Berlin is perfect for a long weekend this summer. Here’s our run-down of the best things to see and do in Europe’s coolest capital…
Where to Stay…
Make yourself at home at apartment hotel Lux 11: all rooms have kitchenettes, super-sized spaces (including generous wardrobes and bathrooms) and up to two bedrooms, matched downstairs with an Aveda spa, restaurant and fashion store. You could stay holed up here all weekend and want for nothing, but for your sake, do venture out to enjoy this magic city…
Refuelling…
Start your day at Soviet-era themed cafe Gorki Park, where you’ll wolf down self-styled ‘peasant’s breakfasts’ (sausages, egg, potato – delicious) in a place decked out like your grandmother’s 70s dining room. For lunch, hipster-magnet Michelberger hotel serves a chic and cheerful seasonal menu out in its courtyard, while Flescherei in Berlin’s Mitte area is perfect for a properly filling dinner. Sup here on fresh, modern-rustic cuisine in white-tiled room complete with chandeliers and dripping candlesticks.
After Dark…
Tear your eyes away from the naked models on the wall at Helmut Newton’s Newton Bar for long enough and you’ll find yourself with a delish cocktail in hand. If you’re braving Berlin’s club scene, go for sleek styling at Watergate or pitch in at the deep end at Panorama Bar, a monolithic converted warehouse which stays open until late on Sunday afternoon.
Getting Around…
Berlin’s U-Bahn metro system is as cheap, efficient and excellent as everyone says it is – and most is above-ground, so you get a sightseeing tour thrown in with every journey. Walking is also possible – just having a wander is the best way to take in Berlin’s curious mix of industrial architecture and graffitied spaces. Be warned: after passing the millionth street-corner photo booth, you too will succumb to ducking in for a €2 strip of fuzzy black-and-white pics.
Keeping Busy…
Another product of wandering: discovering Berlin’s underground art spaces. I found the enchanting MMX by chance on a walk down Linienstrasse (at 142/143 – look out for an arrow pointing to an anonymous doorbell, but be quick, this guerrilla gallery will move on in 2011). Panoramic city views can be drunk in from the top of the Reichstag (which is free to enter), and the Holocaust Memorial produces horror and awe in equal measure. Berlin’s Bebelplatz book-burning monument is a poignant surprise – go to Bebelplatz at night to find a glowing window in the ground at its centre, and look down…
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Tags: Berlin, Five-minute Guide
