Berlin - recommendations

RaymondLin

I just booked 4 days in Berlin in March, never been before. What do you guys recommend things to do, places to eat?

I hear the clubbing scene is great there but it’s not for me these days, I have been to Munich before so German culture is not totally alien to me but I am open to suggestions of things to me.  Will be going with a friend.

duotone

Have never been to Berlin but the Paulaner restaurants in Munich & Frankfurt have never let me down.

http://paulaner-im-spreebogen.de/en/

Roland

If you are interested in recent history then:
The wall. The remain stretch is the East Side Gallery. You can also follow the line of the wall through the city centre.
DDR Museum. 
Jewish Museum. Horrific.
Stasi Museum. Up to 1/3 of the population was involved in watching.
Tempelhof airfield. They run a guided tour of the buildings which show the Nazi world view.
Science Museum.
Alexander Turm has a viewing platform. Not cheap.

Berlin’s local cuisine is meat and potatoes, washed down with beer. There are a lot of foreign restaurants, including Vietnamese who were invited into the DDR. My sons lives there, so let me know what type of food you like and I’ll get a list of places.

Wazmeister

Raymond,  Ive never been but its on the list...

But Ive got a superb book recommendation -see below;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Lake-Thomas-Harding/dp/0099592045/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1514958754&sr=1-1&keywords=the+house+by+the+lake

Wazmeister

Also, watch the terrifyng and incredible ‘Hunting Hitler’ on Sky (history I think)

Axe_meister

Munich and Berlin are totally opposite. Munich is safe and conservative, Berlin dangerous and liberal.
Be careful of pick pockets.

ThorpyFX

Go on a Segway tour, we did it and it’s an incredible way to see loads of landmarks in a very short space of time.

Sassafras

It's not my favourite Lou Reed album.

pigface

Roland said:

If you are interested in recent history then:
The wall. The remain stretch is the East Side Gallery. You can also follow the line of the wall through the city centre.
DDR Museum. 
Jewish Museum. Horrific.
Stasi Museum. Up to 1/3 of the population was involved in watching.
Tempelhof airfield. They run a guided tour of the buildings which show the Nazi world view.
Science Museum.
Alexander Turm has a viewing platform. Not cheap.

All of this, plus:
- the Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse
- take a train to the Wannsee and then take a boat trip around the lakes
- the cupola of the Bundestag (or Reichstag as it was). You need to register in advance (online) for this but it's worth it.
- boat trip on the Spree and canals
- just walk along the banks of the Spree in the city. Lots to see and plenty going on.

Teetonetal

@DLM

darthed1981

Berlin?  It will take your breath away...

Lodious

Science and DDR museums were great. It's just a great place to be. Don't forget your camera:-)

richardhomer

Sassafras said:

It's not my favourite Lou Reed album.

But a very popular Eggle....

goldtop

One thing about the Holocaust Memorial - leave your phone in your pocket. It should go with saying but smartphones have a habit of distorting people's sensibilities.

For why, see here: http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/19/powerful-images-that-show-why-holocaust-selfies-are-so-disrespectful-6391091/

Snap

I've been a number of times over the last 20 years and never found it dangerous at all. Its a very civil place and for a capital city its cheap. Very cool place.

First time I went, 98, the wall was mostly intact in a lot of places and the city was a massive building site. Now its a very slick and modern place.

Going back with the family later this year I think.

I like Germany and the Germans - good people.

Stuckfast

Nothing dangerous about Berlin these days. In fact it's full of English hipsters who have been priced out of Dalston.

I don't know if it's open to the public, but if you can, try to get a tour of the Funkhaus. A boat trip on the Spree would be pretty cool too.

fishfingers

+1 for the Stash museum - quirky and very interesting

fishfingers

Stasi !

Sassafras

fishfingers said:

Stasi !

The Stash museum sounds more rewarding.

mistercharlie

The Funkhaus is amazing. Maybe you can see a concert there while you’re here. 

I don’t have individual recommendations, but for bars, and a buzz, and action in general, Kreuzberg and Neukolln are the neighborhoods to choose.

You might also go up the Fernsehntürm, the TV tower. I call it the spaceball, and I love it. It’s a bit touristy, but worth it. Book ahead of time to avoid the queue. 

There aren’t many decent guitar shops here, but Just Music is pretty big. Their guitars are all appallingly setup, but the staff are friendly and helpful. 

Fuengi

You must do a walking / guided tour. There is so much to see you'll miss a lot of it unless your have a guide. We did one for about 3 hours and it was like street theatre, it really feels live living history.

The best tours usually start around the Brandenburg Gate.