Low cost airlines fly into Schonefeld which is some way outside the centre but has very good transport links there is a fast train which takes 20 minutes and runs every half hour there is also the S Bahn which takes longer but runs more frequently.
The city is huge but has a very good transport system with S-Bahn (above ground), U-Bahn (below ground), Bus and Tram (in the old east) it is all very cheap and there are ticket machine on all stations however transport maps seem hard to get.
Most of the major sights are in the old east and Mitte is a very good area to base yourself with loads of places to stay and great opportunities for eating and drinking.
There are numerous hotels available on web sites, but since it is such a huge city is is good to stay somewhere where restaurants, cafes and bars are on your doorstep in the evening.
Flowers Boarding House Mitte, is a block of state of the art apartments which start from around €90 per night for two people. They are state of the art modern and very well appointed there is a manned reception between 9 and 6 each day and are in in great area. The address is Mulackstrasse 1, 101119 Berlin Mitte, and the web site is www.flowersberlin.com.
There is a very smart big new hostel called Nomads in Alte Schonhauser Strasse Mitte, it appears to cater for all ages and has very modern public areas, it is untested and have failed to find a web site for it.
Berlin seems to have an amazing variety of different types of cooking so if Sauerkraut and Dumplings are not you thing don’t despair there is plenty of choice.
Eating and drinking is much cheaper than most Western Euoropean Capital cities.
Hasir, Oranienburger Strasse 4, Mitte (Hackescher Markt) top class Turkish restaurant in a great setting very smart and very popular. €€
Kasbah, Gipstrasse 2, Mitte (Rosethaler Plazt) a great Moroccan restaurant run by charming staff with excellent food, booking recommended at weekends €€-
Monsieur Vong, Alte Schonhauser Strasse 46, Mitte (Rosa Luxembour Platz) another reason for staying at Flowers Apartments is that this is across the road, it is a famous Berlin Vietnamese Restaurant, very popular, very modern, very good and very cheap no booking queue or go early. € - €€
Good Morning Vietnam, Alte Schonhauser Strasse 60 , if Monsieur Vong is full try this one up teh street the food is very good, lovely service and very reasonably priced. €€
Yosoy, Rosenthaler Strasse 37, Mitte (Hackescher Markt) very popular tapas restaurant, loads of specials although service can be a bit pushed it is worth it for the buzz and the food €€
Vino E Libri, Torstrasse 99, Mitte, (Rosenthaler Strasse) - an incredibly smart neighbourhood Italian restaurant with top notch food and service and very reasonablr prices booking advised €€
Sushi Express, Sony Center, Postdamer Platz 2, tiny place in the Sony Centre if you are coming from the U-Bahn to the centre it is easy to find if not ask it is worth finding. A conveyor belt of sushi made in front of your eyes and even better at lunch time there is 50% of Happy Hour.€€
Lutter & Wegner, Charlottenstrasse 56, Gendarmenmarkt, Mitte this is one of the really smart old fashioned Berlin restaurants not cheap but is also has a bistro attached which does fantastic platters of meats & cheeses and has a fantastic wine list €€
Dachgarten restaurant, in the Reichstag Building if you go round the building you may be lucky enough to pop in for a coffee and cake or a drink in the rooftop restaurant if not you would need to book for lunch or dinner very very smart and food look very very good €€€
Gugelhof, Kollwitz Platz, Ecke Knaackstrasse 37, Prenzlauer Berg, an old fashioned traditional bar and restaurant well recommended and very popular it a good area to explore. €€
Ka De We Tauentzien Strasse, Schoneberg (Wittenbergplatz) It is the second largest department store in Europe and it has the best food hall you can imagine. It has numerous bars and food bars the oyster bar, the schnitzel and and dozens other €€
Papaya, Krossener Strasse 11, Friedrichshain, this is a great Thai restaurant in an area with an amazing selection of places to eat, they also have another place across teh road but is doesn't have such a wide menu. The food is great and incredibly reasonably priced.€€
Osteria No 1. Kreuzberg Strasse 71, Kreuzberg, this is seriously highly rated as one of the best Italian restaurants to visit and booking at night essential. The food is fabulous and the service excellent, for the quality the price is very reasonable €€€
Curry Wurst 36, Mehringdamm, Ubahn Mehringdamm, Kreuzberg is rated as the best Currywurst places in Berlin and judging by the crowds the natives of Berlin ceratinly seem to think so.
