How do you get Neues Museum Berlin tickets and actually see Nefertiti without queuing?
The Neues Museum sits in the middle of Museum Island in Mitte, and holds two collections that have very little to do with each other: the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, with the bust of Nefertiti at its far end, and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History. You do not enter through its own front door. Everything goes through the James-Simon-Galerie next door, which is where the ticket desks, lockers and cloakroom are. This guide covers what Neues Museum Berlin tickets cost at the counter, the island day ticket that includes the museum, and how to time the visit so the North Dome Room is quiet when you reach it.
About This Experience
Bodestrasse 1-3, Mitte, 10178 Berlin. Entry is through the James-Simon-Galerie beside the museum, not the museum's own steps.
U5 to Museumsinsel is the closest station, about 2 minutes on foot. S3, S5, S7 and S9 to Hackescher Markt is roughly 8 minutes, and S and U Friedrichstrasse about 10. Trams M1 and 12 stop at Am Kupfergraben; trams M4, M5 and M6 at Hackescher Markt.
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00. There is no late evening opening at the Neues Museum, so do not plan an after-work visit. Public holidays run reduced or special hours. Closed every Monday, and closed 15 to 17 March 2027 for maintenance.
At the door, adults pay 14 euros and concessions 7 euros. The Bereichskarte Museumsinsel at 24 euros, 12 euros concession, also gets you in and covers the rest of the island the same day. The 32 euro Museum Pass Berlin covers it across three days. Under 18s are free but still need a ticket issued at the counter or reserved online, as are ICOM members, students attending a scheduled class, and recipients of social transfer benefits.
Built between 1843 and 1855 by Friedrich August Stuler as the successor to Schinkel's Altes Museum, gutted by wartime bombing and left a ruin through the GDR decades. David Chipperfield's restoration reopened it in October 2009 with the scarred brick, bullet damage and fragmentary frescoes deliberately left visible against the new build.
Nefertiti alone in the North Dome Room, the wider Amarna material, the Berlin Green Head, the Bronze Age Berlin Gold Hat, the Le Moustier Neanderthal skull, and Stuler's staircase hall rebuilt bare rather than reconstructed.
Check Live Availability & Prices
The island day ticket is valid in every open Museum Island house on the date you pick, the Neues Museum included. Weekend and May to September dates are the busiest. Live dates and prices are below.
Which Neues Museum Ticket to Pick
The ticket to book here is the Museum Island day ticket at $27. It is valid for one day in the Neues Museum and in the other open island houses: the Altes Museum, the Bode-Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie and the Pergamon Panorama. That makes it about the same money as the museum's own 24 euro island ticket, and more than the 14 euro door price for the Neues Museum alone.
It scans at the James-Simon-Galerie, skips the counter queue and holds a 4.5 rating from 3,623 reviews. One catch: it is non-refundable, so book it once your Berlin dates are fixed.
If Nefertiti is the only thing you have time for, the cheapest route is a 14 euro single ticket from the museum's own counter or online shop. The day ticket pays off as soon as you add a second house, and the Alte Nationalgalerie is two minutes away. The Museum Island tickets guide sets out which houses are worth the extra hours.
No guide comes with the ticket, and the museum texts and labels are in German and English. Give the Egyptian rooms two hours and you will not miss one. If you are still mapping out the week, the best museums in Berlin sets the island against what is worth crossing town for.
Neues Museum Tickets and Tours
The island day ticket, with Neues Museum entry and the other open island houses on one date.
from $27
Museum Island Multiple Museum Entry Ticket
One ticket into the open museums of Museum Island, which works out cheaper than paying at each door and lets you drift between them in a single day…
- All open island museums
- Cheaper than separate tickets
- One day, one ticket
What You'll See
The bust of Nefertiti was carved around 1340 BCE in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, and stands alone in the North Dome Room at the end of the Egyptian wing. Around it sits the wider Amarna collection from Akhenaten's short lived capital: reliefs, and unfinished sculptors' models that show the same faces being worked out in stages. Further on are the Berlin Green Head, a late period portrait in dark green stone, and the papyri and Book of the Dead scrolls of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection.
The upper floors belong to the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, which most visitors reach with tired legs and then wish they had started with. The Berlin Gold Hat is the piece to find: a Bronze Age conical hat of thin gold, covered in star symbols that encode a calendar. The Le Moustier Neanderthal skull anchors the prehistory rooms.
Then there is the building itself, the Egyptian Courtyard and Stuler's monumental staircase hall, which Chipperfield rebuilt bare rather than repainting the lost frescoes, so you read the bomb damage as part of the display.
Nefertiti stands alone in the North Dome Room, where photography is not permitted.
