A guide by Sixpointfour
Great free museum. Located in central Mitte but for some reason not well known. A permanent exhibition of Stasi (DDR secret service) survelliance devices and information about daily life in the DDR.
The government runs it which is why it is free. There are sometimes old East Germans there filling in government forms to access their old Stasi files. Very interesting museum and the people are very friendly. The museum book costs only 2.50 Euro in English also.
Right below Pariserplatz. I think off Wilhelmstrasse Strasse in Mitte. U6 Stadtmitte
Berlin's answer to Tate Modern. This fantastic museum for contemporary art sits in a old railway station (hence the Bahnhof). With works from Lichtenstein to Joseph Beuys it's a must for all modern art lovers.
A nightclub/alternative art gallery/run-down building. It has a silly number of bars, sofas on the roof, films projected onto the opposite building and old cars to sit and drink in. Popular with laid-back locals & travellers.
oranienburger strasse
Unless you want to use the discounts and free-entry options its cheaper to buy one-day transport cards than the three-day Berlin welcome card. Note that both Schonefeld and Tegel airports are within the area for the card, so get it on arrival at the airport.
Find the local transport desk at Tegel (not obvious - ask) or get cards at the train station ticket office (above ground - don't head down the subway) at Schonefeld
Ride the Stadtbahn (express local trains - not the U-Bahn) from Zoologischer Garten to Berlin Ostbahnhof station for a rooftop view of the many different characters of the city. Start in the heart of the old west and travel via the Tiergarten, new Berlin central station, government district, Freidrichstrasse, Museum Island and Alexanderplatz, ending up in the old East Berlin. Cheap, very frequent and clean. A good alternative is BVG Bus route 100, which links most of the same major sites and sights.
Zoologischer Garten station, just off Kurfurstendamm/Tauentzienstrasse or any S-Bahn station en route, see www.bvg.de for details of Berlin public transport
Go for a drink at Cafe Moskau and admire the incredible, still-intact socialist interior of the former GDR building. The open-plan steel and glass construction was transformed into a restaurant on the first floor, bar/lounge on the ground floor and club in the basement in the 90s but all the original chrome lights, wood panelling and spacious glass corridors remain.
It's a great club venue - very low-key, relaxed Berlin crowd - and it's not often you get to watch the sunrise in a glass-fronted open-air courtyard, once the meeting point for Soviet generals and the building's 160 employees.
34 Karl Marx Allee, 10178 Berlin, www.das-moskau.com
You can get a freshly made crispy 'Nan Pizza' with interesting cold toppings like rocket, avocado and sun dried tomato for four Euros. The large bowls of salad are also four Euros. You must try the home-made lemonade with chilli. Sitting at one of the tables outside is not a bad place for people watching.
Kastanienallee 49, Corner Zionskirchstrasse, Prenzlauer Berg - the upside down Mc Donalds logo is unmissable. www.whereisliz.com/pod/pod145.html
The public transport system in Berlin is very reliable and thanks to the graphic-design of Erik Spiekermann, navigating your way around this city couldn’t be easier. Nevertheless, on our last trip we hired a couple of bikes for the day and cruised the streets from east to west.
We were shocked at how much distance we covered and how many new and interesting places we found. Travelling by bike is cheap and safe. On most streets the cycle lane is on the pavement so you won’t have to worry about cars or buses.
We hired our bikes from Alexanderplatz, under the TV tower (Fernsehturm). This is a good central location to start your journey, north, south, east or west. The bikes were very comfortable and well maintained.
Over 1km of Berlin Wall decorated with graffiti art. The best place to view the remaining wall - no tourists
Muhlenstrasse by River Spree, U-bahn Warschauer Strasse
The Victory Column is an enormous tower in old West Berlin. From the top you can see right down the StraBe des 17 Juni towards the Brandenburg Gate, Berliner Dom and the TV tower. Be prepared for a long walk up the many steps though!
GroBer Stern
In the middle of the Tiergarten and situated to the west of Brandenburg Gate. The nearest S-bahn station is Tiergarten
A suburb of old West Berlin which still feels like a medieval village a million miles away from Berlin. Full of 12 and 13th century timber-framed houses straight from a children's story. Off the tourist trail but it's worth seeing for an idea of how Berlin was before the wall was erected.
