Berlin City Guide

Berlin is one of the most liberal and lively cities in Europe, as any tourist or resident will tell you. Whether you want to eat, shop, drink, party or just take in the atmosphere after arriving on cheap flights to Berlin, you'll only have the problem of deciding what to do first!

Eating in Berlin

If you're going to party like a Berliner, you'll need all the energy you can get, and a countless number of restaurants of all kinds to be found across the city ensure that you'll never go hungry. Like much else in Berlin, eating is affordable, but whatever your budget there's a restaurant just waiting to feed you!

Bavarian restaurants selling German sausage and other meats abound - Berlin is a true meat lover's paradise. Here's our pick of the most popular restaurants, meaty or otherwise!

Budget: When it comes to eating cheap in Berlin, you could do worse than a wurst - and we recommend one from Prater Garten, Berlin's oldest and largest beergarden. Founded in 1837, Prater sells its own homemade beer, best enjoyed with a bratwurst (German sausage) which will set you back a mere €2. +49 030 448 5688
Mid Range: Besotted by burgers? So is The Bird, where they only use the best aged Black Angus beef for their burgers, and absolutely nothing in the kitchen comes from a tin, bag or gets put into a microwave. Best of all, you can get one of their delicious burgers from only €9. Join them between 6-8pm too for 'Angry Hour', when buy one get one free beers and 25c Napalm Wings are available at the bar. +49 0305 105 3283
High Range: Bond, just like its international spy namesake, is a restaurant that's stylish, chic and so very sexy. International cuisine with a distinct Asian influence is enjoyed in a retro-style setting, draped in purple and black - Bond would be happy to find himself here with an attractive yet dangerous lady, but whether you choose to spend your evening here in that way is up to you. Main courses are priced up to €30 for a steak and are worth every cent! +49 0305 096 8844

Drinking and Entertainment

If you haven't already heard, Berlin nightlife is incredible. If you have heard, or even already experienced it, you'll know that 'incredible' is a monolithic understatement. Berlin's liberal culture extends all the way to its 24-hour licensing laws, with no official closing times for many bars and clubs.

Don't fret about what time you arrive on your cheap flights to Berlin. Once you're there you can literally party all night, and even beyond that if you like - and as you'll discover, many people do. Fans of techno music will know that Berlin is the birthplace of the genre, and if this is what you seek, look no further than the world-famous Berghain.

A former converted power station, every kind of electro addict finds their tastes sated here, but be warned that this place attracts the most hardcore of clubbers - so don't be ashamed if you can't keep up with everyone else, they've had more time to practice than you!

It's not all techno though, and if you're more into pop or punk, there's more than enough to please you. If you like your music on the harder side, White Trash Fast Food is probably the most bewildering burger joint you'll ever visit. Yes, it's a restaurant - and a really great one at that - but it's also home to a tattoo parlour, a smoking cinema, and a club where live acts and DJs play every night of the week.

Make some time too to visit a Berlin clubbing institution, in the form of Cookies, one of Berlin's more glamorous clubs whose multiple rooms play everything from underground disco to indie and hip-hop. Don't pack your tallest heels though, as clubbers here party until the morning. Wouldn't it be rude not to join them?

As astounding as this might seem though, there is actually more to do in Berlin at night than drink - which is good to know for when, or if, you get bored of drinking.

During the warmer months of May-September, film buffs will love Berlin's cool approach to movie-viewing at Kulturforum in Potsdamer Platz. The piazzetta becomes an open-air cinema complete with deckchairs and refreshments, showing all the latest blockbusters every evening at 9.45pm.

Berlin also has a thriving theatre industry. Its most famous is Friedrichstadt-Palast, which has stood at the heart of the city for more than 100 years. This revue theatre has the largest stage theatre in the world and hosts the most dazzling cabaret shows you'll find anywhere outside Las Vegas.

Shopping in Berlin

You've already saved money by bagging cheap flights to Berlin, so you can afford to splurge a little by going shopping whilst you're there. You might find yourself a little overwhelmed by the choice, though you'll find that the surprisingly moderate prices, in comparison to many other cities in Europe, will soon calm your nerves.