Hasir, Adalbertstrasse 10, Kreuzberg, in the Turkish part of Kreuzberg thsi is part of thesame group as Hasir in Mitte but much smaller, cheaper and less formal. The kebabs are just the best and the different breads lovely. €€
Bars come in all varieties and most traditional ones do traditional German food there is a great bar/café culture and most newer bars stay open late a few to mention
Cafe Cinema, Rosenthaler Strasse 39 Mitte, just by the Hofe courtyard building, is a very laid back local bar.
Hackbarth’s, Auguststrasse 49A, Mitte (Weinmeisterstrasse) a great bar in the area of Mitte called Scheunenviertel which is full of small galleries and bars and restaurants. This is a great local bar with a good selection of beers and wines.
Botzow Privat, Linien Strasse, Mitte (Oranienburger Tor) excellent local bar, with good food and good selection of wines and beers. They do a lunchtime special of Weiner Schnitzel at 2 for 1 which is excellent. The staff are very pleasant.
There is a good group of bars/cafes just down from Botzow Privat on the corner of August Strasse.
Restaurant/Bar Ruz, August Strasse 63, modern spacious tapas bar worth a visit
Altes Europa, Gipstrasse 11, (Weinmeisterstrasse) another local bar in a street with a good selection of places, seems very popular for eating
103, Kastanienallee 49, Mitte (Rosenthaler Platz) very friendly bar which does excellent food and has very friendly staff
Schwarz Sauer, Kastienalle 13, Prenzlauer Berg (Eberswalder Strasse) a very popular bar in a area with loads of other places of all types
Metzer Eck, Metzer Strasse 33, Prenzlauer Berg is the oldest tradtional bar in that area worth popping in to have a beer.
Blaues Band, Café/restaurant/Bar Alte Schonhauser Strasse 7/8, Mitte modern local bar and restaurant
Erdbeer, Max-Beer Strasse 56 Mitte (Rosa Luxembourg Platz) if you fancy something different give this bar a try definitely a late night haunt
Caffee Burger, Tor Strasse 58-60, Mitte bear Rosa Luxembourg Platz, thsi apparently is a Berlin institition from GDR days, prices and decor unchanged. There is an entrance fee which the night we went was one euro which goes up to five with live bands and it has an eclectic selection of music, on our visit a DJ playing "Eastern Sounds meet Swing" which the Berliners on the dance floor seemed to enjoy.
Gormann, Gormann Strasse 10 Mitte another local bar doing a good selection of food
Zur Letzen Instant, Waisenstrasse, Nickolaiviertel, Mitte (Klosterstrasse) a very traditional bar with a small beer garden which does good traditional food
Newton, Charlotten Strasse 57 Mitte, Gendarmenmarkt - very smart but a great place to sit outside and sip a beer before popping across the road to Lutter & Wegner for lunch.
Friedrichshain, this area round Simon Dach Strasse, try Cafe Mayna and Dackhammer, is great for an evening out with a vast variety of bars, cafes and restaurants and it has a very good local feel take the U Bahn to Warschauer Strasse you can also get the bus 240 back to Rosa Luxembourg Platz. Try and explore the streets off Simon Dach Strasse as there are is a wider variety of bars with not such a young clientele.
Kreuzberg Ubahn Mehringdamm, is a very local area with a wide variety of places to eat and drink, after your currywurst at No 36 (see above) try Beer Express next door, then go down Mehringdamm to Destille at No 67, a very well run small local bar witha wide range of drinks. There is a very trendy bar a couple of doors up which is worth a try.
The Reichstag don’t miss the opportunity to go up the amazing Norman Foster designed dome it is worth the queue but the earlier you get there the better
Do a river cruise particularly in the afternoon from the river near Hackescher Markt and Museum Island pick one of the boats with an open air deck and tables where you can sip a beer as you watch the sights go by.
Try and walk part of where the wall was starting at Bernauer Strasse Ubahn and visit the chapel of the reconciliation and the re constructed viewing platform which has a museum and information centre where you can pick up maps for your walk.
Visit KaDe We department store even if it’s just for the food hall ideally stay and have lunch at any number of the places on offer
Obviously walk along Unter den Linden and visit the Jewish Memorial and explore Museum Island.
Nickolaiviertel the reconstructed area is well worth a visit and has some very traditional bars such as Zum Nussbaum and Zum Paddenwirt while there pop round the corner and visit the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel and see the fish tank in the reception containing one million litres of water (part of Aqua Dome & Sea Life)
Last Updated April 2010
