Lucky you – apart from summer, December is perhaps the best time to visit Berlin, when some 60 different Christmas markets open around town in the weeks before Christmas, selling crafts, gifts, food and the famous cockle-warming hot glühwein that'll keep you going in the cold for hours. Most markets close for Christmas itself, but just a few days later Berlin experiences one of the biggest New Year parties in the world, when a million people say goodbye to 2009 on the streets around the Brandenburger Tor – a party to be remembered indeed. The loveliest and most popular markets this season and the New Year street party details are discussed here. After all that excess, January is a much quieter affair with less highlights – though we do want to point out the two shows concerning the Berlin Wall at the Stadtmuseum, and the excellent Long Night of th Museums on Saturday 30 January, when over 60 museums open their doors and have special events till well past bedtime.
Comments about the guide are always welcome at berlin@inyourpocket.com. Enjoy Berlin. Comments about the guide are always welcome at berlin@inyourpocket.com. Berlin In Your Pocket is the English-language city guide to Germany's vibrant capital; appearing bimonthly, it's the essential guide to anything a visitor needs to know.
In Your Pocket guides are sold locally at tourist offices, and distributed in selected hotels. Ask for In Your Pocket.
A favourite of locals and tourists alike, Sophieneck is one of the most charming cafés in Mitte. Located near Hackescher Markt since the revamp of the district in 1984, it has resisted trendific
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Normal 0 21 Modern and light German food on Berlin´s catwalk no.1: Kastanienallee aka „casting alley“ is a perfect place to watch Berlin street style. „Die Schule“
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One of the best hotels in town – not for stars or underground parking, but for those most important factors in the hospitality industry, service and staff, both of which are excellent and consi
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Kreuzberg is the proud home of Germany's only certified climate neutral restaurant, on a streetcorner with a beautifully sleek, minimalist interior that is good for both intimate dinners interacting
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A lounge glowing in amber tones recalls the thirties with an oversize drawing of Thomas Mann's forlorn offspring, Klaus and Erika, and leather and velvet seating. Though it often has a DJ, no one dan
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Strolling along the Spree or after a show at the beloved Berliner Ensemble, stop off at Ganymed's historical rooms for Alsatian Flammekuchen, French choucroute and beers, oysters, wines and the menu
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Latest Berlin Comments
Yakitori Rokko This place is run by a professional cook who used to run a yakitori joint herself in Japan. No wonder most of the customers are Japanese. [...]
Alpenstueck We dined here on our first night in Berlin. Absolutely delightful food, excellent service. I had the skate wing and my partner had the Wiener Schnitzel. Our food was accompanied by an excellent wine from the Mosel region recommended by our waiter. A[...]
Sharon Stonewall Are you sure Henry? Did we go to the same place? I heard from some people there they had adopted the place for a quick drink as it was one of the few gay bars in the old Jewish quarter but it was dull.[...]
Reingold You dont have to be dressed up to go in, but the bar is so cool it makes you wish you did. Primarily a cocktail bar playing old pre-WW2 music. Very cool and sophisticated but not too pretentious. Had a great time.[...]
Bierhimmel My g/f and I stopped in here on our most recent trip to Berlin, having heard about lovely cakes and a nice atmosphere. Unfortunately, the service was by far the worst I have ever encountered. The waiting staff were unbelievably rude. The cake was pr[...]
Galeria Kaufhof The store is huge so that you can find everything you are looking for. A friend of mine who is from Berlin gave me the tip to look under www.kaufda.de/Geschaefte/Galeria-Kaufhof to look for the weekly offers they got. Mostly electronics but often en[...]
Schwarzwaldstuben Wonderful atmosphere, service, after-work crowd, drinks, and of course southern German cuisine. I'll definitely return the next time I'm in Berlin.[...]
The Sharon Stonewall I had a fantastic time. Really nice atmosphere and really friendly people, which is not typical for Berlin.[...]
Let's Go I walked in one of those bars on my vacation. I was not sure what was going on. Ttwo guys had no shirts on, they were in their twenties. Tthen some really young guy came up to me, I about died. He was so smooth and young, we partied in the room for[...]
Loretta's Biergarten We found Loretta's to be a nice low key place to spend the evening. If I am ever back in Berlin, you can bet I will go there again.[...]
Panorama-Punkt I think it was fun to ride the elevator. Up on the roof there is a great view of the city and the roof itself is worth seeing.[...]
