What to do In Berlin?

[cation555]

Hello Denizens of ATOT!

Will be going to Berlin on business later this week. I'll be there for about 5 days. Any tips on sights/touristy things to do? Looking online it seems there are some museums + castles + East/West Berlin history worth checking out.

Also what is the best (and ideally cheapest) way to get around Berlin? Unfortunately, I don't speak a word of German. I'll be staying at the Estrel Berlin (which seems to be in suburbia).

Thanks!

 

[Kaido]

Do you like food? Get the food. Specifically the bread and the street food, like their bratwurst.

 

[Broheim]

the U-bahn is pretty cheap and easy, not like the subway in NY but still pretty decent. cabs aren't too expensive either if I remember correctly (they might be, I've never taken a cab in Berlin while sober).

as for sights, you should take the U-bahn to the Bundestag and visit that and then walk from there to Brandenburger Tor and the holocaust memorial and then take a stroll down Unter den Linden. You should also visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche and the parts of the wall that are still standing.

 

[ElFenix]

drink beer, eat sausages, and look for hitler's corpse?

 

[RichUK]

Drink beer and wear lederhosens.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Drink beer and wear lederhosens.

Wrong part of Germany. They have beer in Berlin, but you're thinking more Munich....

Seek out Berliners:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_(doughnut)

Find some good beer:
http://www.partyearth.com/berlin/bars/beer-halls/
http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/45

Keep in mind that Berlin beer is different than bavarian styles. If I remember correctly, it follows more closely to the Czech style. Of course, beer has been an evolution over the past few centuries...so trends come and go....

 

[RichUK]

Wrong part of Germany. They have beer in Berlin, but you're thinking more Munich....

Seek out Berliners:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_(doughnut)

Find some good beer:
http://www.partyearth.com/berlin/bars/beer-halls/
http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/45

Keep in mind that Berlin beer is different than bavarian styles. If I remember correctly, it follows more closely to the Czech style. Of course, beer has been an evolution over the past few centuries...so trends come and go....

Good to know. I'm going Berlin in August for a stag do.

 

[mmntech]

Make sure to greet them by sticking your arm out and giving a friendly heil. That means hello. It's their custom. :sneaky:

 

[tboo]

Go hang with Veronica Moser?

 

[AgentUnknown]

Go do a walking tour. Hitlers bunker is now a apartment complex parking lot.t

 

[DaveSimmons]

Dancing....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZErqBJcBEY

.... maybe ride The Metro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piF7rT8hQJg

 

[Colt45]

Brothel?

 

[ViviTheMage]

Hofbräuhaus

 

[Broheim]

Brothel?

nah, that's more of a Hamburg thing...

:sneaky:

 

[cation555]

the U-bahn is pretty cheap and easy, not like the subway in NY but still pretty decent. cabs aren't too expensive either if I remember correctly (they might be, I've never taken a cab in Berlin while sober).

as for sights, you should take the U-bahn to the Bundestag and visit that and then walk from there to Brandenburger Tor and the holocaust memorial and then take a stroll down Unter den Linden. You should also visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche and the parts of the wall that are still standing.

Thanks for the tips guys, I may not be able to properly pronounce those words but I'll get in a cab and give it a go! Is Estrel Berlin quite a ways from most tourist sites?

Despite ATOTs natural inclinations, I will likely not have time for whoring and drinking

 

[Fritzo]

Do you like food? Get the food. Specifically the bread and the street food, like their bratwurst.

LOL- we think alike. Anytime I go somewhere new, the first thing that pops in my head is "What's the best local food around?"

 

[olds]

Goosestep

 

[GTaudiophile]

Man... should I write a book? LOL.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I would say begin with the touristy stuff. You'll want to buy a BVG Tageskarte (day ticket for all local transportation). A Zone A/B ticket should suffice unless you want to go out to Potsdam. If you do that, you'll need a B/C or ABC card as well. These run 6,50 € to 7,00 €, respectively. You can use these for any U- or S-Bahn, tram, or bus. The ABC card may also be good to use on certain local RE trains but be careful.

I would start at the Alex or Alexanderplatz and walk west along Karl-Liebknecht Straße and then to famous Unter den Linden. (Walking further east a few blocks on Karl-Liebknecht will take you to Hofbräu Berlin. But keep in mind that the place is for tourists as Bavarian culture does not apply to Berliner culture.)

Things to see along the way...

1. Die Weltzeituhr (am Alex) (World Clock)
2. Fernsehturm (TV Tower)...costs a lot to go up but the views are great.
3. Neptunbrunnen
4. DDR Museum (optional...will mention more later)
5. Berliner Dom
6. Museum Island (esp. the Neues Museum and the Pergamon)
7. Deutsches Historisches Museum
8. Neue Wache
9. Cross the street to Babelplatz (visit the Denkmal zur Bücherverbrennung am 10. Mai 1933)
10. Keep walking south behind Babelplatz and visit Gendarmenmarkt.
11. Buy some Rittersport chocolate at BunteSchokoWelt (Französische Straße 24)
12. Continue walking west to Friedrichstraße then walk back north to Unter den Linden and then west again to the Brandenburg Gate.
13. Walk south to the nearby Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. If you walk southeast of the Memorial along Getrud-Kolmar-Straße, you'll see the site of the Hitlerbunker. Continue walking south you'll come to the famous Potsdamer Platz (looks like a giant tent in the shape of Mount Fuji).
14. Walk north to see the Bundestag/Kanzleramt/Berlin Hbf Main Train Station.
15. If you have the time/energy, continue walking west along Straße des 17. Juni (or even better through the Tiergarten) to the Siegessäule.

