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Alter Wartesaal

Located underneath the Hauptbahnhof inside the old first- and second-class waiting rooms, this is a deliciously ornate and classy affair with lots of wood panelling, original Art Deco lamps and free copies of the German edition of the FT. Read_on (No Comments)

Bastard Café & Bar

This little gem sprawls out into the courtyard of a quiet building. There is a nice terrace upstairs; the perfect place to taste their Long Island Ice Tea which is pretty subtle. Read_on (No Comments)

Biermuseum

Featuring dancing barmaids and over 50 beers, if all museums had this attitude it would certainly be worth looking into becoming an academic. Read_on (No Comments)

Blauer Engel

There is a mildly intimidating atmosphere in the front of this place, with all eyes trained on you as you enter, but the people are quite friendly inside. Read_on (No Comments)

Café Waschsalon

This has one of the more bizarre motifs in town, and has found good business in it. It was once a laundromat, and most of the washing machines have been used as decoration. Read_on (No Comments)

Cubana Bar

Serving up cocktails and Che Guevara pictures, the Cubana Bar is for those who either love one or the other. It is easily spotted from the U-Bahn station, and has become a meeting place for nights on the town. Read_on (No Comments)

Hammond Bar

This bar brings a little life to an otherwise quiet neighbourhood. This means that you will mostly find locals too lazy to travel to a more central part of town. Read_on (No Comments)

Harry’s New York Bar

Inviting rows of backlit bottles, 60s-style yellow seating, cute red lamps and a grand piano help bring a modicum of sophistication to the Hotel Intercontinental’s in-house cocktail joint. Read_on (No Comments)

Hemingway

This large and stylish tropical cocktail bar is a good place to sip White Russians and contemplate the days past. There is a large area downstairs, and they play some good music on occasion. Read_on (No Comments)

Ice Bar

The idea is a simple one. Take a workaday hotel bar and give it a gimmick, this one coming in the guise of a frozen bar top. Fun Read_on (No Comments)

Pacific Bar

The Pacific Bar suits a refined palate, but it would take serious conviction to attempt to sample each of their 140 varieties of whiskey. Read_on (No Comments)

Papa Joe’s Biersalon

Reminiscent of a 19th-century London gin house, Papa Joe’s is one of the loveliest and liveliest bars in the city. Despite its propensity to hang anything old and funny on the walls, this is far from being a clinical tourist trap. Read_on (No Comments)

Piano Bar Maritim

A fabulously over the top, retro-looking hotel bar with lots of mirrors, dapper barmen and a white grand piano, this is a great place to tip back expensive cocktails with your tongue firmly in your cheek. Read_on (No Comments)

Rheinterrassen

You can usually judge how pretentious a bar is by the number of energy drinks on the menu. Rheinterrassen has nine. Decorated with lots of modernist orange furniture and a DJ station straight out of Barbarella, this place takes superficiality to new heights. Read_on (No Comments)

Rick’s Café Casablanca

The strenuous efforts made to associate the decoration inside what is essentially a hotel bar with the Bogart classic failed miserably, but Casablanca is a bit of a hit all the same. Read_on (No Comments)

Sir Peter Ustinov’s Bar International

Literally in the shadow of the Dom and tucked inside the Dom Hotel in which Mr Ustinov used to stay, SPUBI is a small cocktail Read_on (No Comments)

Stiefel

A bar that always elicits a different emotion in each person who visits it. Graffiti on the walls, loud rock music and a young atmosphere; Stiefel sits in a class of its own. Read_on (No Comments)

Theater im Bauturm

This small and intimate theatre has mainly German-language productions, so the best reason for us foreigners to go here is the very cool bar/café at the front which is constantly packed with hipsters. Read_on (No Comments)

Ubierschänke

Always full with partying people, flashy lights, pointless furnishings and traces of Koelsch charm. The clientele are mostly thirty and over, and this bar has an old style attraction to it. Read_on (No Comments)

Underground

Notoriously hard to please, Britpop fans can find satisfaction here. Apart from the pub itself there is a nice beer garden, so if the music gets too loud for you there is always a place to retreat. Read_on (No Comments)