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The Weekly Getaway: Street food and urban art in Berlin
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The Weekly Getaway: Street food and urban art in Berlin

Sarah Kemp | 31 March 2021
Berlin, Germany
4.5
UrbanHipCulture
See:
Stay:
Do:
Eat/Drink:
Location:
Berlin
Best time to go:
Apr-Oct
Ideal trip duration:
3-4 nights
Last updated:
7 April 2021

Nobody should visit Berlin without acknowledging the past and taking the time to learn about East Germany’s harrowing history. The city is full of world-class museums, memorials, and sites of historical significance, all of which are fascinating and emotional places to experience. Since this wasn’t my first trip however, I kept these activities to a minimum and dedicated most of my stay to experiencing modern day Berlin – the uber-cool, artistic, affordable and sprawling urban capital.

I visited in October 2020, when a small gap in lockdown restrictions allowed travel between a few European countries. This obviously impacted some elements of the trip and Berlin had many Covid restrictions in place including a strict curfew from 11pm until 6am – that’s why you won’t see any mention of the infamous nightlife scene below! Luckily, two of my favourite things to discover in any city I travel to are street food and street art, both delightfully Covid-safe activities and things Berlin happens to excel at.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

Central

On my first day I set off to explore the most recognisable tourist spots in the city. After a pleasant stroll through Mitte I arrived at Museum Island, which is exactly as it sounds – a small island in the Spree river, home to five historic museums. The museums were opened under Prussian rule, almost destroyed during Nazi rule, and then lovingly restored after the fall of the wall. The island is also home to the magnificent green-domed Berlin Cathedral which is a must-see.

From there I headed south-west to see Checkpoint Charlie, the best-knowncrossing point between the West Berlin and East Berlin. You could easily think that this is now just a popular photo opportunity for tourists, however an open-air exhibit of gallery walls running along Friedrichstrasse provides an excellent level of Cold War history and context.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

Next on my list was the Topography of Terror, a museum and memorial space which gives a complete and heart-wrenching look at the history of the Third Reich, from the rise of the Nazi Party to life after World War II. Truly a must-visit site in Berlin, there is probably nowhere better to learn about such an important time in our modern history. I found the setting especially powerful, with the remains of the former Gestapo headquarters surrounding you. While you walk around this part of the city, look out for the “Berliner Mauer” plaques on the pavement – reminders of where the Wall once stood. If you can read the writing you are in West Berlin, if the writing is upside-down you are standing in the East.

In need of a rest, I continued towards the entertainment hub of Potsdamer Platz and stopped for a doughnut and coffee at Brammibal’s, a delightful millennial pink café. It gave me a chance to not only to decompress from the morning’s history lesson but also to escape the chilling wind!

From here you could walk north to see the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate and unmissable Holocaust Memorial. But having visited all of these on a previous trip, I decided to head south instead in search of Urban Nation, a non-profit and museum dedicated to urban art – both creating and preserving it. The building itself is a giant canvas, with murals adorning the exterior walls, and the gallery features a new exhibition each year. When I visited, the space was dedicated to the life’s work of photo-journalist Martha Cooper, whose work has documented graffiti and street art since the 1970s. As I learned throughout my stay, urban street art and graffiti have helped to shape Berlin in the recent decades, so to have such a museum feels truly unique to this city.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

Prenzlauer Berg & Mitte

While not a neighbourhood with many tourist attractions, I chose to base myself in an apartment in stylish Prenzlauer Berg rather than at one of the large city centre hotels, to get more of a local Berlin feel. Along with being walking distance to Mitte and Alexander Platz (and therefore an easy commute to the airport) the area has plenty of cool and casual neighbourhood restaurants. Kastanienallee is at the centre of the action, a long boulevard lined with bistros. You really can’t go wrong in this area, especially if you enjoy Asian food – Prenzlauer Berg has an abundance of wonderful Vietnamese and Asian-fusion restaurants.

