My friend was going to run Berlin but got injured so won't be running. We are looking for any advice on the best way to spectate the elite races. The course really doesn't seem laid out in a way you can hop around to a lot of different spots. Is it best to just hang around the finish area with large TVs etc?
Also anything you would recommend to see in Berlin other than the normal tourist stuff would be cool. Thanks
The course _is_ laid out so you can hop and see different spots. It's perfect for this. For example, km 21 and km 37 are literally a couple hundred metres apart.
The Berlin Marathon even has a page with six recommended spectator routes: https : // www . bmw-berlin-marathon . com/en/your-race/course/spectators/
I agree 21 and 37 are close but then quite a journey to the finish area.
Thanks for the link to the spectator routes, hadn't seen that.
There is a list where the elite will be at which time of the day (in the official marathon magahzine). Try to find points close to the tube and exit there.
Here are my favorites from my last years trip.
Favorite architecture:
Ludwig Erhard Haus (GrimshawArchitects 8-6pm) Fasanenstraße 85
Make sure to walk in there and take the cool elevator up to the top.
Berlin has excellent art museums, make sure to see at least one of them.
Neues Museum
Neue Nationalgalerie
Pergamon Museum
I rented a Lime ebike last year and was able to hop intersection to intersection and see them continuously. I got hit with the overtime charges from Lime but it honestly was still pretty cheap
I'd probably get a nextbike (1 €/15 mins) and see the race at 0.5 km (Siegessäule), 5.5 km (Alt-Moabit), 21 km/halfway (Yorckstr.), and 35-37 km. You can try to see the finish but it's going to be tricky because it will be crowded with people who have been waiting there. Instead of km 35-37 you could see them at km 39 (Leipziger Str.) _and_ 41 (Gendarmenmarkt).
Finish area will probably be very crowded yes and there are security checks to get in there.