What to do in Berlin?

Question

I'm planning on going to Berlin in this february for about 10 days. And this time i don't want to miss anything. So what should I do; where should I go so that I won't say 'wish I've done that' ?

Answer 1

I lived in Berlin for about six years.

This is difficult to answer without knowing the area you will be staying. Berlin is a big city and has two downtown sections since the city had been divided between east and west. I will try to answer this as accurately as I can.

--eating--
http://www.cnn.com/FOOD/restaurants/weissmann/world/berlin.html
Budget travellers are well catered for by hundreds of Imbiss fast food restaurants - once the realm of the greasy sausage - but now brimming with Asian and Middle Eastern delights for just a handful of Euro. A Berlin speciality is Turkish Doner Kebab (try Bally on Tempelhofer Damm). Berlin's fast food flagship is undoubtedly the Currywurst, a sausage sprinkled with curry powder and then smothered with ketchup, served on a paper dish and eaten with a plastic fork at an Imbiss stall. Try---
Krasselt
Steglitzer Damm 22 - they use their own patented sauce, simply the best you can get! Unfortunately this place is off the beaten track and not exactly in sightseeing heaven - but still!

Beckers Fritten
Old van on Oranienburger Str. in Mitte, more famous for their French fries, try the one with Aioli sauce!

Curry 36
On Mehringdamm, Kreuzberg, mind the junkies and winos tottering by. Very efficient place with zillions of taxi drivers stopping by, always a good sign.

Curry 195
Kurfuerstendamm 195, this is the one with fotos of politicians and other celebrities on display. Also famous for skewers. Famous for the unfriendly staff but put the plates back to their place and all is well.

Other famous food-Boulette, a cross between a hamburger and meatball, Matjes ( pickled herring) and Eisbein, a huge, fatty leg of pork.

--drinking--
Hackescher Markt/Hackesche Höfe (Oranienburger Straße / Rosenthaler Straße Mitte Berlin, 10178--Nearest Train: Hackescher Markt: S3, S5, S7, S9, S75) is one of the most famous areas with bars. Be sure not to miss it. Each bar is left to decide when to call last orders. Some choose to call it a night at 2am, others when the last guest leaves and still others stay open until dawn.

--shopping--
There are tons of places to shop. The Ku'Damm area is nice to see but the prices are really high. I would say my favorites are-
Kaufhof am Alexanderplatz
East Berlin's best-known department store
Alexanderplatz 9 Mitte
Berlin, 10178
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Neighborhood: Mitte
Hours: 9a-8p Mon-Fri; 9a-4p
Train: Alexanderplatz: U2, U5, U8; S3, S5, S6, S7, S9, S75
Kaufhof on Alexanderplatz is one of East Berlin's oldest and best-known department stores. Spread over five floors, the store has an enormous selection of goods similar to those in KaDeWe in West Berlin. Kaufhof's prices are generally more reasonable than its western rival.

Kaufhaus des Westens ( KaDeWe )
Tauentzienstraße 21
Berlin, 10789
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Neighborhood: Schöneberg
Hours: M-F 10a-8p; Sa 9:30a
Train: Wittenbergplatz: U1, U2, U15; 343, M19, M29, M46
KaDeWe - meaning "Department Store of the West" - bore the name even before the Wall divided Berlin into geographically separate sectors. Founded 1907, the store was bought by Hermann Tietze in 1927, but was taken away from him by the Nazis because of his Jewish origins. Nowadays, however, KaDeWe is a shopping temple for both locals and tourists from all over the world. The food hall on the top floor is legendary and is worth a visit in itself. KaDeWe offers an incredible variety of items, but the prices are fairly hefty.

I would say the best shopping could be-
Trödel- und Kunstmarkt Straße des 17. Juni
Straße des 17. Juni / Salzufer Charlottenburg
Berlin, 10623
Phone: [phone]
Neighborhood: Charlottenburg
Hours: 11a-5p Sat & Sun
Train: Tiergarten: S3, S5, S7, S9, S75
Berlin's oldest flea market has become increasingly popular over the years, and prices have risen accordingly. However, if you are any good at haggling, you may be able to find a nice memento to take home with you at a halfway decent price. Most vendors are professional collectors and many stalls offer genuine antiques and real rarities. The range of goods on offer includes pretty much everything under the sun - with books, records, clothes, crockery, furniture, toys, East German nostalgia and Berlin memorabilia. The market stretches from Ernst-Reuter-Platz to Tiergarten S-Bahn station.

The booksellers outside Humboldt University, Berlin's premier academic institution, can be fun.

