Berliner Fernsehturm

The tower is an absolute "must" for all tourists and residents. If the weather is good, you can see up to 80 kilometers to Brandenburg and even recognize the "Tropical Island".

1st day the queue was crazy. 2nd day we managed to get to the desk the she told us 2.5 hours wait. 3rd day was cloudy. Don't go afternoons, best time is the morning.

Also reservieren ist ne Pflicht spontan bei schönem Wetter absolutes no go!! Sonst wunderbares Wahrzeichen der Stadt leider zu nahe am Alex der mir als Platz in Berlin am wenigsten gefällt... Laut dreckig Alexia widerlich voll laut Bah... Lob ich mir doch die kleinen schönen Einkaufsstraßen in Berlin.

Berlin panoramic view isn’t good compensation for owful food and caddish, in good old Soviet style, personnel. Never eat there, hope it will be more safe just to drink.

Fully inapt to handle international guests

In autumn we had international guests with us for dinner in the restaurant. They were here on business purposes for the IFA (home electronics fair). We pre-ordered the table online without hassle and on short notice. Worked just great, we marvelled at the great view, and took in the busy but nice atmosphere. German food with a Berlin accent was excellent, and as usual with Chinese guests you would order several dishes and share. We did, and this was no problem with the staff. We definitely enjoyed the meal.

The service was a mixed experience: the typical Berlin behaviour, not talking much, can be seen as unfriendly. With internationally minded people this is no issue. But: we were drawing technical sketches and diagrams on the napkins, and they actually placed drinks right next to our pens and on the napkins. Nervous people would have spilled the drink, or ruined the diagram. No word of "excuse me, may I put the drinks here" or anything. Odd. Our conversation increasingly turned towards service quality (or the lack thereof).

It turned bad by the time we wanted to leave. Our 4 year old only ate his french fries, but did not touch the Hamburger. Naturally we asked to take it home, as takeaway. This was acknowledged by a staff member who took it to the kitchen, only to not ever return to our table. Instead we had to ask for the food, and were met with something like "combat mode". Atmosphere was heating up, as there was no sign of "Sorry, we cannot allow this". All we heard was "This is impossible, no you cannot take it home".

The manager on duty turned out to be 'communicatively challenged'. She showed no sign of openness to our request and was inapt to answer our questions. She tensed up seriously, which then put us into a (finely controlled) rage. All she did was insisting on "it is like that" and "you cannot take your food with you". No explanation, just a tiny trace of an excuse, and no advances were made. Result: she would insist on calling security, the kid would insist to not wanting the burger anymore, other guests would insist we calm down. Funny. Yes, we made quite a noise, increasingly wondering why staff can't distinguish "reason" from "answering a simple request". We left it at that, leaving calmly and before security even arrived. I sincerely apologized to my friends for Berlin, but hey, we saw it as an exercise in cultural difference. But as a place to enjoy everything the Fernsehturm restaurant is completely out of question.

As a suggestion for someone else: prokove a real situation like this: order one dish too much, enjoy your meal, pas for it, then ask them to take wrap it up for you to take home. They will insist it is not possible, you will insist to take it home. You get up, take the food with you. If they do as they say, they will try to take the food from you - which qualifies as theft, or even robbery (if by use of force). Hopefully some day this will make them understand and change.

Food: 4 out of 5
Service: 1 out of 5

Nothing but all the best I have for you!!

I have been visiting Berlin since 1984 but I have never had the nerve to go up this awe-inspiring "golf ball on a billiard cue".....However you can see it from where ever you are in the city and by doing so you can orientate yourself.

Coming in from Schonefeld or Tegel early morning you know you are in Berlin when you see it coming nearer when you see it, from the train or the taxi, emerging from the mist.

I continue on the train to the Zoo then catch a bus to the Reichstag, then enter Berilin through the Brandenburg Gate and walk all the way to Alexander Platz for a substantial breakfast underneath the Fernsehturm at the Alex Cafe.

When I come in from Tegel I ask the driver to drop me at the Reichstag and do the walk...

I purchase some souvenirs, then, this done every time I come to Berlin, I head out to the hotel I have chosen......

The Berliner TV Tower offers a splendid view of the city and the other sightseeing areas around the famous Alexanderplatz, the Gendarmenmarkt, the Museums Island and of course the Berliner Cathedral.

You can never imagine how tall it actually is until you are stood underneath it and at the top of it overlooking Berlin. The view is amazing and becomes even better with a longdrink from the fernsehturm bar.

I love the view of this great city.

It was quite interesting to see Berlin from above on a Friday night.

It wasn't busy at all so we could have a relaxed stay on top and discover the sights and buildings for quite a while.

I'd recommend it, but maybe it's better to go during a day when the view is better.

