Berlin

[crodonilson]

I am off to Berlin for a long weekend next weekend, with the better half, taking a break away from renovating our house.

Any recommendations on where to go?? We've got a travel guide so know the obvious ones but any hidden gems and decent places to eat on a budget and/or nightlife??

We are also taking in a Hertha Berlin game while we're over there, anyone been to the Olympic Stadium??

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

How do you get to Villa from Berlin?

 

[SirDouglasLoft]

Hey Crodo, I don't know much about Berlin, but I hope you do have a fantastic time

 

[strings]

Went there during the first year of my A-Levels. I was surprised to see that even 12 years after the fall of the Wall there was still a marked difference between the feel of the old East Berlin and the old West Berlin. The East side gallery was pretty impressive, I also enjoyed checkpoint charlie. If you are into your film, there is a good museum at Potsdamer Platz about the German film industry, which was especially big in the early days of cinema.

If you enjoy architecture and are willing to queue for a while, the reichstag dome is impressive and designed by TRIED and TESTED British designer Sir Norman Foster.

The Jewish museum is supposedly a 'must do', I found it quite upsetting and wouldn't go again.

Bars - there are plenty. Try and have some Berliner weisser - a local speciality. Basically it is a wheat beer, served with a red or blue sauce in it to add colour.

 

[Arthur]

Reistag is worth a look.

If modern architecture is your thing then go and have a gander at the train station.

Checkpoint Charlie is pretty underwhelming to be honest as the most of the rest of the place.

Still very much an East/West divide.

Olympic Stadium is impressive!

 

[Springal]

I went there with England and its one of my fave european cities!

Brandon Block gate is pretty cool, checkpoint charlie worth checking out, dinner up the TV tower is alright, food isn't that impressive, but if its clear the view is good while eating dinner!

Few good bars around there too iirc? under the train station / railway arches

 

[Nibble]

Check out the restaurants and bars in The Polish Quarter. Just great, good company, great food , great service, really friendly the waitress invited us back the next night for a party. Went to the Stadium, its trific. Oh and def take in view from TV Tower

 

[dingobruce]

It depends what your looking for. My best experiences of Berlin came in the east part of the city, which I would compare to London's Brick Lane/Shoreditch area but much bigger and without the pretentious twats. The comparison I'm making is based on the large number of small, rather bizarre and unique little bars/restaurants/clubs/pubs that have cropped up in various old warehouses and abandoned shops/houses.

As I was a little intoxicated I'm not 100% sure of the exact location of this area, but I'm pretty sure that it's on Warschauerstrasse which has it's own U-Bahn stop.

Apart from nightlife would definitely recommend going to the Jewish Museum which is an amazing building and pretty overwhelming to be honest.

ENJOY!

 

[Austrian Gull]

Berlin is a fantastic place - more than enough to keep you amused for a long weekend.

Get queuing for the Reichstag at least 30 mins before opening time otherwise you'll be waiting for ages.

Stasi HQ worth a visit - quite a way out in East Berlin and very few tourists. Bit of a hidden gem. Original furniture, very eery place.

Olympic Stadium is worth a visit even if there's no match - audioguides in English deal with the history of 1936.

Had some great value meals in Prenzlauerberg district around Kollwitzplatz.

Hackeschermarkt is a nice central area.

You can't fail to be excited by the buzz of the city!

 

[dannyboy]

tresor!!

 

[Tony Le Mesmer]

I am off to Berlin for a long weekend next weekend, with the better half, taking a break away from renovating our house.

Any recommendations on where to go?? We've got a travel guide so know the obvious ones but any hidden gems and decent places to eat on a budget and/or nightlife??

We are also taking in a Hertha Berlin game while we're over there, anyone been to the Olympic Stadium??

Wow, uncanny. Doing exactly the same as you. See you over there!

 

[1234andcounting]

I've been to the Olympic Stadium, but not for a match. I think you get there on the U-bahn. If you have time, have a look around the stadium area for some pretty amazing 'master race' type statuary. I went there too long ago to provide any meaningful advice about eateries, but generally the German concept of food is lots of it and relatively cheaply priced, in my experience.

I think going up the Fernsehenturn is required...............

 

[Hunting 784561]

Fantastic city, where history just oozes out of every single pore.

We took in a Hertha game at the Olympic stadium on the Sunday night, took the U Bahn out there ( Line 2) which was lively. The atmosphere was very good (45,000 against 1FC Koln), but unfortunately the football wasnt that great ( Hertha are bottom of the Bundesliga).

Go to the Deutsches Historiches Museum (German Historical Museum) on Unter den Linden if you can, we went on Sunday morning - you get the full history of Germany, with 'no holds barred'.

It's brilliant...

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I can tell you a few things. Drop me your email address via PM and I'll send you an email. A lot of people have asked me the same question a number of times and my email reply has evolved over the years....it's way too long to post here.

Also, I've been to the Olympiastadion a number of times as well. Anything specific you want to know?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

tresor!!

Our friend is about 10 years too late for Tresor. There is a club which trades under this name but it is a tourist trap. The places to go these days are Watergate, Berghain, Weekend and Cookies.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

I was going to say 'ask Herr Tubthumper' but I see he's already been here! He suggested things for my long weekend there last year and was spot on. Also, don't worry about finding stuff for yourself - I wandered into a brilliant restaurant/bar that I'll never find again but was a superb night out - food and great great beer, and no hangover!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I was going to say 'ask Herr Tubthumper' but I see he's already been here! He suggested things for my long weekend there last year and was spot on. Also, don't worry about finding stuff for yourself - I wandered into a brilliant restaurant/bar that I'll never find again but was a superb night out - food and great great beer, and no hangover!

 

[Ninja Elephant]

POTSDAMER PLATZ!!!! (at 1am in the morning with the roof changing colours!)

DAS REICHSTAG (Climb to the top and feel more vertigo than you thought possible)

TV TOWER!!!! (Eat at the rotating cafe and watch how Berlin changes from colourful to dark, and then back again as you rotate the 360 degrees!)

 

[TonyBloomsPokerFace]

You should def visit the "Berlin Unterwelten". Hitler had a huge amount of underground structures built during WW2. They do tours of these tunnels and underground passages all year round. I haven't been, but I have heard the tours are really interesting stuff!

Berliner Unterwelten e.V. | Home

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It can be REALLY, REALLY cold in Berlin at this time of year ... really.

Take lots of warm clothes.

Enjoy.