Recommended! Die Fabrik Hostel, it is right in the heart of the Kreuzberg district (and, to be honest, where real Berliner life continues away from the hellish maw of global tourism!)

Those looking for a hotel-style accommodation with hostel prices, this is the one. Been going there since 1998 and makes part of why Berlin is so special to me! Has nice big rooms and cosy art deco style. So good, even real Germans stay there. Also has very nice and comfortable cafe adjoining it.

At Schlesische Str. 18, Kreuzberg. Nearest U-Bahn Schlesiche Tor

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Part of the excellent Baxpax chain and recently opened, this modern, funky hostel is slightly out of the centre but located in the über-cool Kreuzberg district.

Some of the rooms have country themed decor (think Swiss cheese, mountains, flags etc) and kitchen and bathrooms are impeccably clean.

The small bar is laid back and chilled out; a good place to meet fellow travellers for a random chat.

Staff are welcoming and incredibly helpful, and you can even hire bikes for only 12 euros a day.

Skalitzer Strasse 104, 10997 Berlin, Germany.
Tel.:++49(0)30 695 183 22 www.baxpax.de/kreuzberg

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Best hostel I stayed in out of the other 6 I visited while packing backing around europe. Would def go again, Berlin was also awesome.

Baxpax Downtown Hostel Hotel, Ziegelstr. 28, 10117 Berlin
www.baxpax-downtown.de

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Fantastic pasta bar near Potsdamer Platz. You pick any pasta and any sauce and then wait at the counter while the chef cooks it for you. They use fresh pasta so you only have to wait a few minutes. They have pots of fresh herbs at the tables that you can help yourself to. When you go in you are given a card, which you hand over to the chef who swipes it for you, then if you want to order drinks or desserts hand the card to the counter staff. When you leave, give the card in at the till and then you pay. This is the best pasta I've ever eaten and prices are really reasonable, from about 5 euros. I particularly recommend the rustica ravioli and pasta with lemon and mint. It's so good I went twice!

Potsdamer Platz 5, nearest U/S bahn Potsdamer Platz (walk up towards the Jewish memorial)

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Hidden away in Berlin's laid back East Side, this back-of-a-boatshed haunt for recovering weekenders and general misfits exemplifies the best of Berlin's DIY bar culture. Comfily lo-fi, still manages a natural tree-covered canopy, a covered cinema, consistently brilliant music, and plenty of canalside seats (even if that means sitting in a boat). Staff are friendly and sound without being too-cool-for-school, and atmosphere will accommodate everyone happily, whatever your pleasure. Only in Berlin...

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If the list of 'stylish yet chic wine bars' listed by my fellow sandal wearing media types on GU scare you as much as it does me, go to Lemke. It's a brew pub. It has beer. It has food. It has everything except DJs, cocktails and anything that could be described as 'charming or eclectic'.

The food is German in quantity and style but really the beer is what marks it out. The dark is very nice, the porter is excellent but the wheat is even better. It's friendly, it's always busy and it's easy to get to, even if the road it's on doesn't look very promising. There is even a beer garden.

It's between Hackischer Markt and Alexanderplatz on Dirckenstraße.
www.brauerei-lemke.de

www.brauerei-lemke.de/

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The most bizarre drinking experience ever. Red wine in blood transfusion packs, electric shocks from tables, rotating bar stools, a tarantula in a glass case, a flasher at the entrance... and not too expensive either! Has to be seen to be believed.

Leibnitzstrasse 57 (50 metres from Ku'damm); U-Bahn: Adenauerplatz (U7);
tel: 030 32701466;
www.klo.de

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Morena Bar in Kreuzberg serves the best breakfasts in Berlin, massive plates of meat, cheese and fruit with freshly squeezed juice and a bowl of coffee for about €6. It's also a great bar for drinks in the evening, always nicely busy with an interesting crowd. Great for sitting outside too.

Wiener Strasse 60, U1- Gorlitzer Bahnof

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The name of the place says it all: "Bateau Ivre" is the title of a poem by Rimbaud and means "drunken ship". Accordingly, the crowd is mostly artsy Kreuzbergers and students who like their Ricard and their red wine.

Known only as "the Frenchman" by the locals, it's quite busy in the evenings, but during the day it's a good place to hang out and read, especially the five or so international daily papers they've got there.

Oranienstrasse 18, 10999 Berlin (right at the Heinrichplatz), U Kottbusser Tor

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This outdoor bar is situated on the banks of the Spree river, facing Bar 25 on the opposite side. But it is much more relaxed and far less posh and swanky. There’s a few different areas: a sandy beach to sit down with a cocktail, an open-air dance floor, a restaurant and even a pool table under one of the trees. At night, little chandeliers and a cosy campfire are lit and the whole place takes on an enchanted-wood-style atmosphere.

