Mitte
Lay of the land. Mitte is the central district of Berlin and has a lot of touristy things like the TV tower. It is touristy and parts are pretty ugly due to all the old school Russian architecture. The streets are not made for people but tank parades.
Also just to give a heads up. While Berlin is my favorite place in the world, it is not a pretty city in general. It is not Munich or Hamburg in that regard.
Also prepared to be underwhelmed by Checkpoint Charlie.
That being said there are some nice parts
- Alexanderplatz
- Berlin Dom (Cathedral)
- Museum Island - A bunch of great Museums
- Brandenburger Tor
If you are at the Dom and you cross the Spree to the north you can walk through a bunch of parks and follow the river to Friedrichstraße. There are a cool couple of cafes along the river to stop and hang out.
Then down Friedrichstraße there is Dussmann, a 5 story book shop that I frequent often.
Also if you are there late November the best Christmas Markt in Berlin is at
GendarmenmarktPrenzlauer Berg (prenzlberg)
Is one of my favorite areas. Recommend a trip to Mauerpark, this is a cool park and also in that area the top end of the wall and there are many places where you can see where the wall was.
Berlin WallYou can go to Oderberger St which has a ton of cafes, bars and restaurants. At the end is a cool bar called Kapitalist.
Two of my other favorite spots is Mein Haus am See - cool bar and has a club in the basement because Berlin.
Nearly across the street is St Oberholz - a great place to grab coffee and work as they have free high speed internet and a coworking space on the second floor.
If you head out of St Oberholz you can head south and walk to a couple of other cool parts. Hackescher Markt a big square where you can sit out and have a beer or shop. On weekends there is an open air market.
Right across there is Cafe Cinema and there is a pretty famous spot next door with a ton of street art, best spot for the gram.
Or you can go west a bit and head to Oranienburger Straße where there is also a bunch to do.
Doner Kebap is a big deal in Berlin along with currywurst (not a fan but you probably have to give it a try)
Späti or Spätkauf. Just means late shop. These are Berlin institutions. People have their favorite neighborhood Späti and often will start there night there. Since you can drink on the street you bounce from Späti to Späti.
Späti Culture- K'Ups Gemüsekebap - Is one of my favorite Doner Kebap places.
- Konnopke's Imbiss - Regarded as one of the best spots for Currywurst.
I haven't done this but have heard it is cool but there is some underground tour spots, supposedly cool.
Berlin UndergroundFriedrichshain
Another hot spot for me. Head to Café Dachkammer grab a beer and then walk down Simon-Dach and you reach an old rail yard that is now has a skate park, climbing wall, and clubs and bars. Great spot for street art and to hang out. (Cassiopeia Sommergarten)
Then if you keep going south on Warschauer Straße you will hit the East Side Gallery, the largest remaining continuous piece of the wall.
There is also a small museum just for computer games: Computerspielemuseum it is pretty small and you can get through it in like a half hour but it is kinda of cool.
Kreuzberg/Neukölln
These neighborhoods are hard core Berlin. Would say the kind of dirty counter culture parts of the city. Google was stupid enough to try and open an office in Kreuzberg and people freaked out because there is this really strong anti-capitalist vibe there and they forced Google to give up on the idea.
But it is really cool and worth seeing in my opinion.
Would check out - Markthalle Neun a really cool indoor market with food and shops and what nots. Then there are a bunch of options.
Some favorite spots:
- Nathanja & Heinrich
- o.T. Projektraum
West Berlin
Except for the Tiergarten which is really cool, have no idea.