Berlin, Deutschland

[Brightonfan1983]

I am going for the weekend, never been before. Can anyone proffer up some places to go, things to do - cultural or otherwise?

Cheers

 

[Gully]

Have been to Berlin twice (84, 89 (the week the wall came down)), can't say I am an expert on the place but I would recommend the museum at Checkpoint Charlie, the Olympic Stadium if you can get in and a tour round the eastern part of the city.

 

[Grendel]

f*** me. I'm hardly a fan of these "what shall I do on my holidays" threads at the best of times but this just takes the biscuit. Seriously, do you live in such a cultural and historical vacuum that you need to ask what might be worth seeing in Berlin?

 

[Nibble]

You can fill every day with some great stuff. As mentioned the Berlin Wall museum, Reichstag etc. One of my favourite visits was to the TV tower. The 360 degree views from the top are stunning. looking out across the city you can really see the differance between the old East and West, architecture etc.
At nightime we just stolled about finding places as we went, there is tonnes to do.

 

[Stinkers Bridge]

A visit to Berlin would be worthless without a visit to Herr Gùmphenstat's world famous toffee museum

 

[house your seagull]

Have been to Berlin twice (84, 89 (the week the wall came down)), can't say I am an expert on the place but I would recommend the museum at Checkpoint Charlie, the Olympic Stadium if you can get in and a tour round the eastern part of the city.

sorry gully, but i would disagree with those suggestions! checkpoint charlie is very touristy i found (unless you want a picture with a faux-russian guard), the stadium is impressive and you can pick up hertha tickets for about 8 quid at the shop near the church in zoo gardens part of town.

touring the east, follow the river round from the new station (past where the first person was gunned down trying to cross the wall) and you'll see bits of the wall. there is one last watch tower round there with a tiny museum in it - the guy that runs the museum is the brother of the guy who got shot - very strange.

walk round to bernaur strasse (i think that's what it's called Herr Tubthumper might be able to confirm if he actually lives in Berlin!) and see the sun coming down over the wall then walk up to the wall museum/memorial where they have kept a section as it was back in the day.

make your base around mitte (charlottenburg - the centre of the old west - is not that good except for the zoo). bars and restaurants and some interesting shops but it's getting quite gentrified ina north lanes kind of way, but still the best part of town.

if you're partial to a bit of electronica don't miss weekend club on alexanderplatz - if you can find it - look up! tresor is cool, or used to be, if you like techno.

the fuhrnetsurn (sp!) tower is ace, shame the palace of the republic is not there any more!

generally though i love Berlin, absolutely think it's the best town in europe.

prenzlauerberg is good and used to be the really cool area of berlin so lots of nice bars and coffee shops, also in the south boxhanger market is great on a sunday morning for breakfast buffet and thrift stalls.

phew.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

you won't be stuck for things to do

at nighttime check out the kunsthaus, its just off orienburgerstrasse (sp?) in east berlin, its an old warehouse with loads of bars and little arty rooms as artists squat there.......the best clubs are generally in east berlin we found

go to the concentration camp, its north of berlin and you have to get the s-bahn


berlin is amazing and you literally won't be bored for a minute

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I am no fan whatsoever of SHOPPING.

But Berliners do it better than anyone else in the world.

Go to KaDeWe and see what must be Europe's most incredible department store.

Meanwhile ... enjoy the live webcam of the Kurfürstendamm:-

Live-Webcam Berlin www.kurfuerstendamm.de

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

I LOVE berlin!!! Brilliant place. Make sure you do checkpoint charlie and it's museum, i think Charlottenplatz is the closest station. Also do Potsdamer Platz at night, when they light the roof.

The Reichstag is really good, but prepare to queue

 

[Clapham Old Mug]

Take a coat if you are going soon - I was there last week and it was snowy. And have a drink in the Radisson SAS hotel (near Museum Island) - you'll see why when you get there...

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

sorry gully, but i would disagree with those suggestions! checkpoint charlie is very touristy i found (unless you want a picture with a faux-russian guard), the stadium is impressive and you can pick up hertha tickets for about 8 quid at the shop near the church in zoo gardens part of town.

touring the east, follow the river round from the new station (past where the first person was gunned down trying to cross the wall) and you'll see bits of the wall. there is one last watch tower round there with a tiny museum in it - the guy that runs the museum is the brother of the guy who got shot - very strange.

walk round to bernaur strasse (i think that's what it's called Herr Tubthumper might be able to confirm if he actually lives in Berlin!) and see the sun coming down over the wall then walk up to the wall museum/memorial where they have kept a section as it was back in the day.

make your base around mitte (charlottenburg - the centre of the old west - is not that good except for the zoo). bars and restaurants and some interesting shops but it's getting quite gentrified ina north lanes kind of way, but still the best part of town.

if you're partial to a bit of electronica don't miss weekend club on alexanderplatz - if you can find it - look up! tresor is cool, or used to be, if you like techno.

the fuhrnetsurn (sp!) tower is ace, shame the palace of the republic is not there any more!

generally though i love Berlin, absolutely think it's the best town in europe.

prenzlauerberg is good and used to be the really cool area of berlin so lots of nice bars and coffee shops, also in the south boxhanger market is great on a sunday morning for breakfast buffet and thrift stalls.

phew.

Bernauer Strasse it is (why do you doubt my living there? I lived there for 6 months but returned earlier this year). In fact I lived very close to this street.

There is a lot to do in the city and it really depends what you like. It is a huge city, progressive, diverse, open minded and people just let people get on with what they want to do. I wasnt working when I lived there and I never got bored in the entire 6 months.

