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The more you travel, the more important you realize it is to have a true home away from home. With its spacious rooms, top-tier art collection, buzzy restaurant, and fun surprises (music room anyone?) Hotel Chateau Royal checks all of our boxes and then some. Located in central Mitte, we also loved that this hotel was close enough to walk to most of the spots on our list, without feeling like you were surrounded by tourists. And what’s better than returning to a hotel for a nightcap or tea by the fire when there’s a chill in the air.
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Classic German food served right on the border of two hip enclaves: Neukölln and Kreuzberg. You can expect delicious and totally unpretentious versions of dishes like Spätzle and Currywurst.
Our Döner journey led us to a few spots around the city, but these were our favorites. Perfectly seasoned meat wrapped in fluffy & crunchy Turkish bread and layered with fresh veggies and a perfect sauce…it doesn’t get much better than that!
May this be your first stop once you get to Berlin. Helmed from the hands of Atelier September, brings SOFI Bakery - the Mitte interpretation of a Copenhagen classic. Wait in a small line for some of the best cardamon buns and comte butter rolls that money can buy.
Not every hotel restaurant is amazing, but this one actually is… The breakfast served up every morning in the lobby of the Hotel Chateau Royal Berlin is a mix of classic continental, and perfect iced lattes with eggs served up to your liking. Stop by the lobby on your way up to your room after dinner one evening and have a cup of tea in the lounge by the fire for a cozy end to the night
What might appear to American eyes as nothing more than a jelly-filled donut is something much more special in Berlin. Picture this: the fluffiest donut of your life, filled with a tart plum jam, then tossed in a cinnamon-sugar blend. In addition to this classic Berliner, Sammy’s also has dozens of unique and novel varieties of fried treats.
While the idea of a French cafe in central Berlin might seem like a novelty, Remi truly takes the best of each culture and highlights them side-by-side. On sunny days, the outdoor terrace is full of friends enjoying meals together over a bottle of french natural wine.
Part of the midcentury migration to East Germany involved a heavy stream of people from Vietnam, which means a few pockets of Mitte have some of the best Vietnamese food in all of Europe. A favorite of many is Saveur de Banh Mi - a small German chain that offers top tier Banh Mi to both vegans and omnivores alike.
Ask any Berliner their favorite currywurst and you’ll get a different answer, but one that many can agree upon is Curry 61. This casual, no-frills spot for the local classic sausage in tomato curry sauce is great for a quick 5-minute bite when you need a little fuel to continue a busy day…or save your life at 10pm.
At the top of the city (in what we decided to be the neighborhood we’d like to live in if we were Berliners), lies FRIEDA. This cool-kid spot is full of dogs dining indoors, the hostess performing a DJ set, and a GREAT burger. Book and table and snag a cozy booth for a late-night dinner.
For when you just can’t have anymore doner & spetzel…there’s always pizza. Gazzo is serving up seriously good sourdough pizza with rotating seasonal pies and a frozen yogurt worth prolonging your dinner for.
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This is the German beer garden you were promised, but actually filled with locals. From old friends catching up and kids playing in sandboxes, to old men in full suits on their way back from work, Prater Beer Garden is where Berliners go to grab a beer…and you should too.
In the tranquil park of Tiergarten lies yet another great local beer garden. Where soft pretzels are free and there’s only two types of beer to order, this is where worries fade away into the nearby pond and friends beat each other in rounds of cards.
This is a perfect post Tiergarten park caffeine stop. They take their coffee seriously and serve it up at casual and cool outdoor tables in the local’s neighborhood.
Casual and cool, SWAY is a wine bar that sort of feels like your best friend's living room. The natural wines are complimented by pressed grilled cheese sandwiches and pringles, and the soundscape of the room is often filled with live sets by local DJs.
One of the newest additions to the Berlin cafe scene is Garten Mitte. As the name suggests, behind the modern-yet-warm front room lies a sprawling garden full of hard-to-snag tables and edible plants. Don’t miss the rotating daily pastries and carefully considered coffee program.
