- Berlin
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Germany
It's a vegan wagon with THE most delicious burger this side of NYC. If you go to Berlin, you MUST try this burger. I had the smoked chipotle chile sauce and also on the same burger, the Pineapple chutney, perfect match.
Only open Sundays, or should that be Sun Days, from late morning to about 5 or 6pm.
They are also at Kreuzberg Markt Halle Neun on Fri and Sat
sundayburgers.com/
Prenzlauer Berg/ Bernauer Straße 13355 Berlin
Google map: bit.ly/z7HWGU
Berlin taxis are pretty expensive compared to other cities. But the public transport is excellent. You can ride the street cars (strasse bahn) or the underground (u-bahn). There is also an above ground railway (s-bahn) that is good for the ring around the city or getting across the city fast.
The cosmopolitan city of Berlin is a great place to spend Christmas. Wrap up warm and set out in the snow to explore this fantastic city with its mix of ancient and modern history. Call in at the Christmas markets in Potsdamer platz, see the beautiful Sony Centre lit up in blue lights. Try an alternative Christmas dinner – the Berlin classic currywurst (a curried sausage) and a beer then join a million people for the famous New Year's Eve party at the Brandenburg gate complete with a fairground, live music and the midnight fireworks - Fröhliche Weihnachten!
www.visitberlin.de
Google map: bit.ly/v1R3C6
As the title suggests, this groundbreaking film is about a young man accepting the fact that he is gay. Filmed in the GDR in 1989, the film is as sensitive as the storyline is brilliant, and it also provides a fascinating insight into life on the other side of the wall. It also has a special poignancy because the film premiered in East Berlin the very night that the wall fell.
What a place to watch a game of football! It was a dull game but the venue was stunning. We sat right at the back – the back row of the stand opposite the Ostkurve which is akin to the Kop.
You can get a reduction on tickets with a Berlin Welcome card so the price of tickets is very reasonable.
If you can’t see a game, visit the stadium. Incredible.
www.olympiastadion-berlin.de/en.html
Olympischer Platz 3, 14053 Berlin, Germany
Google map: bit.ly/qWvFpp
A restaurant in Friedrichshain, a very short walk from Samariter Strasse (U5) station.
We arrived and it was busy with only one waiter. We had to wait quite a while but the ambience was lovely. Drinks were delivered quickly and we ambled over them waiting for our food.
The mains were very filling - a seafood risotto and a gnocchi with red cabbage. They were both flavoursome and tasty. We had a shared starter and a dessert and it cost 28 euros. We felt this was a bargain.
Worth the effort to get there
www.fliegender-tisch.de
Mainzer Straße 10, 10247 Berlin, Germany
+49(0)30 29776489
Google map: bit.ly/qBdj55
A former remand prison dedicated to showing the brutality and secrecy of the DDR. The deprivation and inhumane conditions echo those shown in the film "The Lives of Others". However, the testimonies of former inmates make this living history. We loved the fact that the tour was lead by a guide (we went on Wednesday afternoon when the tour was in English) and not a sterile audio handset tour. The site is terrifying and I was glad of the direction of the guide who was also able to go off script.
A highly recommended visit - very unusual and scary!
en.stiftung-hsh.de/index.php
Genslerstraße 66, D-13055 Berlin
+49 (0)30 98 60 82 30
Google map: bit.ly/nZVY3C
The Monsterkabinett is a permanent and evolving exhibition in the cellar galleries beneath Haus Schwarzenberg in Berlin Mitte. The 20 minute guided tour performance presents 20 years of extraordinary work by the artist group Dead Chickens.
“The Bloch”, a 4m high mechanical monster by Hannes Heiner stands in the main courtyard of Haus Schwarzenberg watching over the entrance to the Monsterkabinett. He rolls his eyes, bats his lashes and flaps his wings, extending an invitation to meet his fellow creatures in the subterranean domain of the Monsterkabinett.
Allow a trusted guide to lead you down the narrow winding stair and into the bizarre and labyrinthine world of the Monsterkabinett where monstrous yet loveable creatures- in turn terrifying, tragic and comical- inhabit a world beyond the imagination. Driven by a compelling rhythm, the fantastic mechanical beings of the monsterkabinett dance and sing. Music and machine merge and thrill to the beat. Highlights of the exhibition include a giant spider which fortunately does not bite, my personal favourite, the hilariously poignant “Trampeltier” and the “Spiegelraum”- a room which has to be seen to be believed. A tour through the Monsterkabinett is an unforgettable experience- grotesque and poetic and berlin underground in every sense of the word.
open Thursday 6-10pm, Friday-Saturday 4-10pm
www.monsterkabinett.de
Rosenthaler Str 39, 10178, Berlin
+49(0)178 8060202
Awesome hostel located in central Berlin. Recently renovated and the rooms are decorated very cool and artsy. The hostel is very unique in that each room has a different theme which sets it apart from many other hostels.
