Berlin’s Top 16
A cut-throat shortlist for a multi-sensory city with too many things to do, see, eat, and listen
Berlin is without a doubt, a living, breathing, constantly evolving city. A man who’s lived here since the ’60s says he has seen 3 different Berlins and I couldn’t agree more. When I revisited Berlin after in 2019, I witnessed a different city to the one I visited 8 years prior. Dare I say, I was more overwhelmed the second time around.
Part of why the city can be overwhelming (or exciting) to some is that no matter how much time you have here, it will never be enough. The city offers endless, multi-dimensional culinary, historical, musical, artistic experience.
So here’s a short guide to help you narrow down the choices. I have made sure to take you to different parts of the city because as that man said, there are so many faces of Berlin. Now go and explore one of the coolest cities in Europe.
Get in Touch with the Rebellious Berlin
Alternative Berlin Free Tours
This free walking tour offers an insider’s guide to world-famous street art and graffiti culture, haunts and hangouts of the famous and infamous and the landmarks of rock, reggae, punk, and electronic music.
Simply turn up at the Alexanderplatz TV tower at 11 am, 1 pm or 3 pm for an enriching 2–3-hour walk. Do note that while there is less crowd for the 3 pm tour, there may not be enough people which means the tour may be canceled. Like most free tour guides, these guides are only paid by your tips so please pay what you think their wealth of knowledge is worth.
Haus Schwarzenberg
Hidden behind a back-alley gateway, the yard offers the highest concentration of top-of-the-line quality street arts. The Berliners are late risers, so visit this yard in the late afternoon when it’s at its liveliest.
After having a pint and taking a load of photographs of the insanely cool street murals, follow up the graffiti plastered stairwells to find The Neurotitan, a gallery, and shop showcasing comics, illustration, paintings, and concerts from Berlin art scene — only opens at noon.
Also upstairs but accessible from a different staircase, Otto Weidts Workshop of the Blind showcases the life of a salesman who employed blind and handicapped Jews during the Nazi regime, in order to protect them from deportation. Around the corner, Monsterkabinett which only opens at 6 pm is a wonderland of mechanical monster machines. Within the yard, you can also find Anne Frank Zentrum and Cafe Cinema.
Now, Really Soak in the Alternative Scene
Kreuzberg
This neighborhood was the birthplace of Berlin’s punk rock movement and other alternative subcultures in Germany. The SO36 club here (derived from the area’s historic postcode) remains a fixture on the Berlin music scene.
Kreuzberg has also long been the epicenter of LGBTQ life and arts in Berlin. It is home to Schwules Museum, established in the 1980s and dedicated to preserving, exhibiting, and discovering queer history, art, and culture.
Kreuzberg is a very politicized part of Berlin, many people who live here like to get involved in local issues. May 1st marks the labor day in the official German calendars. But in Kreuzberg, May Day signals a day of leftist protest and a street party, bringing an unrivaled partying and energy to the city. With political chants meld into the thump of techno, locals and visitors take to the streets of Kreuzberg and enjoy the bizarre, politically charged celebration that kicks off the start of summer.
Berlin has the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey, most of whom came in the 1950s-1970s as Gastarbeiter or ‘guest worker and settled in Kreuzberg. Even though the borough is known for a very large percentage of immigrants and their descendants, most of whom are of Turkish ancestry, it has become gentrified over the years.
YAAM (Young African Arts Market)
Having been around for the last 15 years, it has been irreplaceable for Berlin’s leisure culture. It has the Caribbean and African food trucks, street art murals and outdoor workshops, and an urban beach/bar area overlooking the Spree river. YAAM is also one of the last Reggae/Dancehall/Hip-Hop clubs, producing special events and themed concerts with flown in DJs year-round. It’s a mark of Berlin’s street culture, food, arts, and music.
The Living Historical Berlin
Flughafen Tempelhof Airport
This abandoned airport was called the “mother of all airports” by British architect Norman Foster. In a 2014 referendum, Berliners rejected the plan to build on the airfield, preferring instead to use the Tempelhofer Feld as a huge inner-city park and a venue for major events. with several themed guided tours. While it had previously served as a landmark of the Third Reich history, it is now a symbol of the power of the people.
English guided tour is offered on Wednesday to Sunday at 1.30 pm.
Watch this video about the shit-show of Berlin’s long-coming new airport. It’s OK Berlin, your train network is awesome enough. The Central Station Hauptbahnhof is so expansive that I was immediately lost after stepping out of the train.
East Side Gallery
YAAM is walking distance from Kreuzberg and around the corner from East Side Gallery, the remaining stretch of Berlin Wall which has become the world’s largest open-air gallery. Here you’ll find the world-famous depiction of Fraternal Kiss. Read here to understand some of the most iconic works on East Side Gallery.
Engorge Yourself at Markthalle Neun
Locals flock to this markthalle in Kreuzberg for Street Food Thursday on Thursdays 5–10 pm or Breakfast Market every third Sunday of the month, and you should follow suit. The Markthalle IX is a historical monument built in 1891 and is one of the three last surviving halls out of the fourteen market halls in Berlin.
I still regret only getting one scoop of ice cream at JONES so, do not make the same mistake.
Kreuzberg’s Burgermeister
Back to Kreuzeberg, when you are in the area, pay a visit to the first branch of Burgermeister. Not only the burger is delicious and the service friendly (which is a rare encounter in Berlin), the location of this burger joint demonstrates how Berliners don’t see history as a preserved relic. The green, ornate, a century-old former public toilet now is now the house of the world’s tastiest burger joint.
