Berlin advice

[CaptainKirk]

Off there for 3 days in a month or so.
Done the usual googling for things to do, places to see etc but any help or advice from those that have done it is always useful and would be appreciated.
Ta

[thatdberight]

The 'usual things' are all good - apart from the East Side wall bit. Not worth wasting half a day going out there to look at the 'art' which has the artistic merit of abunch of 5 year-olds overlaid with the sort of trite drivel philosophy that John Lennon might have written c. 'Imagine'. Brandenburg, Foster's Parliament, Olympic Park, Topography of Terror, Museum Island, the Cathedral. All good. The Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe is pretentious crap - although the underground centre it's attached to is supposedly interesting. At least Berlin recognises someof the sh1t that happened in WWII. Munich, for example, definitely pretends otherwise.

[HatfieldClaret]

My daughter went there for 2 days on a school trip very recently.

Depends on what you want, Stasi museum, Reichstag, checkpoint Charlie....beerkellars

[Spijed]

I recently wrote an article about the place:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qtm5pygneos98 ... 7.pdf?dl=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[duncandisorderly]

Go and watch Union, drink beer and eat schnitzel.

[Sarum]

Not much of the Wall left to see now; you can get a good, long view of a relatively longish section from across the river on the Kreuzberg side. You could then wander over Oberbaumbrucke (bridge) to get a closer look, if that appeals. The DDR museum is quite small and gets crowded at weekends, but offers a fascinating insight into life in East Berlin during the Cold War years.

[quoonbeatz]

i love berlin, its a great, chilled out city.

for a good night out go to kreuzberg.

providing the weather is dry, hire bikes to get around. its a great city to cycle in, good infrastructure and easy terrain with few hills.

[South West Claret.]

i love berlin, its a great, chilled out city.

for a good night out go to kreuzberg.

providing the weather is dry, hire bikes to get around. its a great city to cycle in, good infrastructure and easy terrain with few hills.

We're going soon and more recommendations for the city cycle tour here: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractio ... erlin.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Quicknick]

The 'usual things' are all good - apart from the East Side wall bit. Not worth wasting half a day going out there to look at the 'art' which has the artistic merit of abunch of 5 year-olds overlaid with the sort of trite drivel philosophy that John Lennon might have written c. 'Imagine'. Brandenburg, Foster's Parliament, Olympic Park, Topography of Terror, Museum Island, the Cathedral. All good. The Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe is pretentious crap - although the underground centre it's attached to is supposedly interesting. At least Berlin recognises someof the sh1t that happened in WWII. Munich, for example, definitely pretends otherwise.

Love the John Lennon reference.

[RalphCoatesComb]

The East side reminds me of "The Third Man" with Orson Welles. Although you're walking through streets that have usual colours, they all seem to be Black & White with a few shades of Grey. Quite surreal really.















Lots of good eating to be had, if you like Schnitzel, Schweinshaxe und Kartoffelsalat

[South West Claret.]

That railway photo looks like new street in Birmingham

[willsclarets]

Best piece of advice I can give you is "there's no centre". If you don't plan, I guarantee you'll be walking a long long way! It's not really a place to wander and see where it takes you, head for an area at a time.
But it's great, in some areas there's a genuine sense of bohemia that feels a bit fake in other areas of Europe. I enjoyed Prenzlauer Berg as a base, nice bars and restaurants and easy to get places.
Oh, and always have cash. Often you'll not be able to use your card.

[colner]

if you are up for a bit of urban exploration [tresspassing to me and you],sneak into Spree park,an old abandoned fair ground,watch out for the guards and dogs!!

[South West Claret.]

Off there for 3 days in a month or so.
Done the usual googling for things to do, places to see etc but any help or advice from those that have done it is always useful and would be appreciated.
Ta

Same here but going for longer does anyone know of a pub to watch English football in the Mitte area, ideally it must be a proper Real Ale place?

I'm thinking of the Man Utd game here.

[EarbyClaret]

Also stayed in Prenzlauer Berg which lies just to the east of where the wall used to be. The old 'East' is/was largely intact, architecturally, post unification and as has been mentioned has a proper bohemian feel to it.

The DDR Museum was probably the most interesting place visited. There's also rather bizarrely a Ramones Museum, which is also good.

Excellent public transport but would also recommend cycle hire, safe and good fun.

Don't know of any specific football bars but Mitte is a very cosmopolitan area and there's bound to be places showing PL games.

[pushpinpussy]

dont go. its full of germans

[BennyD]

Been there several times and I really like the place as there's plenty for everybody to do. My advice, always take a bath and be very careful which trains you use.

[Pstotto]

You could always take a few bottles of Thwaites Lancaster Bomber with you as a gift to your kind host, I'm sure that might go down a treat and then afterwards play them this classic tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds1_kqcXOsA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... A nice little Brexit number!

[levraiclaret]

Been there several times and I really like the place as there's plenty for everybody to do. My advice, always take a bath and be very careful which trains you use.

How do you get a bath on the plane? Or dou yo go by train?

[Wile E Coyote]

The 'usual things' are all good - apart from the East Side wall bit. Not worth wasting half a day going out there to look at the 'art' which has the artistic merit of abunch of 5 year-olds overlaid with the sort of trite drivel philosophy that John Lennon might have written c. 'Imagine'. Brandenburg, Foster's Parliament, Olympic Park, Topography of Terror, Museum Island, the Cathedral. All good. The Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe is pretentious crap - although the underground centre it's attached to is supposedly interesting. At least Berlin recognises someof the sh1t that happened in WWII. Munich, for example, definitely pretends otherwise.

Just a wild stab in the dark, but I'm guessing you dont work for the Berlin tourist offices.

[South West Claret.]

What are you trying to say WEC

ED: Thanks Earby.

[CrosspoolClarets]

My favourite things were:

Hiring a Segway at the Alaxanderplatz
The Topography of Terror museum next to the wall
The walls riddled with bullet holes in the old buildings around the cathedral - an element of history we can't fathom in the UK
Drinking north of the river

Things to avoid:

Getting a huge hangover from the chemicals in the bierkeller chain beers after I mistakenly thought they would be as pure as the Munich ones.

Overall I loved the place.

[South West Claret.]

Good grief we've just come through Dortmund http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39571776" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;