A perfect precursor to dinner across the street at Gazzo, Le Balto is serving up some seriously good wines on draft and snacks to cure hunger pains.
One of our favorite Berliner tendencies is the culture of hanging outside of corner stores. Unlike New York where doing so might earn you a ticket, in Berlin shops set up tables and chairs for you to enjoy your beer or soda right out front - a perfect quick and cheap place for a pre-dinner drink with the locals.
Another CPH favorite steps into the Berlin scene. You know & love this brewery, and has all the good vibes as Mekkeller does best.
We walked by this classic corner bar STACKED with friends having post-work drinks one night, and loved the energy it brought to the street. We didn’t get to indulge with a bevvy this time around, but already can’t wait to head here on our next Berlin trip.
If you find yourself in Tiergarten park craving a snack and a coffee, head to the park’s name-sake cafe for caffeine in a seriously gorgeous space.
So much of Berlin is hidden down little alleyways that feel like secrets that you’ve discovered. Andreas Murkudis is a shop that is an entire world of its own. From customizable lipsticks, to small (& big) European labels, you’ll either leave this large and light-filled store feeling inspired or a few hundred euros short.
Another alleyway find…Voo has merchandising that gives the shopper a sense of discovery. You’ll find Prada’s newest knits, and handmade drippy candles sitting in harmony. You can also use this as a coffee stop and grab a bevvy from their shop cafe.
This cool-girl boutique is full of colorful gems that are curated to the shop’s edgy vision. Fabrics with fun textures and interested color combinations line Cruba’s tables and walls, with pieces from their own collections.
We love a good design book store, and do you read me?! is the place to be on this busy Berlin street. Pop in for a 30 minute walking break of flipping through a great selection of art & design books.
You simply can’t travel to a European city without hitting up the best flea markets. The flea at the Bode Museum is small but mighty, serving as the perfect sight to see while on your way to museum island. While Mauerpark Flohmarket is a bigger affair, perfect for an afternoon of thrift-serious travelers.
In a world of art store chains…there’s Modular. This is THE art & stationary & design materials shop…right in the middle of Berlin. Block off an hour or two to explore the multi-floor paradise of perfect pens and every color sequin your heart can dream of.
Swiss-based sustainable bag company, Freitag, is known for making one-of-a-kind pieces out of recycled tarps from Semi Trucks. They are also known for being very hard to find. In Berlin, their style just makes sense, and their store is huge!
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Right in the middle of Mitte along the river, are two parks that sit side by side with a gorgeous view of Museum Island. If you’re one to visit a park during travels, this is it. Grab a pastry, some beers and a deck of cards for a perfect afternoon in the sun spent people watching in Berlin.
What was once a major airfield south of Berlin’s city center has become the city’s edgy iteration of a park. Equally popular for skateboarding and for picnics, this sprawling example of urban re-use is where Berlin’s cool kids hang out on sunny days.
Inside of Berlin’s most popular park (essentially the city’s version of Central Park) lies a small collection of rowboats available for rent…it is extremely important for you to take an hour out of your afternoon to enjoy some time on the calm pond where you can row. Afterwards grab a beer and a pretzel at the adjacent Cafe am Neuen See.
On Berlin’s central ‘Museum Island’ there are a number of galleries and history museums - each with their own flavor and focus. While we were in Berlin we loved visiting the wide-ranging collection of pictures at the Alte Nationalgalerie and seeing the impressive, often ancient and medieval works on display at the Bode Museum.
We’re not typically ones to go on a tour while traveling…but for some reason a food tour in Berlin just felt right. We wanted to get the ins and outs of a local’s perspective of German delicacies like spetzel and doner. We loved this small group tour (and while the tour may go on a few of the spots we listed in this guide), the local’s tour of a city never disappoints.
