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I’ve been to Berlin before, but for a high school trip with a pre-planned itinerary. So, I wanted another chance to experience and enjoy Berlin’s: history, nightlife, cuisine, culture, and art. During this trip, I also visited Copenhagen and Edinburgh.
Since I spent 4 days in Berlin, my guide shares where to eat and play within that time frame.
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Accommodation
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We stayed at Baxpax Kreuzberg hostel located in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough – known as a hip, young and trendy neighborhood. So, those who stayed, and worked, at the hostel were predominately young adults.
Kreuzberg has many nightlife options, and Baxpax showed us the best of the best! In fact, they have tons of flyers in the lounge area with places to go. All of these flyers were organized based on: the day of the week, genre of music, budget and dress code.
Also, if you’re a history buff, I’d definitely recommend staying in Kreuzberg. This neighborhood shows the transformation of Berlin after the fall of the Berlin wall. In fact, Kreuzberg was actually once enclosed on three sides by the Berlin wall.
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Play
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East Side Gallery
We went to the East Side Gallery and found ourselves drinking beers in a large sandbox. At the same time, locals were playing dodge-ball, or what looked like it. We never actually learned the rules, but nonetheless enjoyed watching the game. Once we finished our beers, we followed the East Side Gallery path to look at all of the graffiti.
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Brandenburg Gate + Pariser Platz
Brandenburg Gate is definitely Berlin’s most famous landmark, and Pariser Platz is situated right next to it. There’s a lot of history around Brandenburg Gate, particularly interesting is its survival within the last 75 years. After WWII, much of Berlin’s city center was destroyed from continuous bombings spanning over five years. But Brandenburg Gate, while in ruins, managed to survive. During the Cold War, Brandenburg Gate became part of the Berlin Wall, standing between East and West Germany.
Pariser Platz is a square situated next to Brandenburg Gate. It’s a great place to take photos of Brandenburg Gate, which faces the square. Also, it’s a meeting place for many tours, including SANDEMANs NEW Europe.
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Alexanderplatz
An open area that includes the Alexa shopping center and the TV Tower, which towers over the center. After shopping, we went into the center and sat in an area that provides live music, food and drinks.
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Tours
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SANDEMANs NEW Europe
This free tour starts at Brandenburg gate and gives detailed history of the city of Berlin. Our tour guide was amazing, she kept us engaged, which was truly hard to do in a 2.5-3 hour tour. During this tour you visit:
- Brandenburg Gate
- Hitler’s bunker: Where Hitler allegedly hid and committed suicide towards the end of WWII
- Checkpoint Charlie: The point where the Berlin wall splits East Berlin from West Berlin
During the tour, our guide informed us that SANDEMANs offered a tour to the Sachsenhausen Memorial at a discounted price. But only if we paid during the current tour. We went ahead and paid for our tickets – which were valid any day that week. The ticket cost €14 for students and €16 for adults. Since we got a discount, we only paid €20 for the four of us.
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Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
Take a tour to learn about the Holocaust and how this concentration camp, in particular, was crucial for the Nazi regime.
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Nightlife
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Alternative Bar Crawl
Only €10 to join this pub crawl, which guaranteed entrance to four bars and the club, and six shots. The bars I remembered and/or loved during this crawl included:
Dr. Pong
This was the second bar we went to, it had a young atmosphere and a large ping-pong table. Everyone could join in a game of “around the world pong”, in fact, the rules of the game were simple. You walk around the table and hit the ball when it comes to you. However, if you miss, you’re out and the game lasts until there’s one winner. I met a woman I called “unicorn lady” because she wore bright colors, a tutu and glitter on her face. When I asked for glitter, she applied some to my face and exclaimed, “It’s so beautiful on your skin!”
DRUIDE Absinthe Bar
My friends and I skipped on drinks here, and instead talked to our crawl guide. We learned that she loved her job and only had one bad incident while working as a guide. A crawler became rude to others and when she interfered, he punched her. Everyone was in shock, especially since she’s 5’1 and weighed no more than 110 lbs. So, everyone helped her in kicking him off of the crawl.
Cassiopeia
A hip-hop and reggae club, from the outside it looks like an old warehouse with graffiti all over. The club has an open layout and two separate rooms – one for hip-hop and the other for reggae.
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Eat
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Burgermeister
This place indeed sells the best burger and fries I’ve ever had. In fact, I’ve never ate a burger, and fries, so quickly in my life. One of my friends is vegan and she was also pleasantly satisfied with her tofu burger topped with mango sauce.
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Balzac Coffee
The first time I came to Berlin in high school, my teacher took us here and I’ve been obsessed since. And I’m not a big coffee drinker, so that’s saying a lot.
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Que Pasa
A Mexican restaurant close to our hostel, they had a “half off drinks” deal, which, of course, lured us in. We sat outside, since it was so warm, and enjoyed drinks and food while listening to music and people-watching. The staff was also great, when they found out we were visiting Berlin they offered us a free tequila shot!
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Adalbertstraße Street
This street in Kruezburg offers so many delicious restaurant, such as:
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Wonder Waffel
Serves coffee and sweets such as shakes and their delicious waffles/crepes. These waffles are stuffed with fruits – and topped with things like ice cream and chocolate syrup.
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Schnitzel Joint
Schnitzel is basically pork chops, or another meat, that has been pounded thin, breaded then fried. In all honesty, I didn’t know what schnitzel was prior, however this small restaurant made the best schnitzel ever. Also, the hostess was very nice and made sure our experience was great.
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Berlin Travel Tips:
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Public Transportation = Major ?
Since Berlin is such a big city, public transportation is the best way to get around. If you’re traveling in a group, the best and cheapest idea would be to buy the group day tickets. It allows up to 5 people to use public transportation services until 3 a.m. the following day. The trains run until 1-1:30am, so be aware of how far you’re from your accommodation. Otherwise, you’ll need to take a taxi. When going out, we made sure to go places close enough to our hostel so we could just walk back.
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Food + Drink Etiquette
In Berlin, it’s normal to see people walking around drinking alcoholic beverages. It isn’t illegal, and while this is cool, you should be alert at night since there’s often intoxicated people out. And if you’re drinking, be mindful of your noise level at night.
It’s also considered inappropriate to eat and/or drink while on public transportation in Berlin. There are also signs on the trains that remind you of this.
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Safety
Berlin is a very populated city, and like any populated city you have to stay vigilant. I personally didn’t experience any issues the two times I’ve been to Berlin. The first time I came (in 2011) there were more pickpocketers in the city center. That seems to have died down quite a bit though in recent years.
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