Give me a few pointers as to what you want to achieve and I'll help you out.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

sorry gully, but i would disagree with those suggestions! checkpoint charlie is very touristy i found (unless you want a picture with a faux-russian guard), the stadium is impressive and you can pick up hertha tickets for about 8 quid at the shop near the church in zoo gardens part of town.

touring the east, follow the river round from the new station (past where the first person was gunned down trying to cross the wall) and you'll see bits of the wall. there is one last watch tower round there with a tiny museum in it - the guy that runs the museum is the brother of the guy who got shot - very strange.

walk round to bernaur strasse (i think that's what it's called Herr Tubthumper might be able to confirm if he actually lives in Berlin!) and see the sun coming down over the wall then walk up to the wall museum/memorial where they have kept a section as it was back in the day.

make your base around mitte (charlottenburg - the centre of the old west - is not that good except for the zoo). bars and restaurants and some interesting shops but it's getting quite gentrified ina north lanes kind of way, but still the best part of town.

if you're partial to a bit of electronica don't miss weekend club on alexanderplatz - if you can find it - look up! tresor is cool, or used to be, if you like techno.

the fuhrnetsurn (sp!) tower is ace, shame the palace of the republic is not there any more!

generally though i love Berlin, absolutely think it's the best town in europe.

prenzlauerberg is good and used to be the really cool area of berlin so lots of nice bars and coffee shops, also in the south boxhanger market is great on a sunday morning for breakfast buffet and thrift stalls.

phew.

History and architecture wise .....all the obvious stuff is in any guide book.

To kick an evening of White Trash Fast Food is good. If you want to kick off a special evening 4 burgers and a bottle of champers will only set you back 70 euros. Cheap when split by 4. Need to book though as it can get busy. Club Bassy is over the road.
Club wise Weekend is good on Thursdays when it is more electro/techno. Sat and Suns is more house and bling...not my thing. It occupies the 12th, 15th and roof terrace of a tower block. It has to be seen to be believed. The club is one of the best I have been to. Tresor is lost its edge a long time ago. It is now full of out-of-towners and drunk Brits. It has gone down a tourist route and even has a large stall selling branded products. It's not really on the circuit with locals anymore. Watergate has some great stuff on and an amazing view of the river. Berhain/Panorama Bar is the daddy...is massive and occupies most of a former power station. Then there is Cookies (Tuesday, Thurs and Sat only), Picnic, West Germany. All good are good and all typically Berlin. If you go back in the summer check out Bar25, Space beach and Strandmarkt by East Gallery on The Spree. These are all open air bars and clubs on the river.

I lived in Prenzlauer Berg which has a lot of bars and stuff on Kastanianealle and Oderburger Strasse (the back of my local Razzia in Budapest on end of Oderburger used to get rowdy on Fridays and Saturdays if the right crowd was in). If you want to watch some football go to FC Magnet on Veteranienstrasse....and say hello to Carola for me.

one thing I always recommend to folk going to Berlin: dont be afraid to open doors or just walk into places. Berliners dont have the same territorial stance that we Brits do. I ended up having some of my best nights when being a little inquisitive and walking into places and opening doors.

This is a bit rambling but I wanted to fire off a few ideas. Have fun.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I LOVE berlin!!! Brilliant place. Make sure you do checkpoint charlie and it's museum, i think Charlottenplatz is the closest station. Also do Potsdamer Platz at night, when they light the roof.

The Reichstag is really good, but prepare to queue

The mueum is quite interesting in a James Bond gismo sort of way. They have a lot of the contraptions which people used to get over or under the wall.

If you want to avoid the queue you can always book lunch in the restaurant at the top of the Bundestag (as it is officially called). If you do this then you get to go up a seperate entrance on the right as you look at the building.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

I am no fan whatsoever of SHOPPING.

But Berliners do it better than anyone else in the world.

Go to KaDeWe and see what must be Europe's most incredible department store.

Meanwhile ... enjoy the live webcam of the Kurfürstendamm:-

Live-Webcam Berlin www.kurfuerstendamm.de

Apparently build by the Wessie's there so it'd look over the wall and show how great capitalism is to the Ossies - that's what my teacher told me anyway!!!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Apparently build by the Wessie's there so it'd look over the wall and show how great capitalism is to the Ossies - that's what my teacher told me anyway!!!

It's a long way from the wall though.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

...and given it celebrates its 100th year this year it was built long before the country was divided.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

...and given it celebrates its 100th year this year it was built long before the country was divided.

He was bullshitting then!!!

 

[Jesus Gul]

went for a couple of days in summer 2006 to meet up with some mates and watch Ukraine v Tunisia at the Olimpicstadion!!! Bumped into some other Brighton fans (Oapdodge - he used to post on here) and gave it a Good Ol Sussex by the Sea rendition much to the bemusement of all the Ukrainians

Hadn't seen much of the place until I had to make my way back to the station on an early Sunday morning. Had a few hours to kill so just bowled around the Mitte, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag and then off to the Hauptbahnhof. Very pleasant especially when no one is around at 8am on a summer's Sunday!!

Taking the family back to Germany this summer to Lindau and Munich. Eurocamp-tastic

Auf Wiedersehen

 

[Brightonfan1983]

f*** me. I'm hardly a fan of these "what shall I do on my holidays" threads at the best of times but this just takes the biscuit. Seriously, do you live in such a cultural and historical vacuum that you need to ask what might be worth seeing in Berlin?

Well, I'm having a wander through The Lonely Planet guide but it strikes me that Berlin is rather a big city and would like some personal recommendations so I don't waste a very short trip.

Tell you what sarky-boy, next time you come up to London and ask where there's a decent pub in a particular area, PLEASE ask me....! I know some interesting places you'd feel right at home in!!

 

[Brightonfan1983]

Thank you one and all - I've printed this page off and will settle down with a map, see what I can fit in.

Thanks again!!