Türkenmarkt
Turkish Delights
Maybachufer 12047
Heaps of fruit and vegetables, mountains of bread loaves, buckets spilling over with olives, great selections of feta spreads and cheeses - Berlin's Türkenmarkt is as good as anything you'll find this side of Istanbul. Quality is high and prices are low. Head west along the canal for a picnic in the park at the Urbanhafen.
Hours: Tue & Fri 12:00pm-6:30pm

--sightseeing--
Be sure to have the destination and hotel business card handy before you go sightseeing and such. The taxi drivers might have trouble with English. A good amount are Turkish and have small troubles speaking German.

Maybe these will interest you-
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche
Tiergarten
Reichstag
Unter den Linden
Alexanderplatz
Pergamonmuseum
Deutsches Historisches Museum
dome of the Reichstag (to avoid long lines, arrive at 8 AM)
Potsdamer Platz
Ebertstraße
Brandenburger Tor
the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Gemäldegalerie
Neue Nationalgalerie
Topographie des Terrors
The Berlin Wall-East Side Gallery
Mauermusuem Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
Schloss Charlottenburg
Adenauerplatz
Kurfürstendamm
Bleibtreustrasse/Savignyplatz area
Chämeleon Varieté or Bar Jeder Vernunft.
Kreuzberg/Martin-Gropius-Bau
Jüdisches Museum
Berliner Fernsehturm
Potsdam
Filmpark Babelsberg
Schloss Sanssouci
cruising the Spree River and its canals

Be sure to check your tour book for-
Pariser Platz
Hotel Adlon
Komische Oper
Friedrichstraße
Galeries Lafayette
Friedrichstadtpassagen
Gendarmenmarkt
Deutscher Dom
Französischer Dom
Konzerthaus
Berliner Zoo & Aquarium
Deutsches Technikmuseum
Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen

maps and transportation
http://www.stadtplan.net/index.asp?direct=brd/berlin/berlin
http://www.bvg.de/
http://www.bahn.de/-S:PtVOZ9:emwO0NNNrGoH7dNNNONM/p/view/index.shtml

tourism
http://www.btm.de/index.html.de
http://wikitravel.org/en/Berlin

Answer 2

Definitely the eastern area. Many tourists for example are amazed when I tell them, that the beautiful area we're walking through, is the eastern part, and that the ugly area which we cross after this is the former west-berlin (so to experience in the area near bernauer str. along the former wall). For many reasons the east is "better": First of all, in the east there is the historical heart of Berlin (at Nikolaiviertel and south of Museums Island). Second, in the eastern part, there are the main sights (Unter den Linden, Museums Island, the cathedral, the Bebelplatz, the TV tower, the town hall, the historical churches, the synagogue, the quarters of late 18th century, the hackesche Höfe) Third: The active art and creative people mostly live in the east, because after the fall of the wall, the flats were very cheap, so it's more lively than the west. The west is finished and more boring, the east is still under construction and people take part in it. And least: There are most of the cool shops, the in-scene and most of the cool clubs and other nightlife. Also it's cheaper at most places in the east, especially in friedrichshain. @ robertdihno: Neukoelln and Kreuzberg are former west berlin. Take some time and explore your city :)

Answer 3

You say 'this time' - Am I to take it that you have been to Berlin before? If so - here is a list of things that you probably have not done.
Stasi museum, Alliertenmuseum, Flak tower Humbolthain park, the Kreuzberg in Viktoriapark, Glienicker Bridge where Gary Powers was exchanged, Potsdam and Sanssouci if you haven't been there before, wander around Spandauervorstadt, Flea market on Sundays by the Technical University, Filmpark Babelsberg, Soviet war memorial Treptower park, British war cemetery Heerstraße, Citadel Spandau, Luftwaffenmuseum Gatow, TV Tower, Invalieden cemetery, Wanness Conference House Memorial. Take a trip to Stockhausen concentration camp. Go to the Berlin History society bookshop in Unter den Linden and buy a copy of 'Berlin: Open City' and follow the walking tours listed. Before you go check out http://www.berlin-explored.com
Enjoy

Answer 4

I've been to Berlin last year and if you check out the website Stativi gave you, you should find everything for planning your stay in Berlin (what to see, where to go out...) and definitely check out some of the things he wrote about.... I stayed for only 7 days and saw everything important (brandenburg gate, reichstaig, kdw, postamderplatz, sony center.....) an still had time to do some serious clubing. hope you enjoy you stay!!!

Answer 5

PLS CLICK ON-
http://www.berlin-tourist-information.de/english/soghtseeing/e_si_stadterkundungen_fahrrad.php
u'll find detail information

Answer 6

Difficult to answer cause I don't know what you're interested in the most and it's impossible to give you a complete list.

