Potsdam in 2 days
A ready route for 2 days in Potsdam: the main sights grouped by area, so you don't walk back and forth. Each day opens on the map with all its stops.
Sanssouci Park & Palaces
4 places · about 4,5 h of sightseeing · 2,3 km between them
Morning
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Sanssouci Palace (Schloss Sanssouci)Frederick the Great's small rococo summer palace on top of vineyard terraces, visited on a timed-entry tour.
Afternoon
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Sanssouci Park (Park Sanssouci)A free, roughly 300-hectare royal park around the palaces, with a 2 km main avenue from the old obelisk to the Neues Palais.
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Chinese House (Chinesisches Haus)
A small gilded rococo pavilion in the park, ringed by life-size golden figures, built in the fashion for chinoiserie.
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New Palace (Neues Palais)
Frederick the Great's huge showpiece palace at the western end of the park, with the Grotto Hall, Marble Gallery and a palace theatre.
Route of the day: Google Maps Apple Maps
Old Town & the Dutch Quarter
5 places · about 5 h of sightseeing · 2,1 km between them
Morning
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Brandenburg Gate, Luisenplatz and Brandenburger Straße
Potsdam's own triumphal-arch gate (1770/71) closes the Brandenburger Straße promenade at leafy Luisenplatz.
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Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel)About 150 red-brick gabled houses built for Dutch craftsmen, now full of small shops, cafés and galleries.
Afternoon
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St. Nikolaikirche and Alter Markt (with the Landtag in the rebuilt City Palace)Schinkel's domed church dominates Potsdam's old market square, with a 42 m viewing walkway around the dome.
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Museum BarberiniArt museum in a rebuilt Italian-style palace on Alter Markt, with international temporary exhibitions.
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Potsdam Museum – Forum for Art and History (Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte)City-history museum in the Baroque Old Town Hall; the permanent exhibition on Potsdam's story is free.
Route of the day: Google Maps Apple Maps
Good to know
When to go
April to October is best: Sanssouci Palace is open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–17:30. From November it closes at 16:30, and some palaces, such as Charlottenhof, open in summer only.
Book ahead
Sanssouci Palace (Schloss Sanssouci), New Palace (Neues Palais)
Closed days
- Sanssouci Palace (Schloss Sanssouci) — closed: Monday
- Chinese House (Chinesisches Haus) — closed: Monday
- New Palace (Neues Palais) — closed: Tuesday
- Museum Barberini — closed: Tuesday
- Potsdam Museum – Forum for Art and History (Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte) — closed: Monday
Want times, places to eat and a plan for your own dates?
In your own plan:
- exact times for each day, checked against the opening hours on your dates
- places to eat near every stop, in three budgets
- your flights, hotel, kids and pace taken into account