U-bahn line 7 will take you into heart of Spandau.
Several S-Bahn (a suburban rail network complementing the U-Bahn) routes run parallel throught the city centre. It's a cheap way of sightseeing and a good way of getting a feel for the city and the lie of the land.
A suggested route could be from Warschauer Strasse in the East to Zoologischer Garten in the West. This takes in some of Berlin's most famous addresses, including Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstrasse and Hackescher Markt. There are also 'panoramic' S-Bahn trips in specially adapted trains giving even better views (www.s-bahn-berlin.de).
S-Bahn routes S5, S7/S75 and S9 all run along the above route.
If you want an idea of what Berlin looked like before the war then head to Prenzlauer Berg, which is a sort of mirror image of Kreuzberg. Like its West Berlin counterpart, Prenzlauer Berg kept its traditional tenements and has a working class district tradition. The wall defined the western edge of ‘Prenzl’ Berg, which was also a centre of alternative culture during communism. Now the district has become increasingly trendy and is seen by some as the ‘New Kreuzberg’. It’s a favoured spot among West Berliners, given the new trendy bars and restaurants that are opening up, particularly around Sredzkistrasse/Husemanstrasse/Knaackstrasse. But despite this, Prenzlauer Berg keeps its distinctive character.
U-bahn line U2 to Senefelderplatz, Eberswalder Str or Schonhauser Allee. Trams also run to Prenzlauer Berg from Hackesche Markt
A true circular tour, only 100m duplicated, along the Spree and a canal. The tour continues through the very centre of Berlin, under bridges so low you have to duck on the top deck, up and down in locks,and and re-crossing the line of the Wall. Commentary is in German only, but you don't need it.
Starts from Schloss Charlottenberg. About 1/2m walk from Opera U-bahn station.
A compact but very illuminating visit to what life was like in communist era Germany. Reveals many artifacts of the era in the form of mock-ups of an apartment, a Trabant car etc, some of which you can handle. English and German commentary on the displays.
Great Winter diversion but light content, near cafes / aquarium near Alexanderplatz, open late to 8pm (10pm Sat).
By the river side at Spreepromenade
an der Liebknechtbrücke
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 1
10178 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30/847 123 73-1
Hot location with hot girls!!
City bus tours can be expensive but routes 100 and 200 in Berlin are regular (double-decker) services which pass most of the main sights in the city centre. Buy a pack of tickets (which can also be used on the S-bahn and U-bahn) and get on and off where you want.
A day (or more) ticket (Tageskarte) is the most economical option and can be bought from most BVG ticket offices, such as the one at Zoologischer Garten (Zoo).
A 365m high space age tower. A zooming lift takes you to a viewing platform with fabulous vistas all over Berlin. For a meal or snack pop up to the revolving Tele-cafe, and watch Berlin spin slowly by whilst you enjoy a cake or, if it is warm, even an ice cream!
From Molly Quinlan (age 9).
U Bahn Alexanderplatz. More info at: www.berlinerfernsehturm.de
While there are plenty of great hotels in Berlin, staying in an apartment proved much better value. We had a huge one-bedroom place in Kreuzberg, where the bathroom alone was about the size of our whole flat in London. And it was £25 a night each. This website has loads of different apartments all over Berlin or varying sizes. A great way to feel like a local while being on holiday.
It's a sort of lounge/nightclub. I think it is a restaurant during the day. I was stumbling around Zoologischer Garten on a Thursday night and some kid handed me a flyer which (out of character for me) I took and it said there was live music playing. So I went over there and when I went in I was really surprised. There was a great band doing covers of soul classics and some other things i didnt recognise with an amazing piano player (who looked like Pat from Saturday Night Live) who took solo after solo and did not disappoint. Not to mention that the place was very stylish, chic but not expensive. Most people were sitting down and listening to the music but another group was dancing. I had a great time there and went back twice during that stay. I heartily reccomend it.
Kantstrasse 17
west on kantstrasse from the Zoo Station in Charlottenburg.