The Old Berlin: Remembering History
Holocaust Memorial (Free)
Peter Eisenman’s monument is one of the most controversial memorials when it was revealed in 2005. At first, the 2,711 rectangular concrete slabs may seem nameless. However, inspired by the Jewish cemetery in Prague with its undulating grounds where bodies of Black Death victims had been stacked on top of each other, Eisenman respectfully refers to the slabs as stelae which were used in ancient architecture to honor the dead. The memorial remains standing quietly powerful in the 19,000 square meter plot of land between East and West Berlin.
Jewish Memorial Museum
The story of Jewish people in Germany is a heavy history that leaves an imprint on anyone. I really respect Germans for fully acknowledging this atrocity. Many monuments are built to commemorate this tragedy but few will leave you as disturbed as Libeskind’’s Jewish Memorial Museum.
Created a year before the wall came down, Libeskind’s design for the museum extension exhibits the social, political, and cultural history of the Jews in Germany from the fourth century to the present. Like the history of Jewish people and Germany, the architecture is not meant to be comforting. This museum was a precedent in my undergraduate dissertation of how architecture can be used to evoke powerful memories.
The descending entrance leads to three underground axial routes, each of which tells a different story: the first leads to a dead-end Holocaust Tower; the second leads out of the building and into the Garden of Exile and Emigration, remembering those who were forced to leave Berlin; and the third and longest is a path d to the Stair of Continuity, which directs you up to the exhibition spaces of the museum, emphasizing the continuum of history.
Kaiser Wilhelm Church (Free)
After being severely damaged by bombing in WW2, there were plans to demolish the rather unstable remains of this church. However, the church was instead stabilised and is now a museum dedicated to the destruction of the war.
Lurking around, however, I found this one of the calming places in Berlin: the modern ‘blue church’ across that resembles a neglected 1960s office block from the outside. Step inside and you will find an entire prayer hall lined with small blue stained glass windows.
The Fine Berlin
Visual Feast at Martin Gropius Bau
As recommended by a Berliner gallery curator friend as one of Europe’s most important exhibition venues, Martin Gropius Bau consistently hosts high-quality temporary shows. Originally built in 1881 as an arts and crafts museum, the building itself is a visual treasure with its soaring atrium and intricate mosaics.
The building was designed by Martin Gropius (great uncle of Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus movement) along with Heino Schmieden.
Pergamon Museum and Neues Museum
You can do both Pergamon and Neues on the same day. I physically would not recommend it since they are best enjoyed slowly + it is doubtful that any human that can process that much information in a day.
Pergamon Museum houses the Pergamon Altar (closed until 2024 for renovation) and the massive, impressive architectural reconstructions of the colourful Ishtar Gate and Processional Way of Babylon. Do not miss Pergamon Das Panorama, which is a 30m high tower showcasing a 360-degree view of a depiction of the city of Pergamon in Roman times. Due to its popularity, book Pergamon museum timed entry ticket in advance.
Hosek Contemporary
A compact gallery that floats. Housed on a boat, Hosek runs incredibly interesting exhibitions — curated by a friend of mine. Enjoying the sunset with a cold beverage in hand, while stretching on the Moroccan carpet laid on the boat roof is the best way to end your day (or start your day, if you were a Berliner).
The Resting Berlin
Watch A (Free) Concert at the Philharmonie
Right outside of Tiergarten, the Philharmonic orchestra’s state-of-the-art 1960s concert hall stands in a gold, tent-like structure. Buy a ticket for a show here to enjoy the superb ambiance and acoustics. The concert hall was the first 360-degree view, sunken stage I’d ever been in.
Otherwise, enjoy the free Lunchtime Concerts / Lunchkonzerte, which has been running since October 2007, simply to provide “chamber music of supreme quality with free admission and good food”. The program takes place in the foyer at 1 pm every Tuesdays between September and June
Float in Liquid Room
Hands down the coolest spa I’ve ever been to. Right in the center of Berlin, Liquid Room not only has an architecture that resembles a circus tent, but also a floating salt pool with classical or electronic underwater music!
It has 4 nude saunas (all saunas are nude in Germany, or most of Europe as far as I have ever experienced). Various DJ performances take place regularly. This is the best way to spend your €20, the food and drinks inside are affordable.
PS: 2 hours was just perfect when I went solo but 4 hours might be better-suited if you are with friends and partners.
City Swimming
My Dutchie friends, Däniel and Lisanne took me city swimming in the cleaned-up canals of Amsterdam, and my life has never been the same since.
If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in Berlin during summer, Badeschiff is the one swimming spot that everyone knows about. It’s the perfect place for people-watching, though it can be crowded at times. It is only open in spring-summer for obvious reasons, so check their Facebook profile for closure in times of bad weather.
This article provides a more detailed review of Berliners’ favorite swimming spots, both large outdoor pools / Sommerbäder, and lake beaches / Strandbäder. Otherwise, see here for secret swimming spots in the city. If you prefer nudity, head to the more secluded lakes or in the many designated FKK ( Freikörperkultur).
Ask the Locals
As I mentioned, I’ve only been here twice. So I would refer you to the locals, i.e. StilinBerlin and Berlin Food Stories. Use them as tools to lose yourself in the stomach of Berlin.
This post is part of the Europa series, which shows that Europe is more than just history.1. Oodi, The Library of the People
As the world’s most literate nation, it is only fair that the Finnish have the most functional and beautiful libraries in the world2. 24 Hours in Helsinki
As the happiest country in the world two years running, the Finnish must be doing something right. Let’s find out in 24 hours3. Welcome to Tallinn
Europe’s most underrated city