The staff are incredibly helpful and friendly and ready to help you navigate your way through Berlin's many museums, parks, nightlife, etc. There's also an internet cafe inside so no need to worry about internet! The atmosphere of the hostel is very relaxed and the bar is a great place to hang out and meet other people staying in the hostel. It is also very centrally located and all of Berlin's major sights are very easily accessible from the hostel.
You can also rent bikes from the hostel for a very reasonable price. I really enjoyed staying here and would recommend it to any fellow traveler coming to Berlin! Also, no curfew! :)
Chausseestrasse 102 10115 Berlin
baxpax.de/mittes-backpacker/en/home/ +49(0)30 283 909 65
Google map: bit.ly/qQnRMY
There aren't many old style restaurants in this part of Berlin, so this stands out for that reason - it's been around since the early 1900s. It serves traditional style German/Berlin food. Not everyone's taste, but if you're visiting, you should at least try it. There's plenty of meat and sauerkraut, and it isn't pricey. Inside is cozy, and great for winter. Outside catches the early evening sun from June to September.
metzer-eck.de/
Metzer Straße 33 10405 Berlin
+49(0)30 44 27 656
Google map: bit.ly/lhxOSe
The Waldbühne is an open air concert venue in Berlin holding 23000 people. It is a natural amphitheatre and great for summer outdoor concerts. I went to my first concert there on the 26th of June 1986 aged 11, to see Queen on their magic tour. Looking back now it was a great privilege to see Queen with Freddie Mercury, for my first concert. I do remember that the security is very tight when it comes to taking bottles into the venue, so don't waste your money trying to take booze in with you. I lived two minutes walk from the venue at the time, however it is easily accessible by public transport, even if you are staying in the centre of Berlin. I have been to many concerts in venues and nothing comes close to a balmy summer evening watching a band at the Waldbühne. I would recommend planning a visit to Berlin around a band you like.
Waldbühne, Am Glockenturm, 14053 Berlin
+49 30 74 73 75 00
Google map: bit.ly/jtb7t6
I lived in a university guest house behind the scenes in the gardens a while back and spent hours each day wandering around. The most fascinating walk takes you through the northern hemisphere temperate zones, starting with swamp cypress from the south-eastern US through Japan and China and onwards, ending with a typical German beech wood near the northern exit.
www.bgbm.org/
Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195 Berlin
+49 (0)30 838-50100
Google map: bit.ly/fXsNhJ
Germany’s capital Berlin is, for me, one of the best cities on the continent. Berlin is exciting and packed full of history; the best way that I’ve found of getting the most of it is the walking tour and pub crawl run by the New Berlin Guide. The tour starts mid morning and lasts for four hours, it covers a comprehensive range of Berlin's history not just the recent world wars - although this naturally dose get a big share of the time. The tour is done almost chronologically and starts by discussing the Prussian empire and the founding of Germany, after passing through the Brandenburg gate it discusses the beginnings of the European unrest that led to World War Two at the base of the Reichstag, it moves through several key sites and finishes on museum island to discuss the falling of the wall and the origin of the term “Big Lebowski”. At the end of the tour the friendly and knowledgeable guide will inform you of the pub crawl taking place that evening and, should you want to indulge in the debauchery, they will give you a stamp which will entitle you to a reduction (the walking tour is free but the pub crawl does charge a nominal fee). The pub crawl manages to avoid a lot of the shortcomings I’ve found on other such ventures: you aren’t herded around, the organisers don’t feel it necessary to shout every instruction and you don’t have to wear a “look I’m a tourist” T-shirt (although the fact that you are a tourist is not, I shouldn’t imagine, difficult to notice). The “crawl” itself goes to very peculiar bars and doesn’t stick to the generic pubs and clubs that you’d expect. A highlight is the Beach bar – a load of shacks selling beer behind a squat house come art studio. At another bar we were told to show our stamps because they were Serbians on the door and “they don’t take any shit.” After this we jumped on a tram and headed out to a club where the night was finished and we were left to our own devices. Not for kids and not for grownups Berlin, and the New Berlin experience, is for inquisitive young people looking for a good time – I liked it so much I went back two years after my first visit to do it all again!
If you visit Berlin or Munich don’t miss the free walking tours by Sandemans New Europe. The guides are amazing, friendly and knowledgeable and they take you on a very interesting tour of the city. They cover the city’s history, sightseeing sites, anecdotes and funny stories all for a tip at the end of the tour. They also like giving you useful tips of stuff to see, what to eat and where, pubs and bars to go to and any other information you may need for your stay. Their “non-free” tours are also well worth it. Highly recommended.
www.neweuropetours.eu
In Berlin:
West Berlin Pick-Up Point 10:30 AM & 12:30 PM- Zoologischer Garten, in front of Dunkn’ Donuts. (S/U-Bahn Zoologischer Garten)
East Berlin Start Point 11:00 AM & 1:00 PM- Brandenburg Gate, in front of Starbucks. (S/U-Bahn Brandenburger Tor)
In Munich:
Hauptbahnhof Pick-Up Point 10:00 AM & 12:30 PM- Meet at the Starbucks inside Hauptbahnhof beside Platform 11
Marienplatz Start Point 10:45 AM & 1:00 PM- Meet in front of the column on Marienplatz
Avoid the queues - and get treated like a diplomat all for the price of breakfast. Book online at the restaurant Dachgarten.
