3 Best Sights in Potsdam, Berlin

A larger and grander palace than Sanssouci, the New Palace stands at the end of the long avenue that runs through Sanssouci Park. It was built after the Seven Years' War (1756–63). Impressive interiors include the Grotto Hall with walls and columns set with shells, coral, and other aquatic decorations, and the luxurious Lower Royal Suite. You can only visit Neues Palais with a guided tour at scheduled times; stop at the Visitor's Center at Neues Palais or the Historic Windmill to pick up a timed ticket (free with the sanssoci+ combined ticket). During the summer months, you can also visit the grandly furnished King's Apartment (closed at the time of this writing for restorations) and rococo-style Palace Theatre (only open on non-performance days and tours in German only).

Prussia's most famous king, Friedrich II—Frederick the Great—spent more time at his summer residence, Schloss Sanssouci, than in the capital of Berlin. Executed according to Frederick's impeccable French-influenced taste, the palace, which lies on the northeastern edge of Sanssouci Park, was built between 1745 and 1747. It is extravagantly rococo, with scarcely a patch of wall left unadorned. Visits to the palace are only allowed at fixed times scheduled when tickets are purchased. During peak tourist months, timed tickets can sell out before noon, so book online in advance. From Schloss Sanssouci, you can wander down the extravagant terraced gardens, filled with climbing grapevines, trellises, and fountains to reach the Italianate Friedenskirche, or "Peace Church," which was completed in 1854, and houses a 13th-century Byzantine mosaic taken from an island near Venice.

On the site of the Barberini Palace, destroyed by a bombing in 1945, this elegant art museum features an extensive permanent collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including the largest collection of Monet's paintings in Europe outside of France. The Barberini also hosts up to three large-scale temporary exhibitions a year, focusing on such artists as Gerhard Richter, Pablo Picasso, and Wassily Kandinsky.