Good local beer can be surprisingly hard to find in Berlin (in part due to poorer water quality than Bavaria, Germany’s beer producing giant) but luckily there is a new wave of craft beer bars, many of which are in and around Prenzlauer Berg. BrewDog and Mikkeller are both growing in popularity and have recently opened new brew pubs in the area however I was looking for something more unique to Berlin. Luckily, I discovered BRÄUGIER, a perfect fusion of German and American beer culture. Ex-pat owner Brian was extremely welcoming and happy to provide recommendations, my favourite being the delicious and crazily named Double New England IPA “God-Dam-Zilla!”.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

Near my apartment as I crossed the invisible boundary into Mitte, boutiques started popping up everywhere and the crowd seemed younger and more fashionable. Mitte is the place to come for designer shopping in Berlin. There are trendy cafés on every street corner – Röststätte quicky became my favourite spot for a morning coffee, with serious baristas, pavement seating and a never-ending stream of passers-by for perfect people watching.

Mitte is something of a contrast when it comes to food. It has many upmarket restaurants with price tags to match its designer retail counterparts, but like most of Berlin, it also has an amazing selection of diverse street food. While staying in the area I decided to sample as much as I could, picking up incredible takeaway bites such as a slice from Magic John, a New York style pizzeria. I thoroughly enjoyed their Ottolenghi-inspired “Butternut” with squash, caramelised onion and zaatar.

Another highlight was the falafel – the streets surrounding the beautiful New Synagogue and bustling Oranienburger Strasse have no shortage to choose from, but I selected Dada Falafel and was not disappointed. Perfectly cooked falafel, light fluffy pitta, and a sharp citrus flavour running through. And of course, no visit to Berlin is complete without trying a currywurst! This classic German street food consisting of sausage covered in ketchup and curry powder may sound simple, but it is much more delicious than the sum of its parts.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

Kreuzbert & Friedrichshain

On a dull grey morning I once again put on my most comfortable shoes – Berlin is a city for sensible footwear! I headed to Alexander Platz to meet with a guide from Alternative Berlin for a walking tour taking in some of the city’s best street art. Although we began in Mitte, joining a tour like this is an amazing way to explore some of the less touristy areas of Berlin and learn some great local insights.

After seeing the hugely popular graffiti of Dircksenstrasse, we took a short U-Bahn (underground train) ride to the residential neighbourhood of Kreuzberg. This area is much more diverse than the likes of Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, with lower rent prices attracting people from all walks of life. While I won’t give away all of my guide’s secrets and knowledge, I will say that one of my highlights in this area was learning more about the infamous Berlin subculture of squat houses.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

In terms of street art, Kreuzberg is home to one of the most recognisable murals in the city – the house-sized Cosmonaut by Victor Ash. Kreuzberg is also hub for nightlife and bars, which sadly I didn’t get to experience during this trip thanks to the Covid restrictions. There is also a fantastic Turkish market which runs along the canal every Friday, selling everything from börek to jewellery.

Our walking tour ended on the edge of the Friedrichshain neighbourhood at the East Side Gallery, leaving us to explore it ourselves. Running parallel to the river Spree, the longest still-standing stretch of the Berlin Wall was turned into a permanent open-air gallery in 1990 when a group of artists from over 20 different countries were invited to create murals, most of which have highly political themes. Many of the works were restored or repainted in 2009. The gallery includes art by many well-known names such as Thierry Noir, however the most famous piece must be the Fraternal Kiss mural (titled “My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love”) by Dmitri Vrubel.

From the end of the gallery, it is a short walk to RAW at the heart of Friedrichshain. This former railway repair yard (the name RAW is an abbreviation of ‘Reichsbahn-Ausbesserungs-Werk’) is now a sprawling multi-purpose space for culture and arts, with numerous bars, a skate park, a Sunday flea market, and hundreds of examples of local street art. It’s a great place to stop for a drink and enjoy the grungy, “only in Berlin” type of atmosphere. The city excels at these kind of spaces – outdoor market compounds celebrating subculture. YAAM on the river Spree is another great example.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

Naturally after a few drinks my thoughts turned to food. Berlin has a reputation for being the “vegan capital of Europe”. Many Berliners also claim that, although Turkish in origin, the döner kebab was invented here. Surely then there is no place more Berlin than Vöner, probably the world’s first and only vegan kebab shop?! They have been serving up delicious fresh kebabs for over 20 years from their casual Friedrichshain snack bar. I loved the kebab’s light fluffy bread, creamy garlic sauce and the side of fries topped with caramelised onions.

