[BERLIN] — The first time I was last in Berlin it was so long ago, it’s scary. Back when I was in college in Rome, when the Wall was around. When Checkpoint Charlie was a real checkpoint. The city just seemed to be numb then, both sides. Mostly old people on the streets, not many. Can’t remember anyone young people. Everything seemed grey and colorless, broken. Eerie. You could roll a bowling ball down the main strassens and not hit a soul. The only shops around seemed to sell Bavarian beer mugs and cuckoo clocks, not sneakers.

Stating the obvious, today is so much more different. Alive. So many kids and cute moms with strollers, everywhere, Third Wave coffee shops and colors in faces now. Everyone smiling. Streets bustling. Sharp new architecture and construction, everywhere.

There are endless detailed guides to Berlin online you can find. This is just my list of the best things to do in Berlin over a long weekend. I actually combined two different trips into one post so you can have lots to chose from, like a Cafeteria of the best things I found in Berlin. Unfortunately, both trips were over winter weekends, so you’ll see mostly Cold Things. I can’t imagine how amazing it is in summer.

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The first time I was in Berlin in college in the 80s, the Wall was still around and standing up straight, with barbed wire and armed guards. When Checkpoint Charlie was a real checkpoint.

The first time I was here, it was by accident. We were in Paris, actually. In those days, Paris was super expensive for us stupid college kids. And a shithole then, if you can believe it. Everything was broken there, too. Payphones. Streetlights. The Metro. Everything was filthy dirty then. And there were only scary-ass overpriced bed bug pensions run by mean old ladies.

So, being the resourceful, thieving lot we were, we’d go to Paris, have a look ‘round and to save money, at the end of each day we’d jump on a train with our free Eurail passes and head to another city, then turn around in the middle of the night. We’d sleep for free and return back the next morning to hit Paris again.

One night we picked a train headed for Berlin as our turn-around destination. It was the train whistle that woke us up. Hungover, we quickly realized we were on the very last stop in West Berlin before it headed on to the Communist side and their “machine gun-toting guards” that everyone had warned us about.

After a collective “Oh shit! Shit!” we had one of those movie moments with everyone throwing their backpacks out the door of the moving train, including our loose yellow Timberlands (they were a thing then) and landed in stocking feet on the train platform, watching as the train pulled away past the final barbed wire barricades to the East. Destination: dark Warsaw.

I liked it better this time. Much better. What a city.

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A Long Weekend in Berlin

It was ironic that after being there in those bleak, grey times, even visiting the monochromatic Communist East Berlin, now I was on my way to Berlin in 2016 to scope out moving there after the paralyzing election of Donald Trump. The roles were reversed:  now Berlin is lively, welcoming, multicultural and accepting of everybody.

My how things have changed.

After my second visit, I loved Berlin so much I came back the next year for a longer time over Christmas. Here are some of my favorite things I found over two long winter weekends in Berlin. I gotta come back in the summer!

Walk the Cool Passageways of the Jewish Quarter

The streets of the old Jewish Quarter are just amazing. Endless huge industrial buildings all decorated with fancy brickwork, now with design firms, cool shops and nice restaurants.

Go Ramble Around and Just Get Lost

Also check out the giant Tiergarten park, it’s even bigger and is considered Berlin’s Central Park.

Take the Metro Everywhere

You’ve seen it in all the Jason Bourne movies, now’s your chance. The iconic orange Berlin metro trains, classic in shape, clean as a whistle. The best way to get around the city. Each subway station has its own personality.

Run Around Like a Kid on a Abandoned Airfield

This was my favorite thing in Berlin. Tempelhofer Feld is an abandoned airfield that goes back decades, famous for its unique canopy design, a triumph of design during the Hitler era, that old propeller planes could pull right under and shield the well-dress deplaners from the elements.

When they decommissioned it, most cities would have redeveloped the massive runways and acreage into buildings and apartments. But this is Berlin and the people voted to leave it the way it was and turned it into a massive outdoor run-around place, leaving the old runways intact so people could bike, push strollers, kite-skate and fly kites. It’s a giant greenspace in the middle of the city.

The airport was also famous for its role in the famous Berlin Airlift, when the Allies flew endless sorties delivering precious supplies to the landlocked island of Berlin after Russia cut off all access during the Cold War. A C-47 or C-54 Skymaster cargo plane landed every 90 seconds, 24 hours a day, at the peak of the airlift. Over 250,00 flights! Finally it broke the Russian blockade.

They’ve left it pretty much intact. Just a wide open space. Even the runway markings are still there. You can see how busy it was when I was there, even during a dark and cloudy December day.

Be Wowed at Berlin’s Fantastic Museums

Neues Museum

The Neues Museum is a perfect ancient history museum, capturing everything from prehistoric, to Egyptian, Roman, German, etc. all under one roof. It’s conveniently located on Museum Island, Berlin’s awesome walkable area of all major museums in one place. Whatever your mood, you can just pick a different type of museum, all world class. It is such a treasured place that it’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Definitely stop into the Neues Museum. My favorite. Lots of cool old stuff and a really neat museum design. Sometimes I think I like cool museum designs better than the stuff in museums.

