Berlin, Germany
a future gimlet traveler destination
updated february 8 2024
The Berlin skyline, with the Fernsehturm (TV Tower) at center, the tallest building in Berlin
We plan to spend 5 nights for our first visit to Berlin, and we will go in spring or summer when the sun comes out and the city emerges to the outdoors from winter hibernation.
All of the hotels/sights/restaurants/bars/shops mentioned in the post below, and many others, are pinned in the city map at bottom, with links where applicable.
A King Room at the Tiergarten-Park-facing So Das Stue Berlin Hotel
Hotels: There are of course hundreds of hotels to choose from, and while I still like the rare feature of the outdoor rooftop pool at the clubby Soho House Berlin and the elegance and pretty park location of the So Das Stue, several new design hotels have opened in Berlin since I originally created this post. Have a look at these four new (as of top of 2024) properties: Chateau Royal in Mitte, a curated, art-focused boutique hotel with classy, muted rooms; Wilmina in quieter Charlottenburg, in the reclaimed site of a former women’s prison with a lovely secret courtyard garden in its midst; and Telegraphenamt, located in an old telegraph office in central Mitte, sophisticated and dramatically designed. There is also a new Berlin Hoxton, transformed from a nondescript 70’s building into the usual buzzy Hoxton formula revolving around socializing in its common areas.
The Brandenburg Gate
Sights: So much history (a lot of it relatively recent, as history goes) and so many things, neighborhoods, landmarks to see: The Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, the open-air Eastside Gallery (which is actually the longest piece of The Berlin Wall still standing, now covered in street art), The Reichstag Building with its modern glass dome accessible to the public, The Jewish Museum, a tour of the jewel-box interior of The Komisch Oper Berlin…and the list goes on.
The main dining room at Pauly Saal Restaurant, in what was once a Jewish girls’ school.
Restaurants: So many good options (23 are Michelin-starred for those who are counting)! We like the look of Pauly Saal,it also has a neat bar, located in what used to be a Jewish Girls’ School (this same building houses the modern deli Mogg). Also appealing to us: Le Petit Royale, a cozy French restaurant with a cute bar and eclectic art; Fleischerei, a casual but cool-looking steakhouse set in a former butcher shop; and for breakfast/brunch the popular Benedict, which serves breakfast round the clock at the Max Krumm Hotel (one of our boutique hotel choices on the map below). New restaurants we would check out as of this February 2024 update: Lovis in the new Wilmina Hotel, for dramatic food in its dramatic former-prison setting and Root in the new Hotel Telegraphenamt - a large skylit bistro-style space. Both also have nice bars, mentioned below.
Mr. Susan, a non-smoking cocktail bar
Bars: Again, so many choices! There are bars of all types, but be careful if smoking is an issue for you (see GT Tip below). Out of the several non-smoking bars on the map (which is a must for us), Bar Milano and Mr. Susan (pictured) seem like places we might visit when in town. We also like the crisp look of the small Bryk Bar. And for something a little more cushy, The Curtain Club at The Ritz-Carlton Berlin, which is set behind a curtain just off of the hotel lobby, looks lovely and posh as would be expected (and you might hear some live piano music). The Lobby Bar at Das Stue also looks serenely contemporary and elegant. A couple of new hotel bars (you know the Gimlet Traveler loves a cool hotel bar) in the new hotels we’ve added on this update: The Lovis Bar in the Wilmina, dark and moody, and the bar at Telegraphenamt, which looks casual but still elevated - a large square bar in an airy space with under a brick barrel-vaulted ceiling.
GT Tip: Smoking is not completely banned in the state of Berlin. Small bars with only one room may still allow smoking and restaurants are allowed to have smoking rooms in certain instances, so research carefully. Hotels and B&B’s are completely non-smoking. Where applicable in the map below, I’ve noted when bars are non-smoking (and/or LGBT+).
Berlin’s Kaufhaus Des Westens Department Store (aka KaDeWe)
Shopping: Tons of cool shops, several popular flea markets, and one grande dame department store (KaDeWe, pictured above). Amodo and Super Store are two concept shops each carrying a curated selection of different objects, often handcrafted. Bikini Berlin (located within the adjacent Bikini Berlin Hotel, included on our list of hotel options on the map below) is a popular concept shopping mall, filled with fashion, art, design and lots of food & drink. Berlin has several flea markets worth visiting and each has its own personality. The Market in Mauerpark (Sundays) has become popular for both the quality and variety of its goods, and its outdoor Karaoke (as well as other live performances) in the adjacent park’s amphitheater sounds fun — as long as I’m not the one singing!
Below is a map of hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping and sights found during our research. We may not visit all of them during our future trip, but all are of interest to us. Click on the icon at top left of the map to view the legend. Or you can click on the full-screen icon at top right to expand, which will also bring up the legend. The map is best viewed on a computer.
