Berlin vs Munich
Which would you pick?
The short answer
Berlin is the cheaper trip, by roughly 13% a day — $130–210 against $150–240 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in May–Jun, Sep, so one trip can take in both.
Side by side
Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.
| 🇩🇪 Berlin | 🇩🇪 Munich | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budgetmid-range, per person | $130–210cheaper | $150–240 |
| Cheap meallocal staple | $7–10cheaper | $10–16 |
| Mid-range hotelper night | $125–205cheaper | $150–250 |
| Transit ridesingle trip | $4.60 | $4.80 |
| Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context | ≈ $3,300 | ≈ $3,300 |
When to go
Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.
What you'd actually do
A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.
🇩🇪 Berlin
A city that kept its scars on purpose — the Wall, the bullet-pocked facades, the memorials in the middle of everything — and then built the most relaxed capital in Europe around them. Cheap by Western standards, open all night, and not at all interested in impressing you.
- Reichstag dome$History & memorials
- Museum Island$$Museums & views
- Markthalle Neun$Food & markets
- Berghain$$Nightlife & outdoors
- Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe$History & memorials
🇩🇪 Munich
Germany's richest big city and its most Bavarian — beer gardens under chestnut trees, a gold-and-baroque old town, the Alps on the horizon on a clear day, and the most expensive hotel rooms in the country.
- Augustiner-Keller$Beer halls & beer gardens
- Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel$Sights & museums
- English Garden$Outdoors & markets
- Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial$Day trips
- Chinese Tower beer garden$Beer halls & beer gardens
Practicalities
| Berlin | Munich | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | German — but English gets you through almost everything in Berlin, and in parts of Kreuzberg and Mitte it's the default. | German, with a heavy Bavarian accent. English is widely spoken in hotels, museums and beer halls. |
| Tap water | Safe and heavily tested. Restaurants usually charge for water, tap included, so ask for a 'Leitungswasser' and don't be surprised if it's refused | Excellent — it's piped from the Alpine foothills. Restaurants charge for water, so drink it at the hotel |
The same in both:
- Currency
- Euro (€). US$1 ≈ €0.88
- Time zone
- CET (UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer)
- Power
- Type C/F plugs, 230V — the standard continental two-pin
- Emergency
- 112 fire & ambulance · 110 police · 116117 out-of-hours doctor