Berlin - what to do!?

Gustov · 28 Sep 2014 at 20:37

Hey guys,

so I'm going Berlin from the 8th - 12th October. I'm going by my Larry and staying in a hostel with 5 randomers because why the hell not - I have holidays left to take and have already done Ibzia earlier in the year with a large group of mates.

Here is where I am staying - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...77,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x189139fa5bfdfabf

Now I love techno / deep house so I plan to go to Berghain (if I can get in), Watergate and Tresor

http://www.berghain.de/
http://www.water-gate.de/
http://tresorberlin.com/

That said, I want to do more than just party - if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them as I want to plan my trip!

The goal is to go over there, meet people and have fun. Helps that I speak German okay too...

Thanks in advance guys.

ElliorR · 28 Sep 2014 at 20:47

Take my breath away?

RedDanDoc · 28 Sep 2014 at 20:48

I'd head down to the Reeperbahn to gawp.

infernox · 28 Sep 2014 at 20:50

I've just came back from Munich for Oktoberfest. I would say go there but its not on when you go to Germany...

Actually i'm not even sure how far Munich is from Berlin.

Amazing though.

daver · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:01

Go on one of those free walking tours - you'll get shown most of Mitte which is were a lot of the famous sites are - usually good for meeting people as well.

Think the festival of lights is on sometime in October as well - nothing amazing but they light up a lot of the well known buildings at night and people hand around outside.

Gustov · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:03

Why would someone do a walking tour for free

?

Brings money in via tourism?

J-FRO · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:04

I recently went to Berlin on my larry too. I didn't get to go to any of the clubs because I was there on a Sunday and Monday night but Berghain and Panorama bar (which I'm lead to believe is above Berghain) are meant to be the places to go.

As for things to do on your own, book to go into the Reichstag before you go otherwise you either won't get in or you'll queue up for ages. Museum island is pretty good and I recommend the Pergamon Museum. Note that in the museums you can't really take your backpack with you and you'll have to put it in a locker so make sure you have some change handy. Most of the museums seem to have free audio guides as well which are quite hand.

The Gemaldergalerie down by Tiergarten Park/Potsdamer Platz is pretty good too, with pieces by Pieter Brueghel the elder and younger and also works by Hans Holbein.

Also make sure you go to the Holocaust Museum and take a trip down to East Side Gallery. With ESG I walked the length of it and then over OberbaumstraSSe bridge to a cool little burger place called Burgermeister.

On a clear day you may want to go up to the viewing gallery of TV Tower. There's a bar up there too

You're also going right in the middle of Oktoberfest and although you're not in Munich, there is a festival site in Berlin to the north of Alexanderplatz station which I just missed out on :mad:

You may find it useful investing in a Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin Guide as well, I found it very useful.

EDIT: Also, there's lots of reading but I found Topographie des Terrors to be very insightful.

daver · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:08

Gustov said:
Why would someone do a walking tour for free ?

Brings money in via tourism?

They work for tips, so you give them what you thought the tour was worth at the end. The one in Berlin was really good (but there is so much to see anyway in close proximity its hard for it not to be) when I did it a couple of years ago - I've done ones in Madrid and Brussels which weren't so good.

[TW]Fox · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:10

Gustov said:
Hey guys,

so I'm going Berlin

No, you are going *TO* Berlin. Not 'going Berlin'. Sorry about that, pet hate of mine, makes you sound dim. Anyway, I'll make up for my pedantry now by trying to helpful.

I went to Berlin about 3 years ago for about 4 days and had a great time - it's one of my favourite European cities as a result.

For me, headlights were...

a) Potzdamer Platz - large open space with huge tall buildings. The Berlin Wall used to run right through the centre and it was nothing but waste land for some time after the wall came down. It's also a great place to start following the wall from as there are some great intact sections nearby with displays explaining various points of history.

b) Brandenburg Gate - Google it, look at the picture, nuff said. Wonderful architecture. The road leading to it is nice as well, and intersects with...

.. c) Fredrichstrass. Large central street containing many shops, places to ear, etc. Also takes you to Checkpoint Charlie where there is a really interesting museum.

d) Berlin Tiergarten - large gardens which also contain a very good Zoo, one of the few in the world to have Giant Pandas

e) Berlin TV Tower - stunning views over the city. You can really get a sense of the difference between East and West Berlin from up here - with large concrete residential tower blocks marking the East and modern buildings marking the west.

f) Berlin Parliament Building - another really nice building.

You'll have a great time.

[TW]Fox · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:11

infernox said:
I've just came back from Munich for Oktoberfest. I would say go there but its not on when you go to Germany...

