Brandenburg Gate. However, the Charlottenburg area is easily connected to the center by public transport (and, of course, in Berlin you always have the option of taking a cab). The nearest subway stop is Richard Wagner Platz on the U7 line.

Opening hours

The closing day of the Palace is Monday, the rest of the year (except exceptions or specific holidays) the opening hours to visit the interior is from 10 am to 17 pm from November to March and from 10 am to 18 pm from April to October.

When to go

In high season, from mid-morning onwards you will find queues to access the ticket office. If you travel to Berlin during the months of June, July and August I recommend that you go early to visit the Charlottenburg Palace to avoid waiting and crowds. If you are booking the experience with dinner and concert, the best time to visit is at sunset.

Duration of the visit

The complete visit to the palace, including its gardens, will take less than a morning and there is no need to rush if you start early. Visiting the interior of the palace can take an hour and a half and for the gardens, the main attraction of the complex, you have to reserve a minimum time of one hour. If you are going to hire the experience with dinner plus concert, the full duration will be about four hours and two hours if you buy tickets only to enjoy the concert.

The surroundings

Eating in the surroundings of Charlottenburg Palace can be a good idea since, being away from the center of Berlin, in the restaurants in the vicinity you will not find large crowds of tourists. As for the neighborhood itself (named after the palace) is also worth a walk, especially in winter when it is decorated with Christmas lights.

Visit with children

Children under 7 years old are free inside the palace, but the concert and dinner experiences are reserved for adults. Don't hesitate to take the little ones for a stroll through the gardens.

How to dress

If you've bought a ticket to see Charlottenburg Palace and attend a concert or dinner, you're probably wondering what to wear. Don't worry, you don't have to dress up, but I do recommend that you dress down a bit and leave your sneakers and jeans in the closet.

Photographs

Something important to know is that if you want to take pictures inside the Palace, you must pay a special permit of three euros. Otherwise you may be noticed inside. If you are traveling with a companion, one permit is usually valid for both of you. In any case, the best photos of the palace are the ones you can take, free of charge, from the gardens and surroundings.

Audio guide

Visits with an expert guide are rare in this palace, but in exchange you have the option of an audio guide in several languages. Here I recommend that you do not hesitate and use it to orient yourself during your visit inside the palace.

If you want to visit the gardens you do not need a ticket and if you just want to see the inside of the palace, you can buy tickets online at the ticket office from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm in winter and until 6 pm in summer. The approximate price of the full ticket (including the Old Palace, the New Wing and the Belvedere) is 17 euros for adults and 13 euros for students.

Charlottenburg Palace is one of the main points of interest in Berlin, but it is not the only one. The cultural richness of the city is such that visitors have at their disposal, in order to save costs during their trip, the Berlin Welcome Card, a card that you can hire for the period of time you choose and that will serve to access free or at a discount to the various museums and monuments of the German capital.

In the case of the Charlottenburg Palace, you will have a 25% discount with this card; in this article on Berlin Welcome Card you can see the rest of the advantages of this tourist pass. Another interesting tourist card is the Berlin Pass, of which you can find its uses and advantages here: Cruise Tickets in Berlin.