Cornwall Pasty Co. But for the principle of multi-cultural society you wouldn't have the pasty (Mehrzahl pasties). As an expat I hope that to be a German still stands for search for accuracy. You wouldn't say Berlin is in Preussen, so believe me, Cornwall's eastern border is the river Tamar, Devon belongs to England. Interested in accuracy? Please go to www.cornishstannaryparliament.org and get more infos. We even have T-shirts here (to educate people) CORNWALL IS NEXT TO ENGLAND - just like WALES. Herzliche Gruesse und nichts fuer ungut.
Editor - It's amazing what you can learn by writing about meat pies. I hope the now sadly terminated sale of Cornish pastries in Berlin did not contribute to the funding of militant separatist groups that terrorise the Cornish countryside by removing any signs bearing the word 'England', leading to lost tourists falling off the beautiful non-English cliffs. Good luck with your independence struggle - but we really only cared about the pasties! [...]
Cornwall Pasty Co. It's great - shame you've got your facts wrong. It's "A working-class meal from the old tin-mining area of CORNWALL" - not southwestern tip of England stupid! Don't become another victim of English propaganda.
Editor - so you're saying that Cornwall is not a part of England, or that it's not at the southwestern tip of England? Unless Devon has floated further west, we think you're wrong on both accounts. But hey, we're here in Germany so we only care about the pastries. [...]
Latest Berlin Comments
This place is run by a professional cook who used to run a yakitori joint herself in Japan. No wonder most of the customers are Japanese.
[...]
Loretta's has been replaced by a totally ugly hotel!! Very sad...[...]
We dined here on our first night in Berlin. Absolutely delightful food, excellent service. I had the skate wing and my partner had the Wiener Schnitzel. Our food was accompanied by an excellent wine from the Mosel region recommended by our waiter. A[...]
Are you sure Henry? Did we go to the same place? I heard from some people there they had adopted the place for a quick drink as it was one of the few gay bars in the old Jewish quarter but it was dull.[...]
You dont have to be dressed up to go in, but the bar is so cool it makes you wish you did. Primarily a cocktail bar playing old pre-WW2 music. Very cool and sophisticated but not too pretentious. Had a great time.[...]
My g/f and I stopped in here on our most recent trip to Berlin, having heard about lovely cakes and a nice atmosphere. Unfortunately, the service was by far the worst I have ever encountered. The waiting staff were unbelievably rude. The cake was pr[...]
The store is huge so that you can find everything you are looking for. A friend of mine who is from Berlin gave me the tip to look under www.kaufda.de/Geschaefte/Galeria-Kaufhof to look for the weekly offers they got. Mostly electronics but often en[...]
Wonderful atmosphere, service, after-work crowd, drinks, and of course southern German cuisine. I'll definitely return the next time I'm in Berlin.[...]
I had a fantastic time. Really nice atmosphere and really friendly people, which is not typical for Berlin.[...]
I walked in one of those bars on my vacation. I was not sure what was going on. Ttwo guys had no shirts on, they were in their twenties. Tthen some really young guy came up to me, I about died. He was so smooth and young, we partied in the room for[...]
We found Loretta's to be a nice low key place to spend the evening. If I am ever back in Berlin, you can bet I will go there again.[...]
Hi! This is very useful. Just great. Thank you.[...]
I think it was fun to ride the elevator. Up on the roof there is a great view of the city and the roof itself is worth seeing.[...]
But for the principle of multi-cultural society you wouldn't have the pasty (Mehrzahl pasties). As an expat I hope that to be a German still stands for search for accuracy. You wouldn't say Berlin is in Preussen, so believe me, Cornwall's eastern border is the river Tamar, Devon belongs to England. Interested in accuracy? Please go to www.cornishstannaryparliament.org and get more infos. We even have T-shirts here (to educate people) CORNWALL IS NEXT TO ENGLAND - just like WALES. Herzliche Gruesse und nichts fuer ungut.
Editor - It's amazing what you can learn by writing about meat pies. I hope the now sadly terminated sale of Cornish pastries in Berlin did not contribute to the funding of militant separatist groups that terrorise the Cornish countryside by removing any signs bearing the word 'England', leading to lost tourists falling off the beautiful non-English cliffs. Good luck with your independence struggle - but we really only cared about the pasties!
[...]
It's great - shame you've got your facts wrong. It's "A working-class meal from the old tin-mining area of CORNWALL" - not southwestern tip of England stupid! Don't become another victim of English propaganda.
Editor - so you're saying that Cornwall is not a part of England, or that it's not at the southwestern tip of England? Unless Devon has floated further west, we think you're wrong on both accounts. But hey, we're here in Germany so we only care about the pastries.
[...]