So, here are two links which are pretty complete and you may look some things up I mention:

http://www.berlin-tourist-information.de/index.en.php

http://www.berlin.de/english/visitors/index.html


Most important districts

- Mitte (the main sights, nightlife in the northern part of it)
- Charlottenburg (also nice sights, shopping at Ku'Damm and Tauentzienstr including the KDW - not KDB)
- Tiergarten (gigantic park, embassys, some sights)
- Kreuzberg (some museums, alternative scene, nightlife)
- Zehlendorf (the rich part, some museums, some sights, beautiful mansions and nice nature including forests and lakes)
- Prenzlauer Berg (good nightlife, nice houses)
- Schoeneberg (some shopping streets, Potsdamer Platz, some museums)
- Koepenick and Spandau (the only old town cores of Berlin, castles, nature, old buildings)
- Friedrichshain (colourful alternative district, nightlife)

There are a few things for what Berlin stands for:

- German politics and history!

Reichstag and additional government buildings, embassys and presidential buildings in the districts Tiergarten and Mitte. Especially the british embassy and the embassy of scandinavian countries are great. One embassy you can visit from the inside is the canadian one near potsdamer platz.

The Berlin Wall. There are remains at Checkpoint Charlie (the Wall museum) and Bernauer Straße (an original part of the wall and a documentary center with a look-out, free entrance) and at Potsdamer Platz. There are also two original watchtowers from the wall, one at Kieler Str. in Mitte and one at Puschkinallee in Treptow (unfortunately you can only visit them from the outside, they're closed). Information websites: http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/ and http://www.die-berliner-mauer.de/en/index.html and http://www.dieberlinermauer.de/berlinwallhome1024/walltoaday/walltoaday.html

The other remainders of the GDR. There is a shortly opened GDR museum at the spree near the Berlin cathedral which shows the daily life in GDR. And there is an ex-jail from the GDR as a memorial in Hohenschoenhausen (http://www.stiftung-hsh.de/ - normally also in english but down at the moment). I think you have to book a guide to visit it. And there is a Stasi (ministry for safety of the state) museum at Normannenstr. in Lichtenberg. http://www.stasi-museum.de/info.htm (unfortunately not in english)

Memorials and remains from the 2nd world war (Concentration camps near Berlin, the memorial for the murdered jews at brandenburg gate, anti war museum, memorials of the sovjets in Tiergarten and Treptower park...)


Museums! The best are:

- Gemaeldegalerie at Kulturforum near Potsdamer Platz
- New National gallery near potsdamer Platz
- Old national gallery on the museums island (btw a world heritage site)
- Pergamonmuseum on the Mus. Isl.
- Bodemuseum on the Mus. Isl.
- Old Museum on the Mus. Isl. (egyptian arts, including nefertete)
- Museum for german history (next to the museum island)
- Jewish Museum
- German museum for technology (also near potsdamer platz)
- Martin Gropius Bau (changing exhibitions, also near potsdamer platz)
- Berlinische Galerie
- Museum for photography
- Bruecke Museum (famous expressionist paintings)
- Collection Berggruen (Picasso and similar)
- Bauhaus archive
- Museums of the cultures in the world in Dahlem
- Broehan Museum
- Museum for natural sciences
- Hamburger bahnhof (contemporary art)
- Maerkisches museum (berlin history)
- Berlin story

- Some churches:

- Berlin cathedral (with entrance fee, but you can walk up the dome and to the graves of the prussian kings)
- Nikolaikirche (oldest church and the core of the old berlin)
- Marienkirche (2nd oldest big church in Berlin)
- Nikolaikirche in Spandau (third oldest in Berlin, from here the reformation started in Berlin)
- St. Hedwigs Kathedrale (first catholic church in Berlin)
- Gedaechtniskirche (memorial of the war, complex of old and new church)
- Friedrichswerdersche Kirche (with a nice small museum, entrance is free)
- German and French cathedral on Gendarmenmarkt

Castles of the Kings! (Schloss...):

- Charlottenburg and surrounding park
- Klein-Glienicke and park
- Köpenick (including a museum)
- Jagdschloss Grunewald (including a museum)
- the Citadel in Spandau (oldest castle in Berlin)

And of course life and nightlife! Some streets:

Simon-Dach-Str. and surroundings in Berlin Friedrichshain

Oderberger Str., Eberswalder Str. and area, Husemannstr. in Prenzlauer Berg

Rosenthaler Platz and area, Oranienburger Str., Hackescher Markt, Veteranenstr. and Große Hamburger Str. in Mitte

Bergmannstr and area, Oranienstr and area, Graefestr, Wrangelstr and Wiener Str, Schlesische Str. in Kreuzberg

Goltzstr and Akazienstraße and Winterfeldtplatz in Schoeneberg

Savignyplatz in Charlottenburg

Answer 7

go to potsdamerplatzen, KDB, strudels

Answer 8

try