Actually i'm not even sure how far Munich is from Berlin.

Munich is almost 400 miles from Berlin. Your suggestion is therefore about as useful as telling somebody interested in the sights of London to go to Edinburgh. Useful

Gustov · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:23

This is so helpful - thanks guys. I'm also tempted to go to a club called KITKAT. Google it, I dare you

hawker1986 · 28 Sep 2014 at 21:33

Brandenburg gate
Holocaust memorial
Perganon museum
Berlin cathederal
Check point Charlie

That's what we saw on our flying visit, all good stuff well worth a look

Enjoy, really nice city

Hawker

robfosters · 28 Sep 2014 at 22:07

Gustov said:
This is so helpful - thanks guys. I'm also tempted to go to a club called KITKAT. Google it, I dare you

No thanks. Looks like the biggest bunch of weirdo's this side of Christendom.

Plus, it says there are people on the door to check out the attractiveness of guests, so that's most of GD (me included) out of luck.

Gustov · 28 Sep 2014 at 22:08

robfosters said:
No thanks. Looks like the biggest bunch of weirdo's this side of Christendom.

Plus, it says there are people on the door to check out the attractiveness of guests, so that's most of GD (me included) out of luck.

Not me

infernox · 28 Sep 2014 at 22:37

[TW]Fox;26973705 said:
Munich is almost 400 miles from Berlin. Your suggestion is therefore about as useful as telling somebody interested in the sights of London to go to Edinburgh. Useful

Opps

I did say I didn't know haha. Jesus Germany is huge.

disco_hospital · 29 Sep 2014 at 00:53

Check out club der visionaere in kreuzberg

Tresor is awesome as well, especially the basement.

twist3d0n3 · 29 Sep 2014 at 01:53

well you have no taste in music, so go find some good music.

jamoor · 29 Sep 2014 at 02:18

Gustov said:
Hey guys,

so I'm going Berlin from the 8th - 12th October. I'm going by my Larry and staying in a hostel with 5 randomers because why the hell not - I have holidays left to take and have already done Ibzia earlier in the year with a large group of mates.

Here is where I am staying - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...77,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x189139fa5bfdfabf

Now I love techno / deep house so I plan to go to Berghain (if I can get in), Watergate and Tresor

http://www.berghain.de/
http://www.water-gate.de/
http://tresorberlin.com/

That said, I want to do more than just party - if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them as I want to plan my trip!

The goal is to go over there, meet people and have fun. Helps that I speak German okay too...

Thanks in advance guys.

I wouldn't stay in Wombats, stay in Cats Pyjamas, the location of it is excellent.

Goliath · 29 Sep 2014 at 08:13

I love the place, it's my favourite city in Europe. It's a big city, and fairly spread out. I prefer the East much more than the West, the areas around Alexanderplatz are good fun to walk around and browse etc. Things you definitely need to see:

Checkpoint Charlie (FreidrichStrasse) - The museum is a bit of a mess but still worth a look, as they have a lot of the weird contraptions that people used to try and escape over/under the wall with on display. Try and get there before 9:30, it gets VERY busy with tourists etc.

Hackescher Markt (just nW of Alexanderplatz) - a really cool little area that has shops, cafes and bars by the truckload, it's easy to spend a day wandering around this area alone.

Bergmannstrasse (off Mehringdamm) - little area with a load of cafes/bars and cheap restaurants. Mrs Goliath and I ended up spending three nights in a row here, it's great just wandering from cafe to bar, having a 5 euro cocktail in each and then forgetting how to get back to the hotel

Brandenberg Gate and the Bundestag - great to wander around, but again get there early to beat the crowds.

Berlin Wall (Bernauer Strasse) - not much of it left, but there is a good stretch left here along with a small museum.

For travelling around, get a 3-day Welcome Card for zones ABC (https://shop.bvg.de/index.php/product/214/show/0/0/0/0 )- It gives you access to all the public transport (Underground, trains, trams and buses) for €30 or so which is just a stupendous bargain - the transport system is second to none.

Art · 29 Sep 2014 at 08:39

Are you a gamer at all? If you are you should drop by the Computer Game Museum. It isn't huge, but there are loads of exhibits old and new, as well as interactive exhibits. On Mondays you can pay a little more to get a guided tour of and try some of the older exhibits which are normally cordoned off.

They also have a Pain Station, which is really Pong with blinding lights and mild electrocution to make it more interesting. My friend and I laughed/yelped our heads off while electrocuting each other on that thing to the point that the guide started to sound seriously concerned for our health.