 Deutsches Technikmuseum/The German Museum of Technology

The Deutsches Technikmuseum is loaded with cool things showcasing the best of German engineering. Think Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. As a dude with an 11 year old inside him, I was in heaven. It’s kind of in an isolated area, but easily reached in 10-15 minutes by the S or UBahn.

Be Humbled at the Jewish Museum

Contemporary Photography at C/O Berlin

The C/O Berlin  is a groovy little photography museum on the buzzy southside of Berlin. When I was there it included this beautiful Gordon Parks exhibit. Never have really seen all his work before. It’ll move ya.

Explore Kreuzberg, One of the Many Cool Neighborhoods of Berlin

Kreuzberg used to be a squatter’s haven that Berlin used to be known for in the 80s and 90s, then Berlin’s Turkish workers slowly came in, fixed up the buildings and built a melting pot of wonderful cultures, with killer kebabs and Turkish restaurants all over, including the cool Turkish Market on every Friday.

Now with the influx of so many young families, there seems to be a big gentrification going on, with strollers and hot mommies fighting the sidewalks.  Loved this area, cool buildings and flats and just a nice place where all kinds of people live. Not to mention, many great restaurants.

Turkish Market in Berlin. Fridays in Kreuzberg. Must listen for full effect.

You Should Eat Here in Berlin

Spindler in Kreuzberg

This was one of my favorite restaurants in Berlin, Spindler. Just along the river in a perfect spot of Kreuzberg. Loved the decor, the beautiful food and friendly service. Often, when I’m eating by myself at a restaurant in Europe, I get shoved near the kitchen, here I got a front-row seat to the action. Lots of fun groups and families, eating like it was a country house.

Go Underground at Bar Tausend

This was a super-cool surprise. Bar Tausend is hidden behind an unmarked door under the Friedrichstrasse train station, tucked under the eaves of a steel bridge. There’s no sign. Just a door with a slot in it. I had reservations, so they let me in immediately. Check out where this is located, which is half the fun:

Bar Tausend is more of a nightclub, with a mirrored front salon and giant lighthouse-size muted lights in the back, creating silhouettes of all the people carrying on about, a DJ cranking out tuners, with seating all along the edges. Hidden behind another wall is the almost-secret back dining room, ducking through a door and it opens up to a Jules Verne-like dining room. Fabulous meal and service. Definitely go out of your way to go here.

Have a Blast at Michelberger Restaurant

Michelberger Restaurant was a such a blast to eat here, I came several times. It’s part of the hotel I was staying in over Christmas and Boxing Day, which was a godsend when nearly every single restaurant, bar and store is closed. But what a great surprise, when I couldn’t find anything else opened, I squealed with glee “oooh, I can eat in the hotel restaurant.” — something I normally would never say.

But this place was so perfect. Big community tables, gorgeous lighting and shiny subway tails reflecting all the flickering candles. Giant windows open up to the metro station across the street, made better when a train sped by on the elevated tracks. It feels like the original set of the old Saturday Night Live.

Here’s a great review in CNTraveler.

Because it’s part of the fantastic Michelberger Hotel, it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I loved how easy it was to eat here solo, sliding into the bar once, the end of a long table the other night.

Have Brunch at Silo Coffee

The two times I was most recently in Berlin, the coffee culture was really blowing up, with Aussie/Copenhagen-style coffee shops popping up all over the place, each better than the previous. Silo Coffee was a great one, in a cool island of a neighborhood called Friedrichshain in the former East Berlin side, with a cozy interior. Really great breakfast and brunch and lunch food. It’s been voted not only one of the best coffees around, but best brunch in Berlin. Here’s a great overview from Coffeevine.com

Check Out All The Options at Markthalle Neun

Markethalle Neun (which means Nine) is a 120 year old market in Kreuzberg that they renovated in 2011 to be a nice upscale food hall, with restaurants, bars, food stalls, coffees and atmosphere. Loved coming here for lunch on a cold day, the bright skylights warming up the cold grey day. Get the duck and cabbage!

Cordobar

I’d read so many great things about the amazing wine bar, Cordobar, I couldn’t wait to go there. And went back a couple of times over two trips.

Unfortunately, when I went to update this post in August 2024, it looks like it has a) closed permanently or b) morphed into a place called Cordo, based on the old wine bar or c) went upscale chasing after Michelin or as Wasser seafood place, which is closed now or d) the somms went and founded a natural/raw wine company. So when you go, google it and see if they are open and let me know in the comments below.

Such a shame. I think these were my favorite meals in Berlin. Look how cool this place is:

Cordobar had everything I love: cool, understated decor, super nice people, great music, very approachable food and a really fun, reasonably-priced wine list. Just look how cool the menu is.

