Any tips on Berlin?

faceman

Im off to Berlin for a lads weekend this coming weekend. Although it is ladish, there are a few of us who are up for seeing the sites during the day.

Can anyone recommend some sites and some good spots to go for nightlife?

Thanks

Tiesto

hi Faceman,
I was only ever in Berlin for a couple of nights.
The problem with the nightlife is that there isnt really one central location.
Everything seems to be spread out so you should do a bit of research before you go..On top of that, just ask the locals.

The first night we were there, we did one of the large organised pub crawls.
Was great fun and identified some great bars for the following night. (The problem i had was remembering how to get to them.)

dead air

If you need a place to stay, check out the Generator Hostel. Really comfortable (massive) hotel-like hostel. Good craic, organised pub and club crawls, dvd nights, drinks promotions in the bar etc.

The usual places to visit would be the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, Jewish Musuem and German History Musuem, all very good I thought.

faceman

Thanks folks. We're staying on Alexanderplatz if that narrows things down!

spurious

faceman wrote: »

Thanks folks. We're staying on Alexanderplatz if that narrows things down!

If you're staying in the Park Inn, don't bother with their 'terrace view' - it's not worth the charge. Go up the TV Tower instead.
Fantastic Thai restaurant on Dircksenstrasse nearby.
Thai Inside

faceman

spurious wrote: »

If you're staying in the Park Inn, don't bother with their 'terrace view' - it's not worth the charge. Go up the TV Tower instead.
Fantastic Thai restaurant on Dircksenstrasse nearby.
Thai Inside

You spying on me?

we're staying in the Park Inn!

spurious

I stayed there last summer.
Their bathroom arrangements are fairly 'intimate'*. Great views though.

Don't bother with the breakfast (unless it's included in your rate) - there's a good coffee shop right beside the hotel does a range of breakfast fare.
The restaurant in the hotel is expensive but does pretty good lunch deals.


*The shower opens directly onto the bedroom. There's a curtain but you'd still want to be fairly pally with your room-mate.:)

ollaetta

spurious wrote: »

I stayed there last summer.
Their bathroom arrangements are fairly 'intimate'*. Great views though.

Don't bother with the breakfast (unless it's included in your rate) - there's a good coffee shop right beside the hotel does a range of breakfast fare.
The restaurant in the hotel is expensive but does pretty good lunch deals.


*The shower opens directly onto the bedroom. There's a curtain but you'd still want to be fairly pally with your room-mate.:)

Also stayed there last summer. Funky room but the bathroom walls were glass most of which was clear. A bit off putting when you're having a dump!:o:o

BTW we had paid extra for a "panorama" room and were given one on the third floor overlooking a roof. Complained and were switched to one on the 12th floor.

We also used the coffee shop for brekkie and found Alexanderplatz to be a good location with great transport links.

BraziliaNZ

Google a place called Kaffee Burger, it's somewhere around Rosa Luxembourg strasse which is near Alexanderplatz, awesome retro club, been there since the 50s. They have a Russian punk night on Sundays which can't be missed. Eat currywurst. The locals are sehr freundlich, Germans seem to appreciate tourists more than other Euro countries, must be still amazed people like them after WW2.

chillywilly

The crowd below do a free walking tour(tips accepted;)) of the main tourist spots including the brandenberg gate, the jewish war memorial, hitlers bunker(now a carpark:D), the Berlin wall, Check point Charlie and the Luftwaffa(sp?) HQ. Id recommend it.