Whatever your taste or budget, you'll find not just a store in Berlin to please you, but an entire shopping zone. If luxury is what you seek, the Kurfurstendamm, or Ku'damm as it is better known by Berliners (and thankfully, much easier to pronounce) ought to be your first stop.

Aside from being home to the KaDeWe department store, the Ku'damm is a long street of tempting stores that also leads off to many small side streets, where you'll find elegant and exclusive designer boutiques and unlimited style inspiration.

If that's not enough, explore the Friedrichstrasse's 'Quartiers', particularly Quartier 206, an imposing Art Deco-style building with floors of designer showrooms, Quartier 207, with its luminous glass cone in the entrance hall, and Quartier 205, where you'll discover more stores and a mouth-wateringly bountiful food hall, where you most definitely should go shopping on an empty stomach!

If you'd like to continue snapping up bargains even after arriving on cheap flights to Berlin, Sheunenviertel district, along Schonhausserstrasse will be your mecca. Smaller shops selling lesser-known indie labels provide an intriguing alternative to the mass-produced or pricey designer goods offered elsewhere - and who knows, you might pick up something by a future fashion megastar!

Things to do in Berlin

After arriving on cheap flights to Berlin, the tourist-filled hotspots are easy to find, and of course it wouldn't be a trip to Berlin if you didn't check them out. However, if you'd also like to do something a bit more unique - and definitely memorable - make time for one of these cool Berlin experiences in your itinerary.

Dine In The Dark - Your sight is the most important sense you possess, and when that sense is removed, your other senses heighten. This is the premise on which Unsicht-Bar, Germany's first dark restaurant, operates - you quite literally eat in total darkness! You order your meal in the brightly lit lobby, then are led into pitch black darkness by your blind or visually impaired server, who will teach you how to eat without sight. Your other senses, particularly your taste buds, will spring into life for an experience you'll never forget. +49 030 243 425-00

Swim on the Spree - The River Spree, which runs through Berlin is completely unswimmable, but although you can't swim in it, you can swim on top of it! The Badeschiff, or bathing ship, is as much a piece of art as it is a floating health spa. You are able to swim and sauna in open air during summer, and under an innovative translucent 'shell' during winter, all the while enjoying DJ tunes and a bathing experience like none other. +49 030 533 2030

Go Underground - Above-ground city tours are a dime a dozen, but the ultimate tour of Berlin isn't found on its streets... it's below them. The Berlin Underworlds Association offers regular guided tours into some of Berlin's most important subterranean structures, such as bomb shelters, bunker complexes and storage rooms left untouched since WWII, some still containing somewhat macabre goods. It's not a tour for the claustrophobic, but it's incredibly interesting and eye-opening, as you'll realise that there's more to Berlin than meets the eye... +49 030 499 105 17

Drink Wine - As Much As You Want - The owners of the Weinerei bars, of which there are several around Berlin, put a lot of trust in their visitors! Pay €1 to borrow a glass, and help yourself to as much wine as you want. Yes, really. No servers, no price list - just lots of great wine and hopefully lots of honesty, as when you leave you pay what you want, so keep a track of how much you've drank.

Key Phrases

Hello - Hallo
Goodbye - Auf Wiedersehen
Yes - Ja
No - Nein
Please - Bitte
Thankyou - Danke
Excuse me - Entschuldigen Sie bitte or simple Entschuldigung
Do you speak English? - Sprechen Sie Englisch
I don’t understand - Ich vestehe nichts
Where is the ... - Wo ist ....?
Train Station - Bahnhof
Tram/Bus stop - Strassenbahn-/ Bushaltestelle
Bank - Bank
Tourist Office - Reisebüro
What time does the train leave? - Wann fährt der Zug ab?
I’d like a single/return ticket - Ich hätte gern eine Fahrschein für die einfache Strecke / hin und zurück
Do you have any rooms available? - Ist bei Ihnen ein Zimmer frei?
How much is it? - Was kostet das?
I need a doctor - Ich brauche einen Arzt
What time is it? - Wie viel Uhr ist es?
Call the police/an ambulance - Rufen Sie die Polizei / einen Krankenwagen

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