Berlin Area to Stay

There are others on the forum who have spent far more time than I have in Berlin, so I may be missing something, but Berlin was blasted during the war and did not opt to rebuild in the old style. I'm not sure that you'll find the twisty alley-like lanes in Berlin that exist in many other European cities. Green space should be far easier to come by.

Not only was it bombed to smithereens, It was also a "brand new city" to begin with. When Mark Twain lived there in the 1890's, he said it was newer than Chicago, which had just burned to the ground 20 years earlier. Nonetheless, Berlin has a LOT of green space. More than almost any other big city.

I've stayed in the Savignyplatz area, which is pretty urban, but lots of shopping, restaurants, bars, smaller hotels, good transport to the rest of the city.

Perhaps Prenzlauer Berg near Kollwitzplatz, which is a gentrifying area that once was part of East Berlin. It has a nice European feel with some Bohemian flavor. Lots of cafes. Lots of independent shops. Kollwitzplatz itself has an Ökomarkt (organic market) one day per week -- ? perhaps Thursday? The area is just a few blocks from Volkspark Friedrichshain, which is a rather large park with many paths, 2 hiking "mountains" created from bomb debris, playgrounds, athletic facilities, a really cool fairy tale fountain, and the War Memorial to Polish Soldiers and German Anti-Fascists (among other attractions); the park is a great place to see Berliners at play.

Prenzlauer Berg historically was a poor working class neighborhood. I found the off-the-beaten-path Museum Pankow excellent. It consists of 3 locations -- a former school house near Kollwitzplatz that tells the history of Prenzlauer Berg (mostly in German) but also has some really good special exhibits that are in German and English; a little father out, the flat of a skilled craftsman presented in a way it would have existed in the late 1800's/early 1900's (English handout provided); and a little farther out, the apartment of an factory owner from the same time (all German, no English). The flat/apartment are open only certain days of the week. The area around the factory owner's apartment was less heavily bombed during WWII and there are some absolutely gorgeous buildings in the area -- like the Carl-von-Ossietzky-Gymnasium.

Museum in Kulturbrauerei has a nice DDR museum that tells the story of daily life in the DDR (East Germany). That museum also often has nice special exhibits, too.

Enjoy Berlin -- it's one of my favorite places!

In American English as I know it, "alley" refers to a very narrow street no more than one lane wide. I picture it as the sort of thing you find in European medieval districts. Edited to add: A US alley would normally not have any commercial establishments on it, however.

Thanks for the tips and history. I will check out those two areas.

Yes, alley is a small side street. At least the English word alley in no way relates to the German word Allee which can mean a boulevard.

Hi,

I would suggest looking at The Rough Guide Berlin. When looking at the maps, you'll see just how big the green areas of the city are. If you decide to stay in Wannsee or Grunewald or Spandau, you have lots of choices on green areas. I finally went to Spandau in June, had planned for that on my very first trip to Berlin, just never got around to to it. Now I know I missed something by not seeing the place in the 1970s.

You can go for one hour on the S-Bahn and still only covered a small area, relative to the entire city. I did just that a few years back , ie from Bahnhof Zoo to Ahrensfelde, the terminus of the S-Bahn line, it took one hour. I stay in the Charlottenburg district, close to S-Bahn station, Savignyplatz, in a Pension mostly German, 98% of the guests. True, there are other closer areas to stay but as long as the public transport is on a west-east lateral line, that's of primary importance.

I stayed in the Neukölln neighborhood a few years ago and liked it a lot. If you are younger and a bit adventurous, it might be worthwhile investigating. If you are older and a first time tourist you'll be better off at a more central location.

Thanks again.

I am of the older variety. One of the things I really like about Vienna is how small and walk-able it is. Berlin is much bigger obviously. Are there areas in the center where there are a series of small old streets for walking around with restaurants and cafes but not clubs. I would prefer to avoid in some way areas that are very modern.

I think I'd call the Savignyplatz area mentioned by Fred "genteel". I enjoyed walking around there, and there is a variety of cuisines available in moderately priced restaurants. There are handsome apartment buildings on some of the streets. I don't remember night-spots, per se, so I don't think it's a big area for nightlife. But it's not like the medieval districts you find in some European city centers with tiny winding streets.

Hi,

If you want to avoid seeing the big, tall edifices of glass and steel, don't go to Potsdamer Platz. I don't care for it either. There has been construction going on for several years which has affected the eastern areas as well, such as Karlshorst (on Treskow ) and Köpenick, I was there last in 2016 and 2017.

If you want to be in older areas of Berlin, go to Köpenick, (en route from the S-Bahn station to the famous Köpenicker Rathaus are a few small hotels I saw, walking it ca 30 mins.), Karlshorst, and Spandau in the far west.

@ Gerry....Savignyplatz is an upper middle class, yes, genteel, yuppie area, lots of restaurants of various cuisines, German, French, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Greek, Shanghai, Japanese, etc. You'll find on Mommsenstraße, Kantstr., Wielandstraße, Bleibtreustraße, Knesebeckstr., Several small hotels and Pensionen are located there, included Peters recommended by RS, I don't stay in that one. This part of Berlin is part of Charlottenburg, which was the wealthiest town in Prussia before joining Greater-Berlin (Groß-Berlin) in 1920.