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Berlin neighborhood recommendations

Posted by (Corvallis OR) on

Hi all. I've scoured the forums and am not finding anything totally helpful. I'm a senior female traveling solo. I'll be in Berlin for 5 nights in late June and I'm having trouble deciding on where to look for an apt or hotel. Normally I like to be in the center of a city but I know Berlin is quite spread out and sights are not necessarily clustered together so anyplace is ok as long as it has convenient transportation access to central hbf (within 15-20 min either by walking or by public transportation). I don't need a quiet residential area as I like being where the action is and I'm not bothered by street noise at night, but it needs to be safe for hanging out in cafes, walking around etc. by myself.

RS recommends Prenzlauer Berg and the Savignyplatz area but I know there's lots of other great places to stay. Somehow when reading about the different areas I'm just not getting a real 'feel' for them (even after looking on google streetview) and I also know that one part of an area can be great and another part of the same area can be so-so. I'd love to hear from you guys - where you've stayed, which areas you liked, if you traveled alone where you felt comfortable, etc..

I'm looking more for neighborhood recommendations than for specific hotel or apartment recommendations but any help would be sincerely appreciated.

Edited to add:
I'm looking at these apartments. Can anyone give me thoughts/opinions pro or con on any of these areas?

  1. Near Schöneberg S-Bahn, says it offers great connections to buses, train station, Innsbrucker Platz U-bahn station.

  2. Wilmersdorf/ Schöneberg area near Grunewaldstrasse & Martin-Luther-Strasse

  3. Mitte near Liesenstrasse & Neue Hochstrasse.

  4. Mitte on Perleberger Strasse.

  5. Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg near Ohlauer Strasse & Paul-Lincke-Ufer.

Posted by
5850 posts

I can't comment on any of the locations you have mentioned, but back in May/June 2012, I spent a week at an the Capri apartment offered by http://berlinhabitat.com/
I was very happy with location which was near the Rosenthaler Platz u-bahn station. It was about a 15 minute walk down to Hackescher Markt and just a bit further to the Museum Insel. I really liked the neighborhood. There were quite a few small cafes. The owner was very easy to do business with ... no damage deposit and payment with credit card. I also traveled solo. I posted a long review on tripadvisor. I really enjoyed staying in the former east and I'd choose that area on a return trip.

Posted by
15791 posts

I stayed at the Mercure Checkpoint Charlie and was very happy with the location (and the hotel too). It was cheaper than staying closer to Mitte, but still central. In fact it was only about a 15-20 walk to Mitte, but I often took the conveniently close metro there or to other sights. My room faced the courtyard and was very quiet, even with windows wide open.The surrounding area was not noisy at any time, day or night.

Posted by
14980 posts

Hi,

I think Savignyplatz and the immediate area around it Kantstrasse, Bleibtreustrasse, Mommsenstrasse, Wielandstrasse, Grolmanstrasse, etc is a very hard area to beat in all aspects: different cuisines, (French, Greek, Thai, Italian, Shanghai, German, Japanese, Chinese, Austrian, etc) grocery stores, safety, small hotels/Pensionen of various luxury levels, availability of banks, buses and a S-Bahn station, cafes, etc.

From Savignyplatz S-Bahn station you can catch the S-bahn going to Potsdam Hbf or eastwards to Berlin Hbf (central station), Bahnhof Friedrichstrasse, or further east to Berlin Ostbahnhof. There have been times I thought of staying elsewhere in Berlin but it's true, as pointed out above, that Savignyplatz has too much going for it.

Posted by
7161 posts

Thanks for the posts. Savignyplatz area looks great but so far I haven't found anything that fits my tight budget around there - thus my asking about the other neighborhoods. Same goes for Capri apts and Checkpoint Charlie hotel.

If anyone knows of someplace around Savignyplatz for under $90/€65 per night I'd be happy to hear it - no hostels or shared toilets either.

Posted by
5850 posts

Nancy, Have you tried posting your list on the tripadvisor Berlin forum? There are a couple people there who were very helpful when I was planning.

Posted by
32353 posts

Nancy,

I'd also recommend staying in the area between Savignyplatz and Bahnhof Zoo. It's a nice area and as others mentioned, there are some good restaurants there and it has easy access to transportation. You might have a look at Pension Peters which is in that area. If you decide to stay there, book SOON!

Posted by
7161 posts

@Ken - Pension Peters is the first place I checked and they didn't have a room for all 5 of my nights. I could stay somewhere else on the first night and then move there for the last 4 nights. I may go ahead and do that if they still have those 4 nights available; but you're right I'll have to make that decision soon.

Thanks for reminding me about that possibility, I'd forgotten all about that.

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