Friedrichshain is an extremely cool, alternative, and young neighbourhood so the choices of bars are endless. Looking for something fun but casual, I finished my evening at Hops & Barley, a friendly pub with in-house brewery. In contrast to the American / IPA focused craft beer bars of Prenzlauer Berg, Hops & Barley offer unfiltered classic styles such as Pilsner and Weizen. I selected a pint of the deliciously dark Dunkel, in my opinion the king of German beers, and a fitting end to another day of exploring Berlin.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

See

  • Topography of TerrorIf you only have time to visitone museum, Topography of Terror gives a complete and heart-wrenching overview of Nazi Germany. Entry is free and exhibits are both indoor and outdoor.
  • East Side GalleryThe longest still-standing stretch of the Berlin Wall was turned into a permanent open-air gallery in 1990 and features many well-known street artists and iconic murals.
  • Trabi Safari – This is an extremely fun and unique way to cover most of the main sights in Berlin – by driving your own East German Trabant car! Great for larger groups.
  • Mauerpark Flea Market – Sunday in Berlin means flea market day! Berliners love nothing more than wandering the local flea market after brunch, looking for a bargain. There are many to choose from but the market at Mauerpark is one of the biggest and best, and with outdoor karaoke taking place in the park it also might be the most fun.
  • Street Art Tour – Yes, you can admire much of the city’s graffiti and urban art on your own but taking a guided street art tour will provide an insight into the biggest names and the political motivations, and hopefully leave you with a better appreciation for the artform. Alternative Berlin Tours is one of many companies offering 3-4 hour walking tours.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

Stay

  • AMANO Home – Stylish and affordable apart-hotel situated between Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, these are perfectly located for a mix of sightseeing and relaxing. I loved the neighbourhood, the minimalist kitchen facilities and that all rooms have a bathtub.
  • The Circus – The Circus is comprised of three properties in Mitte – a hostel, a hotel and apartments. With an accommodation type to suit all people and budgets, Circus offer “hospitality based on the social nature of travel”. They also occupy the perfect location with excellent transport links so you really can’t go wrong here. The hostel even has its own microbrewery!
  • Michelberger Hotel – This design hotel in Friedrichshain is hipster heaven. The lobby / café is a great space to hang out and it turns into a wine bar at 5pm each evening, with live music on weekends. It would be a great choice if you are in Berlin for nightlife, as it’s walking distance to the legendary Berghain.
  • Provocateur Berlin – This beautiful hotel is perfect for a romantic weekend getaway. The rooms are luxurious and decorated in either a deep red or moody blue, however its location in quiet Charlottenburg to the west may not be ideal if you have a lot of sightseeing or nightlife in mind.

Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People
Berlin, Germany - Travel Food People

Eat/Drink

  • Kopps – This innovative plant-based restaurant focuses on seasonal German produce, with health and sustainability being at the forefront of everything they do. Their express lunch menu (changes weekly) is excellent value at €15 for 3 courses.
  • Sahara Imbiss – Berlin has one of the most diverse food scenes in Europe, with almost every nation’s cuisine represented somewhere. This imbiss (snack bar) was my very first taste of Sudanese food and I loved it. Tasty and affordable, and covered in peanut sauce!
  • Feel Seoul Good – A popular Korean bistro in the beautiful Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood. The spicy bibimbap bowls are just the thing to fight the bitter Eastern chill after a day of exploring, and I have been trying to recreate their kimchi dumplings ever since I tasted them.
  • Dada Falafel – Berlin has no shortage of falafel restaurants, but Dada is undoubtably one of the most popular. Order a pita wrap to take away, or a mixed plate to enjoy at their outdoor seating if the weather allows.
  • Magic Johns – New York style pizza served by the (very large) slice. Great for a lunch on the go, or after you’ve enjoyed a few drinks on Oranienburger Strasse.
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