What to do in Berlin over the Weekend
Do you have clients or friends visiting Berlin this weekend, and they are asking you for the recommendations?
Than just send them this link and you are all set. I worked out this program for some of my clients, and always had good feedback.
Here you go:
Friday
18h00 - Gallery-hopping & vernissages
Go to the area around Linienstrasse and Augustrasse in Berlin-Mitte, and have a walk along those streets to discover the local galleries. Friday is always the time when a lot of show openings are taking place, its great to network and interact with local people. You can check out the program for gallery openings on this website.
19h00 - Amano Rooftop Bar
After you are done, head to Amano Rooftop Bar, which is just around the corner. From here, you can enjoy the view of the TV Tower. Order some Moscow Mule cocktails - the local Berlin cocktail that prepared with a cucumber instead of lime - new twist.
20h00 Dinner in Mitte
Have dinner in one of the local restaurants in Berlin-Mitte, all below restaurants offer outdoor seating for the summer time.
e.g. Petrocelli at Torstrasse - if you like Italian food with classic white sheets on the table and good service. Outdoor seating is on the street.
e.g. KOPPS restaurant - if you want to try gastronomic plant based food, outdoor seating is on the street.
e.g. Royals & Rice - for sushi lovers (they even have vegan sushi), and the seating is in a nice quite courtyard area decorated with green plants.
e.g. Chen Che - Asian restaurant with a beautirful garden seating inside a courtyard.
22h00 House of Weekend.
If you still have the energy, head to House of Weekend for a rooftop summer party (the rooftop garden is open from 19h00 every weekend, best to check for program online).
Saturday
10h00 Breakfast
If you do not have breakfast at your hotel, I recommend to try out the famous Berlin brunch and breakfast places. Breakfast in Berlin on weekend is often served until 16h00. Usually, its very crowded and hard to get a table, so I recommend to book in advance. Here are some of my top picks with good outdoor seating:
Alans Breakfast Club (Prenzlauer Berg) - wonderful outdoor seating, but book in advance. The owner is a Frenchmen who came here from Australia, so the establishment is very into rose wines and dishes with poached eggs.
Cafe Fleury (Mitte) - French cafe with an outdoor seating on a pretty green Weinbergstreet.
Cafe Anna Blume (Prenzlauer Berg) - famous for ist breakfast tower, a selection of breakfast specialties for 2 to 4 people presented on a tower as seen on the picture.
Café Barcomis Deli (Mitte) - breakfast cafe hidden inside a Mitte courtyard with beautirful architecture.
3 Schwestern (Kreuzberg) - amazing location, with great green garden and laid back atmosphere.
After breakfast, I have several suggestions, depending on what you like.
Suggestion 1:
Take a tour with a bike. In the summer, it is the best way to discover Berlin.
You can rent a bike at your hotel or bike rental and do the tour yourself, or you can contact Berlin on Bike, and they do various tours of Berlin in an interesting way. My favorite tour is “The Berlin Wall”.
Lunch
For lunch, go to Monsieur Vongue restaurant - one of the best Vietnamese places in Berlin which was even spotted by celebrities.
Suggestion 2:
If you do not like bike tours, but prefer shopping, go to Charlottenburg, to Kurfürstendamm boulevard.
For lunch, you can either go to KaDeWe gourmet floor,
or go to Café am Neuen See at Tiergarten, which is a cafe with a big outdoor seating in the middle of Tiergarten park just at the water. Here you can also rent small boats and go on a boat trip.
Suggestion 3:
If you really like museums, than my top pick is The Story of Berlin. It is very interactive, every room is different and designed in such a way that really takes you back in time through sound and visual impressions.If you are there, do not miss the tour of the Atomic Bunker, and if you are brave enough, you can even take part in the simulation of a bomb attack they do there.
For lunch, go to Café am Neuen See in Tiergarten as suggested above.
Evening
If your program is in the West of Berlin around Charlottenburg, go for pre-dinner drinks at the Monkey Bar rooftop terrace and for dinner at restaurant NENI which is on the same floor as the bar.
If you are in the East, go to Paul Linke Ufer in Kreuzberg to restaurant Spindler and enjoy the sunny terrace with drinks and dinner.
After dinner, head to Club der Vissionaere, which is a beautiful bar at the water with DJs spinning vinyls all night.
Sunday
Sunday all the shops in Berlin are closed, so if you wanted to do shopping, the best time was on Saturday.
Sunday in Berlin is for chilling and relaxing, so here are some of my top tips of things to do.
Suggestion 1
Go to Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg and discover the street food market, the flea market and the Sunday Karoke, which gathers hundreds of people every Sunday on the open air stage. Here people from all over the world come to perform not only Karaoke, but also street performances.
The street food here is great, I recommend to try the Belgium fries, the Vegan Gyros, and the Korean stand.
If you are someone who loves spas, than you are lucky, as here in Berlin we have a 20.000 square meter spa with a big outside area. It is called VABALI. Decorated in a way that would remind you Bali or Thailand, it not only has outdoor and indoor swimming pools, but a big number of Saunas (I think more than 15) where every hour you have various infusions or peelings included in the entry ticket price, e.g. you can have a coco peeling or a pine wood infusion. Be aware, though, that German saunas are all naked saunas, which means no bikini or towel allowed inside, and all saunas are mixed, so you will have men and women together.
For the last evening, I would recommend to try something very typical Berlin, and go for a factory type of restaurant, e.g.
VOLT Berlin - German gastronomic cuisine with good pairing wines
SAGE restaurant - trendy restaurant in Kreuzberg with fusion, mixed cuisine and a beach bar
If you enjoy my recommendations, follow me on Instagram, where every week I give a new #vandammetip for hot locations and places to be in Berlin. You can follow me by clicking this link: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.vandamme/