Köpeniker Strasse 48/49;
www.kikiblofeld.de

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A small bar and restaurant (Steam locomotive restaurant) at the S-Bahn station at Erkner (end of a line) which looks unpromising from the outside, but inside is cosily furnished with solid and confortable wooden tables and seats with cushions as comfortable as in an old first class carriage. They also make the best Soljanka (meat and vegetable soup of Russian origin, only available in the East) I've ever tasted, especially after a walk by the nearby lakes.

Take the number & S-Bahn to Erkner, or save time by going on one of the frequent DB regional train bound for Frankfurt an der Oder, which also stop there. Berli city tickets (valid for zone C) may be used on both

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Erdbeer by day looks like a derelict block of flats, but by night tranforms into a cosy and unpretensious cocktail bar.The name 'Erdbeer' means strawberry which well describes the decor of comfy sofas and walls painted deep red. An extensive drinks menu includes a pint of daiquiri for 7 euros as well as exotic fruit juices and smoothies. It never gets busy before 11 though, which is when the DJ arrives ...

Max Beer Strasse 56; U-Bahn Rosa Luxembourg Platz

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Good-looking bar in the old Czech Airline office on Karl Marx Allee. Excellent, table service, cocktails and good laid back tunes from the DJ made for a perfect night.

96 Karl Marx Allee

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This is an Ultra-exclusive/fun club that serves great pan-Asian cuisine all night long. It is tricky to find, since it rests in the back of an abandoned warehouse, but with its five-star service and food, not to mention a romantic view of the Spree, it is not to be missed. Expect to be treated like a rock-star.

köpenickerstrasse 16-17
10997 berlin keruzberg
www.spindlerklatt.com
reservation: +49 0 30.695 66 775

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The largest inland beach in Europe, surrounded by forest. Clean and safe.

On the shores of Wannsee, nearest U-Bahn is Nikolasee and then a ten minute walk

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In the old east part of town, this is a large old, somewhat derelict and entertaining art workshop. It has a lively bar, with huge garden and installations.

It is on Oraniensburgerstrasse, opposite the bar Obst und Gemuse (literally fruit and veg!)

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Excellent bar-ish restaurant that is what British gastropubs should be like. The beer and wine are excellent and the food is superb. Short, uncomplicated menu (one starter, five main courses, two desserts). I particularly recommend the fish: last time I went I had halibut, which was superb. Eating perched on a bar stool is the way to go, don't worry about waiting for a table.

Oderbergerstr. in the north-centre of the city, just to the west of the 'wall route'. Nearest stations would be Eberswalderstr or Bernauerstr.

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A square in Prenzlauer Berg district just north of the perhaps better known Kollwitzplatz. The square is dotted with bars and cafes which continue off along Raumer-, Lychener-, and Dunckerstraße (where I live as it happens). It's a great summer hang out. Plus there's a youth hostel on the North side of the square.

Nearest stations are Schoenhauser Allee and Prenzlauer Alle (both S-Bahn), and Eberswalder Straße (U-Bahn)

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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

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This is a one-off fantastic place, just two stops from Alexander Platz in the lovely Prenzlauer Berg area (which is full of other great bars and cafes too). This place has no name, just a sign outside with a wine bottle drawn on it. It looks awful in daylight - covered with graffiti - but at night, it fills up with Berlin's hip and bohemian crowd.

It works like this: you go in, throw one euro into a small fountain at the door, then help yourself from bottles of wine on the large table - or juice, or hot drinks. Then you can also help yourself to the homemade and wholesome (delicious) food laid out on a sideboard in the back room (salads and a thai-style green chicken curry when we were there, plus still-warm bread). You can have as much as you like - we had seconds!

When you leave, there's no bill, you just 'pay what you feel like paying' (as one of the staff said) in a big vase beside the wine bottles. It is furnished with gorgeous shabby-chic bits and bobs, and fairy lights, and has a unique, laid-back atmosphere.

They put tables and chairs out under the trees at night and it creates a buzz in the whole street. (The Prinz Albert Hotel bar opposite and down a bit is fab on a Sunday - when we were there they had a live jazz band and a fantastic BBQ. The staff are very cheery too!

There's also a tiny, wee retro cafe round the corner which serves ice- cream sundaes and beers. It's got a big Babycham deer inside and there's 1950s pastel-painted tables and chairs outside, with pots of scarlet geraniums. Very pretty. Try the hot kirsch sundae!

The bar with no name and Prinz Albert are on Veteranenstrasse. Best bet would be to get off the underground at Rosenthaler Platz and walk up - it's on the top of the street on the corner. Or you could get off at Senefelder Platz and walk up and round - you'll pass the retro ice cream parlour then.

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