Adventures in Groupon: the Panoramapunkt, Potsdamer Platz

Did you know that the higher up in the air a building goes, the more expensive the drinks in the cafe at the top? That's a made up fact from me to you, but it's probably true. I don't mind too much paying 3 Euros for a coffee (though I'd rather not), but 3 Euros for 200ml of Diet Coke seems exceptionally steep. Which is quite appropriate really, give that yesterday we celebrated (belatedly) our 2 year anniversary in Berlin with a trip up to the top of Kollhof Tower in Potsdamer Platz.

Happy 2 year anniversary to us! Forget an additional child-free visit to a museum. Look below! It's the Legoland giraffe! (we renewed our Jahreskarten instead...pah! But great price- only 15 euros!)

I bought the tickets as a little trip out for me, Stevie, and my camera. We had intended using the voucher in May, while Orla was in school and Hamish was in Kita, so that we could maybe squeeze in a trip to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, but you know how it is. Things get in the way, and the time just seems to fly by. So we had the pleasure of Hamish's company who has now officially finished with Kita. On that subject I am wondering if I made a bad move there as he is now pestering me every day with "Do I start school today?".

The top of the Sony Center, close-up, & the Ritz (which has lots of greenery on its roofs)

Anyway, back to the Panoramapunkt. I was quite excited at the thought of this little trip. I had read that the building has Europe's fastest elevator, and it makes your ears pop on the way down, but really, they want to make it a glass elevator so you can actually *see* that you're shooting up in the air at the same rate as Charlie & the Great Glass Elevator. Otherwise it kind of doesn't feel like much. Get in a box with some other folk and Europe's boredest tour guide/lift operator, listen to him tell you how many floors there are and what speed you are going, and ping!, you're at the top. No! Let's have it in glass, and let's all cling to the sides screaming that we're going to die.

Other things you can go up: the Fernsehturm (& in fact there's a viewing platform at the top of the Park Inn behind), the  Siegessäule  (Victory column), & the Die Welt balloon

Once at the top you can have a little wander round, clicking away with your camera, cursing the railings that presumably are meant to stop you throwing yourself off, and you can read all about the history of Postdamer Platz through the past couple of hundred years in the exhibition that also encircles the walls of the building. It's quite good, and I never knew that clock thing that sits in the middle of Potsdamer Platz was actually a pre-war electronic traffic light, but I had wondered about the lights on it. The views from this floor and the viewing platform above are great, although you might struggle to tell that from my photos as I had my camera on the wrong setting and it was a bit of a hazy day. You can see as far as the Funkturm and Teufelsberg in Charlottenburg, and you get some great views of central Berlin.

See the sights! The Brandenburg Gate, the Jewish memorial (& rear of Gehry DZ bank) & the lovely Science Center Medizintechnik (I was surprised at the number of rooftop gardens there are)

I would highly recommend a trip up the Panoramapunkt, though I think I might have preferred the Die Welt hot air balloon a bit better which seems to give you views from as high up. Either way, both seem good value for money if you get them on a Groupon deal. With the Panormapunkt, we got 2 VIP Tickets which allow you to skip the queue (if there is one) and they give you a fold out panorama map showing you what all the important buildings are, and a guide book full of lots of interesting information and vouchers for freebies at other attractions. Not bad for Euros 9.50 for both of us!

Standard tickets cost Euro 5.50
VIP tickets cost Euro 9.50
Children under 5 are free

Panoramapunkt website (where you can book tickets) http://www.panoramapunkt.de/de/willkommen.html


My other Groupon adventures:
Unsicht-bar - eating in the dark restaurant
Die Welt hot air balloon - sightseeing from Berlin's famous hot air balloon
Loxx Miniatur Welten - Mini Berlin with trains in the Alex shopping centre
Like I just stepped out of a salon - getting a Groupon haircut - eek