How a Visit Flows
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09:50
Arrive at the James-Simon-Galerie
Come to the colonnaded entrance building, not the museum's own steps. Booked tickets have their own line, which usually walks straight in. Cloakroom, lockers, shop and toilets are downstairs on the mezzanine, so drop coats and bags before you go up.
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10:05
Go straight to the North Dome Room
Walk through to Nefertiti before the first groups reach her. For fifteen minutes at opening the room is close to empty, and the difference between that and midday is the whole visit.
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10:30
Work backwards through the Egyptian rooms
Having seen the bust, go back down through the Amarna reliefs, the Green Head and the papyri at your own speed, with the crowd now heading the other way.
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11:30
Up to prehistory
The Berlin Gold Hat and the Le Moustier skull are worth the stairs. This is the quietest part of the building on any given morning.
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12:15
Read the building
Finish in the staircase hall and the Egyptian Courtyard, where the patched brickwork and unrestored war damage are the point. Ten minutes here changes how the rest of the museum looks.
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12:45
Next door or out
Two to three hours is a comfortable full visit. If you hold the island ticket, the Alte Nationalgalerie is a two minute walk. Otherwise the Spree terraces outside are the natural stop.
Know Before You Go
Not suitable for
- Visitors with under an hour to spare, since an hour buys Nefertiti and very little else
- Anyone hoping to photograph the bust, which is not allowed in her room
- Monday arrivals, and anyone travelling between 15 and 17 March 2027 when the museum shuts for maintenance
What to bring
- Your ticket on a phone, since a screen is accepted and no printout is needed
- ID for a concession, student or free entry claim
- A small bag only, as coats and larger bags go to the cloakroom or lockers downstairs
- Water for afterwards rather than during, and comfortable shoes for four floors of stone
Not allowed
- Photography of any kind in the North Dome Room, for conservation and to keep the room calm
- Large bags and backpacks in the galleries, which go in the lockers first
- Entry outside your booked time slot, so arrive within it rather than hours early
Insider Tips
Five things regular visitors do differently from first timers.
- Head for the North Dome Room first, ahead of the tour groups, then work backwards through the Egyptian galleries at leisure
- If you booked online, ignore the counter queue and look for the separate line for ticket holders, which often walks straight through
- Expect a guard to ask you to put the phone away in the Nefertiti room; the ban surprises people every day and the reviews say so
- Give the architecture ten deliberate minutes, since the bomb damaged staircase and patched brick are what many visitors remember longest
- With the 24 euro island ticket, add the Alte Nationalgalerie next door rather than trying to squeeze in three more houses in one afternoon
Where You're Headed
Neues Museum Tickets FAQ
How much are Neues Museum Berlin tickets?
At the counter, 14 euros for adults and 7 euros concession. The Museum Island day ticket at $27 includes the Neues Museum and the other open island houses for one day. The museum's own 24 euro Bereichskarte Museumsinsel and the 32 euro Museum Pass Berlin both include the Neues Museum.
Where is the bust of Nefertiti in Berlin?
In the Neues Museum on Museum Island, at Bodestrasse 1-3 in Mitte. She stands alone in the North Dome Room at the end of the Egyptian wing, and you enter the building through the James-Simon-Galerie next door.
Can you take photos of Nefertiti in the Neues Museum?
No. Photography is generally allowed in the museum, but there is a blanket ban inside the North Dome Room where the bust stands, for conservation and to keep the room quiet. You can photograph from the adjacent rooms, and staff will ask you to put a phone away if you raise it in the dome itself.
How long does it take to visit the Neues Museum?
Two to three hours covers the Egyptian collection, the prehistory floors and the building itself at a comfortable pace. An hour is enough for Nefertiti and almost nothing else.
Do you need to book Neues Museum tickets in advance?
Booking is worth it between May and September and on any weekend. A phone screen is accepted at the door, and ticket holders use a separate faster line. The island day ticket is non-refundable, so book it once your dates are fixed.
Which day is the Neues Museum closed?
Monday, every week. Otherwise it opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, with reduced or special hours on public holidays and a maintenance closure from 15 to 17 March 2027.
Is the Neues Museum included in the Museum Island ticket?
Yes. The Bereichskarte Museumsinsel at 24 euros, or 12 euros concession, includes the Neues Museum and the other island houses on the same day. The Museum Pass Berlin at 32 euros includes it across three days.
What else is in the Neues Museum besides Egyptian art?
The Museum of Prehistory and Early History occupies the upper floors, with the Bronze Age Berlin Gold Hat and its calendrical star symbols, and the Le Moustier Neanderthal skull. The restored building, including Stuler's staircase hall and the Egyptian Courtyard, is an exhibit in its own right.