Oh, how do you add to what has already been written. For me this fantastic structure is about the unique view that you get of Berlin.
If you think Berlin is big. See the view, and you see the big wonderful city.

My first tip is to get here for opening time. That way its not crowded and you don’t feel as if you’re in a hurry. The observation deck is spacious and if the windows are clean you get a great view of the city. From here you can really notice the difference between East and West. On a clear day you can see quite far down the river. Do go up to the revolving restaurant. It takes half an hour to complete a full revolution. Order an ice cream sundae. Our sundae’s were lovely because they were made in the restaurant. We found that one revolution was exactly the right amount of time to eat the sundaes and take in the great view. The waiter was lovely and took photos for us, he volunteered, we didn’t have to ask. In the foyer we bought some Russian dolls featuring Russian presidents and penguins.

I was vey keen to go up the Fernsehturm and did so for my 21st birthday. The price was resonable (nearly 10 Euros) and the queue was not too bad as I went in December and at night. I have to admit however, that I was a little disappointed as it was quite difficult to see out of the windows as they were quite dirty. Even though it was nighttime, quite a lot of Berlin was visible due to the lights, but there was some reflection back on the windows due to the dirt. However, I still enjoyed the experience- the speed of the lift in itself was fun! Perhaps the view would also be better in the summer/daytime.

Great views over Berlin. I would definately recommend to include this into your trip. If you have time to kill too its quite nice to relax with a drink in the bar area where you can take time to savour the view or if you are there at the right time, watch the sunset.

A truly fantastic piece of architecture, one of many to see around Berlin. We didn’t find the queue to be too bad and the ticket price was reasonable for the amazing view that you get once you brave the slightly scary super fast lift to the top.

One major criticism is the restaurant – the only people who recommend eating there, are people that haven’t. The food is absolutely terrible and by Berlin standards, slightly expensive.
The main reason why the food is so bad is because it’s cooked at the bottom of the of tower, sent up to the top in the service lift and then microwaved. This is done because health and safety rules dictate they cannot have an oven at the top of the tower.

I had some sort of chicken tagliatelle with asparagus, which was barely edible. The chicken was dry, the pasta was overcooked and the asparagus was so tough I couldn’t cut nor chew through it. My girlfriend thought it would be a fun idea to try a 'Berlin classic’ which turned out to be some sort of strange cold jelly with bits of meat and veg in it. That will serve us right for not investing in a better phrase book!

To try and soften the blow of the terrible dinner I thought it would be a good idea to try the cakes. Not the worst Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte I’ve ever eaten, but then the worst was from an Iceland supermarket, so thats not saying much.

So in conclusion; go up the tower, see the amazing view, but whatever you do don’t spend those precious Euros in the restaurant! I’m still going to give it three stars because it’s a great place to visit.

Top marks for the Berlin Fernsehturm, TV tower for those of us who do not speak German. As other reviewers have noted, there a great views over the whole of Berlin. Definitely an attraction to add to your list of “tall buildings I have visited” to go alongside the Twin Towers (pre 2001 obviously), Petronas, Eiffel, Empire State etc etc.

Placing the tower a historical context, it was built by the highly repressive government of the GDR, no doubt to show the nasty capitalist running dogs in the enclave of West Berlin how fantastic their socialist utopia was. This behemeoth of concrete and steel would show the West who was top dog…

Never mind that fully 1 in 10 of the population was spying and reporting on their neighbours to the unaccountable Stasi secret police force. Never mind that citizens were restricted in where they could travel - Moscow anybody?

Never mind that political dissent was crushed by intimidation, arrest and prolonged detention without charge was commonplace.

Yes, symbolic of brutal, statist regimes and centrally planned economies, all over the globe.

Well worth a visit to remind us why we need to be vigilant against both communism and fascism. Today, in Britain…

My husband and I went here during our trip. There was no queue when we went which was lucky. There are exhibition areas showing many other towers around the world to compare the sizes. Once being whisked up the view of Berlin is stunning, its worth the cost and any wait you may have.
We took loads of photos and enjoyed spotting all the sights we had previously visited. There is also a restaurant inside which while being overpriced is still worth going in for a drink. We had a couple of biers and a gorgeous cake _ the choice is amazing- and sat there for a couple of hours just realxing and taking in the views, think we did around 3 rotations!
We never felt rushed or anything and it was a really lovely way to while away a few relaxing hours.
Its really easy to reach by UBahn, SBahn or even the trams. We will definately do this again next time. Well worth a visit!

Had a really over-priced Gin&Tonic in the bar, but the view was spectacular. Very well worth the short queue at the time we were there.

I was not patient, therefore did not begin to wait, while there huge pass will turn. I hope, next time to rise up.