Things to do in Berlin

Journalists, designers, art historians, musicians and other authors of unusual Tripster tours talk about what is not written in guidebooks and show the city that is usually not shown to tourists. Today Berlin is a city full of history, tragic and joyful events, the creative capital of Germany, and perhaps the whole of Europe.

(Total 27 photos)

The author is Sergey Lukichev, Tripster guide and author of the lukaround.com blog.

1. Start with the standard, but mandatory: walk from the Reichstag through the Brandenburg Gate to Potsdamer Platz past the remains of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie and then through the old center to the Museum Island and Alexanderplatz, see all the most important things on a walking tour.

2. See almost everything the same while walking on a boat. They depart from many places in the center: Central Station, Friedrichstrasse, Berlin Cathedral. There is a tour of the bridges of Berlin lasting 3 hours, starts twice a day, you can find the schedule in hotels. So you will see all the diversity of Berlin from the water from the Reichstag to Kreuzberg.

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4. On the way, appreciate the city from the height of one of the many observation platforms: the TV Tower, the Berlin Cathedral, the skyscraper on Potsdamer Platz, the dome of the Reichstag. The cheapest site is on the Victory Column (Siegessäule), but without an elevator, the most expensive (13 euros) is on the TV Tower. A compromise option (lift and high) - Panorama Punkt on a brick skyscraper on Potsdamer Platz.

5. After lunch, listen to street musicians and watch performances by dancers, graffiti artists and other representatives of creative professions at Alexanderplatz. Music sounds constantly, high-quality, with a twinkle. Imagine that 30 years ago, marches ended here and parades were held in East Berlin, the capital of the GDR.

6. Wander the streets and courtyards in the Hackescher Markt area, in the evening in the Schwarzenberg courtyard drink a cocktail in the Eschloraque bar and go straight to the Monster-Kabinett right here with an unfinished glass in hand in order to end the evening in the heat of the performance of metal monsters.

7. In the afternoon, drink coffee in St Oberholz on Rosenthaler Platz, feel the atmosphere of start-up Berlin. At this point, the thought may come to you that it would be nice to move to Berlin. And the question arises - what to do here? Go up to the second floor of the cafe and study the notice board by the toilet, maybe they are already looking for you, if not, stick your ad with a service offer.

8. On Sunday morning, go to Mauerpark, wander around the flea market, have breakfast there, lie down on the grass with live music or sing mass karaoke, watch graffiti artists draw on the fence.

9. Go to Neukölln on the Sonnenallee and realize that there are many places in Berlin where you can enjoy the cuisines of the world at ridiculous prices: from burgers at Berlin Burger International to the best hummus in the city at Azzam restaurant.

10. After lunch, walk through the Görlitzer park in Kreuzberg, sit on the remains of the fountain and watch the families, walk to the Cottbusser Tor, take food in the fish pavilion, go up to the Kotti cafe and eat everything with tea or beer.

11. Closer to sunset, come to Victoria Park in Kreuzberg, climb the mountain to the Memorial of King Frederick William III, which was erected in honor of the liberation battles at the end of the wars with Napoleon. Here you can meet the sunset overlooking the city and admire the picturesque waterfall.

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13. Visit the Pergamon Museum (there is a Russian audio guide) and the New Museum for one combi-ticket, it is better to go in the afternoon, when there are fewer people, and then go to the Mont Bijou Park, which is on the arrow of the Museum Island, and dance. If you don't feel like dancing, then order a pizza in a street cafe and watch the dancers on the embankment.

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15. Look at the exhibitions at the Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum. There is always a lot of interesting things here. For example, now there is an exhibition of artist Ai Wei Wei banned in China and an exposition dedicated to David Bowie.

16. Go to the 14th century Spandau Citadel - there are several museums, old cobbled streets, amazing views of the city from the tower. In the old center of Spandau there are many pleasant real German restaurants, they have their own pride and menu, different from Berlin.

17. If you are with children, then you have a direct road to the German Technical Museum and the Natural History Museum with dinosaurs.

18. Take a tour of microbreweries, the new trend in Berlin, start at Hops&Barley in Friedrichshain, grab a bite at Arminiusmarkthalle and finish at Vagabund Brauerei in Wedding. The latter is open from 18:00, the owner and head brewer is behind the bar. The owners raised money for the opening of the brewery through crowdfunding.

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20. If you are interested in military history and have already been at the Reichstag, then in the morning go to the German-Soviet Museum in Karlhorst, where the surrender of Germany was signed in 1945, and in the afternoon - to the legendary Tempelhof Airport, now a park.

21. When it gets dark - get out to Neukölln for dinner and bars in the Weserstrasse area. By the way, 48 Hours Neukoelln takes place on June 27-29, 2014, which should not be missed.

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Photos by Sergey Lukichev, Frank M. Rafik, Anna Andrievskaya.

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