Berlin Berlin Wir fahren nach Berlin!

citytravelreview - Spend a few days in Berlin and you will have seen all the important sights – the Brandenburger Tor, the Berlin Wall, Museum Island. You will have had a meal of Currywurst, and sampled some of Germany’s excellent beer. You may even have learnt a word or two in the local language. Stay a bit longer and you will discover Berlin in all its colours. The squats filled with graffiti street art at its best. The underground bars that play eclectic mixes of music fuelled by strange concoctions. Meeting people from all over the world and tasting their delicacies in roadside vans. You will become ‘Berliner’ in your actions. Avoiding smelly old men with their sinister looking dogs trawling the streets for discarded empty bottles. Chilling in parks with 60 cent beer in the Berlin sunshine. Jumping on old school bicycles and cycling around the city centre in your socks and sandals. There is so much to do in Berlin that however long you stay it will not seem sufficient. This guide endeavours to show you some of the best and most economical ways to get the most out of your stay in Berlin. Some are tourist Meccas, others are a bit left of the centre; all make Berlin what it is now. So throw yourself into the people, the music, the food; the experience that is Berlin.

Berlin can be a perplexing place for the newly arrived tourist. The train system does very little to orientate one in a city that spreads and sprawls in every direction, and after a few pints of Berliner Pils, the scrambled map does not become any clearer. As with any city, travel guides generally lead you to the heavily touristy areas, where vendors rub their hands in glee as they attempt to take down the next map-wielding, poncho-wearing foreigner. So here are a few tips and hints for a smooth transition into Berlin life. Soon enough you’ll be changing from the S-Bahn to the U-Bahn like a pro and leading other people from your hostel to the coolest, underground German bar around for a round of Berlinerweiße and a late night snack of Currywurst.

Five things you must do in Berlin
1. Take a walking tour. Best to go early in your stay. The guides are generally very knowledge-able and humourous, and it’s a great way to see the city and the important sights, get your bearings and learn a lot.
2. Go on a kebab bender.
3. Buy a 60 cent Sternberg beer and get yourself down to Treptower Park on a lazy sunny afternoon. Take your frisbee for extra fun.
4. Go out at night without a plan and find yourself at some crazy nameless pub, where you end up dancing to Nena ’99 Luftballons,’ followed by a good quality Russian jig, with a whole bunch of new friends.
5. Trace the Berlin Wall. You can hardly come to Berlin without getting in touch with its dramatic and tumultuous history. See the History Section for more information on where to discover the divisive past of this city.