Restaurant Austria in Kreuzberg

On my second trip to Berlin, I was staying at the fantastic Das Stue hotel, which had a fantastic concierge, who referred me to Cordobar above, which I loved. The second night I was there I went to look for her for another rec, but she was off that night.

I approached the other concierge — all the front desk people double as your concierge ambassadors — and before I even got a question outta my mouth, “Hello, Mr. Fogarty. How may I help you?”  (I had never met this nice man before. That’s cool.)

As I was starting to say “I’d like to find a cool restaurant…”  he simultaneously pulled out a paper and said “Yes, sir. Ruth said you’d be back. She left this list for you and said that you would be back. She thought you would definitely like these places, the highlighted ones… [taptaptap]… they are all in the cool neighborhoods you would like. Which one do you think you’d like? I’ll book it for you.”

That’s not just great service. That’s like reading my mind. 17 minutes and a taxi ride later I was sitting down to a cold beer and my first schnitzel in Berlin…

In the cool neighborhood of Kreuzberg was the traditional Austrian restaurant “Austria”. Loved this place. Cozy. Nice people. Great food. Nothing fancy, just everything cozy and right.

Warm Up at Kaffee 9 in Kreuzberg

Right outside the entrance to Markethalle Neun is Kaffee 9, a gorgeous little coffeeshop, with the best vibe, cool decor and excellent baked goods and coffee. They serve a good beer, too. I could roll around in the color of those walls.

House of Small Wonder in Mitte

A cool Berlin cafe that also serves great Japanese food. I’m sure House of Small Wonder was swamped with Instagrammers after they first opened, but the food is what has kept them thriving. Originally founded in Brooklyn before the owners moved to Berlin, It’s a cool room and the food was fantastic and perfect for a winter day warm-up.

Snack on Neapolitan Pizza at Il Casolare

Eat a Doner Kebab, Anywhere

Doner kebab, also spelled as döner kebab, is a Turkish dish made of halal meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie. You can find it everywhere in Berlin, at all times of day. It’s almost the National Dish of Berlin. I had an excellent one at Imren Grill in Kreuzberg on Christmas Day — it was one of the only things opened. I loved it.

Here is Cordobar’s website. And Austria’s website. And the TripAdvisor page on Austria. House of Small Wonder’s website. Here’s a great article from the New York Times on Berlin’s Cocktail Dens.

Here Are Other Instagram Friend Suggestions on Where to Eat

I didn’t get a chance to go to these, but here are places my trusty Instagram friends have suggested:

Three Great Boutique Hotels in Berlin

I found three great boutique hotels in Berlin, check out my post about them here. Or about the great Das Stue design hotel in another post here.

— Last visited November 2016 and December 2017; Post Updated August 2024 —

More Information I Found on What to do in Berlin

My Berlin Google Map

For years, I’ve been a clipper. I have a big four drawer file cabinet with all sorts of files, broken out by City and Country.  Whenever I run across an article of somewhere I want to go in the future, I rip it out and file away, waiting for the day I eventually go there. Before I go, I read through all those articles and find the cool places I want to check out and plot them on Google Maps.

When I’m traveling, I tend to just walk and walk and walk. So each day, I just look at the map I created on my phone and just head where the most stars are.  It’s amazing how effective this is. Instead of picking places randomly scattered all over the city, it makes more sense to go neighborhood by neighborhood. And it’s freakishly cool how, consolidating all these cool places, from so many different sources, from all these years, they all kind cluster together and point you where to go.

Here’s my map of cool stuff I plotted for Berlin. Restaurants. Shops. Museums. Cool things. With such a short time there, I didn’t get a chance to see many of them, or I got there and they weren’t open for lunch, etc.  Don’t do what I did and just go, do look them up to see if they are open first.

Here’s the link: https://goo.gl/maps/G1anXf62D3B2

Helpful Links

Here’s where I’d recommend staying in Berlin. LOVED this design hotel. And if you like this, check out my other posts on Hamburg, another favorite German city. And my favorite cool places to eat in Hamburg. And this incredibly fun miniature train museum in Hamburg.

Here is a great comprehensive guide to Berlin by Tripedia https://tripedia.info/location/europe/germany/berlin/  which is mostly sourced by local contributors and has just about everything you need.  Check it out.

Here is the official Visit Berlin website.

Here is Conde Nast Traveller’s UK awesome Berlin Guide. And this great story from Conde Nast Traveler in 2015 “The Perfect Weekend In Berlin.”

Travel & Leisure’s Berlin Guide.

And the always helpful and dependable NY Times 36 Hours in Berlin suggestions. As well as their excellent collection of travel-related stories on Berlin.

And a super guide on Berlin from The Independent. And here’s a good overview from Time Out that describes each neighborhood in Berlin.

Last visited November 2017