Go straight to the front of any queue to get into the Reichstag and tell them you have booked breakfast (or I guess dinner), get your name checked off the list by the guards (this is not something you can do on the spur of the moment and that makes the anticipation all the more exciting) and get escorted through security by your personal escort to the lift that carries you to the restaurant at the foot of the Richard Rogers glass dome. Terrific breakfast (and we are vegetarian) and then have the run of the dome and fabulous views over most of Berlin. Awesome. When we went about a month ago the Dome was closed in about three different languages unless like us you were eating in the restaurant!
If you are disappointed by this experience you have no soul!
Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin
+49(0)302262 99 0
www.feinkost-kaefer.de
Google map: bit.ly/dWMAyY
The Mother of all Airports, as Norman Foster once called it, visiting the now disused terminal (the third largest building in the world) is a little like walking around a classical Roman ruin.The sheer scale of the building is truly breathtaking, in particular the vast arrivals hall which was designed by Ernst Sagebiel. He worked in the same offices as Albert Speer, the architect who became very close to Hitler, of course, the brainchild of Germania. I think it is that worrying link with the past that makes walking through the site all the more interesting. I found myself questioning whether I was allowed to admire it or not. It is particularly eerie now it is empty but there are plenty of reminders of the airport's previous life as a major international terminal and the role it played in the 1948 Air Lift. The US used it a base during the Cold War, from 1945 and their old offices are left exactly as they were immediately after their departure in 1993. There is a also a German War bunker on the site, where the Luftwaffe kept a film archive of the air raids on Britain. What really intrigued me was the American basketball court which was built in an area the Germans had intended to use as a grand restaurant and dance hall. In the rooms visited on the tour, photography is permitted everywhere. The two hours spent with the guide were the most rewarding aspect of a recent trip to Berlin. The two hour tour, cost €8 per person (15-30 persons) and is bookable through Berliner Flughäfen. Brilliant.
www.berlin-airport.de/EN/ReisendeUndBesucher/ErlebnisFlughafen/Fuehrungen/THF/Kontakt.html
Berliner Flughäfen
Visitor services
Flughafen Schönefeld
12521 Berlin
+49 30 6091-1660 / 2250
Nearest U Bahn station; Platz der Luftbrücke
With the demise of Gainsbourg (it's been turned into a supermarket) there's only Zwiebelfisch and Diener flying the flag for old Berlin in this chic square between the K'Damm and Kantstrasse. Once a hotbed of revolutionary chatter, it's now a very laidback joint that seems totally at ease with itself. Papered in thousands of posters and old photos, it's got a chilled-out vibe thanks in no small measure to the genial owner, a veteran of West Berlin's pre-1989 counter culture. Zwiebelfisch, incidentally, is an old printing expression meaning a letter printed in the wrong font.
Savignyplatz 7, 10623 Berlin
+49(0)30 3127363
www.zwiebelfisch-berlin.de/
Google map: bit.ly/gMrPHM
It's a 1.3km length of the the Berlin Wall with amazing art work recently restored. Pollution and graffiti ruined the first lot so get to see it before this happens again. (I visited on 7th March 2011)
www.eastsidegallery.com/
Mühlenstraße 1, 10243 Berlin-Friedrichshain, Germany
Google map: bit.ly/htW6x6
+49(0)30 251 7159
Great little cellar bar in Oranienburger Strasse. Go down the steps and be greeted by the bowler-hatted Ian Dury-esque owner/designer of this DIY retro establishment. Homemade artworks and paraphenalia adorn the brick walls, candles drip wax over their holders, smoke-filled ambience and Rolling Stones grooves. Relax on a big-armed sofa and discuss the Tachelles art collective (just along the road) over a Berliner Weisse green or red. A real taste of creative, underground Berlin.
Oranienburger Str. 40
10117 Berlin
Google map: bit.ly/gf10hf
Even my carnivorous boyfriend said eating at Berlin's vegan and vegetarian diner, Yellow Sunshine, was one of the best meals we had in the city. The menu is extensive and has many veggie burger varieties such as cheese and 'bacon' (the veggie kind!) and Mexican (the tasty one I tried, which comes with crunchy nachos and spicy peanut sauce). Most of the food here is organic or 'bio' certified - including the yummy chips. And as well as fab grub, there is a good range of beers - organic ones too (or fruit shakes for non-drinkers!).
But the funky, warm atmosphere is another great reason to check out Yellow Sunshine - helped by the fact it is located in happening Kreuzberg. You'll find vegetarians and non-vegetarians enjoying the food, which is always a positive sign, I reckon. Oh, and with burgers averaging around the 4 Euros mark - you know you'll have some money left for going out later!
www.yellow-sunshine.com/
Wiener Straße 19, Berlin
Görlitzer Bahnhof is the nearest station
+49(0)3069598720
Google map: bit.ly/ePXX0V
Is this your business?Search Been there