Now doing the above on foot minus the museum visits #6 and #7 would take you 3-5 hours probably. Each of the museum visits in bold above requires a minimum 2 hour stay.

The above just details the main touristy route through the heart of Berlin. My next reply will have a few additional recommendations for more specific themes.

 

[GTaudiophile]

If getting an idea of what the divided city of Berlin looked like or if you have an interest in learning more about the Berlin Wall, take an S-Bahn to the Berliner Nordbahnhof station and visit the Gedenkstätte und Dokumentationszentrum Berliner Mauer on Bernauer Straße. This is a free option and focuses a lot more on the history whereas the DDR Museum (#4 above) is kind of a tourist trap but also focuses more on East German culture and its differences to West German culture.

(Your guide book may direct you to the famous Checkpoint Charlie Museum on Friedrichstraße but this too is an expensive tourist trap area. This museum is not free.)

Once done with the museum, continue walking east along Bernauer Straße. You can either opt to visit the Mauerpark (north of Bernauer Straße) or walk straight into the famous Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood that begins with the Eberswalder Straße U-Bahn station. Under this station, you can grab a curry bratwurst (a must-do while in Berlin) at the original Konnopke's Imbiss. After you eat your curry bratwurst, walk south along Kastanienallee to the Prater Garten, one of of Berlin's oldest and most famous beer gardens. This is best enjoyed in the afternoon/evening between 7:00 and 10:00 on a gorgeous summer day. You can drink beer and order more food if you like.

Speaking of beer, I can also recommend the Ständige Vertretung restaurant on Schiffbauerdamm as well as the neighboring Die Berliner Republik. These both offer a far more authentic experience over the Hoffbräu Berlin.

 

[GTaudiophile]

If Holocaust history interests you, then you have plenty of options as well:

-The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (#13 above)
-West of this memorial / across Ebertstraße is the Memorial to the Murdered Homosexuals.
-The Topography of Terror museum on Niederkirchnerstraße.
-Jewish Museum Berlin on Lindenstraße 9-14 (not Holocaust specific but rather the history of Jews in Berlin)

-Take the S-Bahn to Hackescher Markt and visit this historically Jewish neighborhood. Walk through the Hackesche Höfe and visit the Anne Frank Zentrum and Museum Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt on Rosenthaler Straße. The latter celebrates an "Oscar Schindler" type who saved many Jews from death during WWII.

----

If you are willing to travel to other parts of the city / outside the city:

-The Memorial to the Wannsee Conference House on Am Großen Wannsee 56-58 (requires taking the S-Bahn to the Wannsee station and then a public bus). This would give you a chance to get out of the inner city and experience the greener side of the city. About 1/3 of the city is a forest and the train takes you through this to get from the inner city to the Wannsee area. You would need a solid half-day for this.

-The Memorial and Museum to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Oranienburg. This requires taking the S-Bahn (45-60 minutes) to Oranienburg and then public bus. You would need nearly a full-day for this.

 

[cation555]

Wow thanks for the amazing amount of insight and information GTaudiophile!

 

[GTaudiophile]

A visit to Berlin is of course not complete without a glimpse of its more alternative side:

-Take the U-Bahn to Schillingstraße and walk (a while) along the famous Karl-Marx-Allee to the Frankfurter Tor U-Bahn station and then walk south on Warschauer Straße and then east on Boxhagener Straße to the Trödelmarkt Boxhagener Platz. Walking through this area will give you a great impression of the Friedrichshain neighborhood.

You can also continue south to the famous East Side Gallery located near the Warschauer Straße U-Bahn station.

-Take the U-Bahn to Kottbusser Tor in the heart of the Turkish neighborhood of Kreuzberg. Walk north along Adalbertstraße. Grab some great Turkish food (albeit a little touristy) at the Hasir restaurant.

-Experience a taste of Berlin's club scene by visiting the Berghain dance club (if you can get in).

-A wacky dive bar use to be (and may still be) the Zur wilden Renate on Alt-Stralau 70 near the Berlin Ostkreuz station.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Wow thanks for the amazing amount of insight and information GTaudiophile!

You're welcome.

Even if you could do everything I have described here, you'd only be scratching the surface of what magic Berlin has to offer. It is an amazing place full of young people with amazing, alternative ideas. It's quite different from any other city in Germany in fact.

 

[GTaudiophile]

If you have an interest in seeing palaces, you can see a few in Berlin as well.

-The most conveniently located palace is the Schloss Charlottenburg in downtown Berlin.

Otherwise, you would need to travel outside of the city to nearby Potsdam. If you have a full day with beautiful weather, then a great excursion is the following:

-Take the S-Bahn (requires ABC card) to the Griebnitzsee S-Bahn station. From within the station you can rent a bicycle (10-15 €) and a map and ride through Babelsberg Park to the Glienicker Brücke (famous bridge where East-West spy exchanges occurred) to the Schloss Cecilienhof. This palace is where the famous Potsdam Conference took place after WWII. Continue riding through this park to the Sanssouci Palace. Continue riding through the palace gardens to the nearby Neues Palais (summer vs. winter residence stuff). Ride back and exit the palace gardens along the Am Grünen Gitter street. This leads you to the Brandenburger Tor in Potsdam. This serves as an entry point into downtown Potsdam. Walk through this area along to the Friedrich-Ebert Street and head south to the Potsdam Hbf Main Station. Buy a special ticket for your bicycle (yes you need a bicycle ticket to accompany your ABC Tageskarte) and then take the S-Bahn two stops north back to the Griebnitzsee station to return your bike. Get back on the S-Bahn and head into the city.