The same crowd do the pub crawl. I think its about 10e and they give you free beer and shots, although the beer came in a tiny glass and didnt taste nice and the shots were weak schnappes which they feed to everyone like we were in a zoo:D They brought us to about 4/5 different bars and ended up in a cool club under some bridge(im a little hazy about the exact location). I definetly recommend it, i had a great nite!

http://www.newberlintours.com/nbt/content/view/13/25/lang,en/

EKRIUQ

Snap! I'll be staying in the Park Inn aswell, its it difficult to get to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp near Berlin ...? would like to see it when I'm there.

faceman

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Google a place called Kaffee Burger, it's somewhere around Rosa Luxembourg strasse which is near Alexanderplatz, awesome retro club, been there since the 50s. They have a Russian punk night on Sundays which can't be missed. Eat currywurst. The locals are sehr freundlich, Germans seem to appreciate tourists more than other Euro countries, must be still amazed people like them after WW2.

We were there one of the nights. Played awful hungarian music for most of the night.

sodiumlightbaby

EKRIUQ wrote: »

Snap! I'll be staying in the Park Inn aswell, its it difficult to get to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp near Berlin ...? would like to see it when I'm there.

Sachsenhausen is easy to get to and well worth the visit if obviously quite grim.

It was a firstly a German concentration camp for undesirables, then a POW camp used by the Russians to house german pow's after the war, and then finally a Stasi prison of sorts during the cold war.

take the S1 to Oranienburg Station. you can get a bus there that stops at the "KZ"

regarding Berlin itself, I agree with the other comments that there is no "downtown" as such and the nightlife is spread out in various different neghbourhoods. Friedrichshain area is good around Simon Dach Strasse (nearest UBahn station is Warschauer strasse)..lot's of good pubs and restuarants.

BergmanStrasse in Kreuzberg is also good for shopping/eating/drinking. Nearest U Bahn is Gneisenaustrasse. Also in Kreuzberg, OranienStrasse between MoritzPlatz and Gorlitzer Banhof stations is good for nightlife and food

More touristy would be Hackescher Markt and Oranienburger strasse in Mitte..lot's of bars and restuarants there and surrounding area. Hookers along Oranienburgerstrasse too if that's your thang

Berlin is a great city. Check out the old Stasi headquarters in NormannStrasse. The centre of operations which was stormed by the people demanding their files when the wall came down. They were kept out of the offices upstairs though and they have been left exactly the way they were when the Stasi was disbanded very shortly afterwards. Real 1970's spy stuff. Really Interesting. Nearest UBahn is Magdalenen Str

The Topography of terrors is also worth a vist. On the site of the old Gestapo headquarters on NeiderkirchnerStrasse (just along the street from checkpoint Charlie)..It's shows the history of the rise of the Nazis and what followed. It's also directly opposite the old Luftwaffe headquarters (which was the only governmental building not to be hit by a bomb in the 2nd world war !!)

Thats should be enought to keep you goin. Enjoy !

Oh and it goes without saying...have a CurryWurst !

Balmed Out

Only piece of advice really is dont mention the war. Oh and prvious poster mentioned "Friedrichshain area is good around Simon Dach Strasse". He aint wrong. Area certainly has my favourite pubs though i dont think ive ever been to a club in that neighbourhood (not sure it has any), but pubs are very cheap there and better then alexanderplatz.
Lots of people may mention oranienburger strasse and its not bad but is more touristy and expensive then other areas. Hovever do go there once just to check out Tacheles. Its a weird artists studio / squatter encampment / bar / club. Looks like a graffitied derelict building but go all the way up the stairs. Good laugh and i think a must do for anyone going to Berlin.
For nightclubbing you could do worse then checking out the Kulturbrauerei or Culture Brewery. Its a big old brewery that now houses loads of different clubs. Few good pubs nearby too.

Dodge

Best tip I could give is to buy the Berlin Welcome Card. Covers all overground and (S bahn) and underground (U bahn) trains (including airport) for 3 days. Cost about €24 last summer. You also get a booklet with a map and plenty of discounts to museums and other attractions. You'll definitely use the U/S bahns as berlin is huge (but very manageable thanks to the excellent public transport links)

Currywurst and cheap kebabs are everywhere, and eating on the street is done by everyone.

Oh and local beers are probably half the price of Irish bars...