A CHILLED OUT GUIDE TO EXPLORING BERLIN

A CHILLED GUIDE TO EXPLORING BERLIN

My Berlin Address Book

If you’re looking for underground clubs and the Berlin night lifers 101, this travel guide isn’t for you. I’m sure if I visited 10 years ago in my peak ‘party years’ it would be far more Berghain than it is bistro. That said, despite the fact my agenda for this years trip was more gourmet and chill than it might have been if I visited in my youth, it’s still a city that has a ton to offer, far beyond it’s infamous nightlife scene. So here is my Berlin Address book, places to see, restaurants to visit and of course areas to chill, potter around and grab a coffee.

SEE MY BERLIN FILM DIARY HERE

Berlin is a big city and one of the things I hadn’t anticipated was how far it was to get to, from and around the various districts, especially areas like Kreuzberg that are slightly further out of the centre of Berlin – you can certainly spend a lot of time walking and exploring (which is no bad thing). As we were based at Soho Haus for the long weekend we spent much of our time pottering around that part of the city and exploring the local neighbourhood. My favourite part of Berlin was Prenzlauer Berg which on the weekend is a hub of brunching and street lined coffee drinkers, it really reminded me of places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen and I loved the brunch spots they had to offer (Anna Blume & ABC Kitchen are packed, so get there early and join the queue).

My favourite dinner was at Katz Orange, the outside courtyard and cosy interior make it quite magical, and the food and cocktails are delicious there. I’d highly recommend adding it to any trip to Berlin. We didn’t make it to Cafe Jolesch or Eins44, but these were both on my hit list, and i’d definitely try and visit on my next trip.

I loved the village vibes of Kreuzberg and Cafe Silo was definitely a nice spot for lunch and a drink, an easy part of the city to stroll around and soak up some local atmosphere.

Of course given the History of Berlin it would be amiss not to go and pay respects at some of the cities historical monuments and remains, the Jewish Memorial is quite something and it’s definitely worth a trip to see Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall remains, whether it be the East Side Gallery or the Memorial. It’s certainly a moment of reflection but worth factoring into your trip.

We really enjoyed our city break and I’d definitely go again, Soho Haus is also an incredible base with it’s rooftop pool, Cecconis and the very cool Store X on the ground floor.