All the recommendations have been great so far I think, especially on Kreuz & P Berg. For specifics, in Kreuzberg, after walking around and working up an appetite, there's a 24Hr Doener place that I remember being fantastic right on the corner at the Schelsiches Tor U-Bahn.
Schlesisches Tor (Tor = bigger gate / city gate). There is tons of stuff near that place.
Also at this same station, right under the tracks, in an old converted bathroom!, is the location of the best burger I've probably ever had in my life at Burgermeister.
And quite overrun by tourists usually. There are a good few more nice burger places for example in Friedrichshain, and while well visited, not totally hogged down by visitors.
😀
Went bankrupt; they used to be located at Mitte in an quite awesome location before they moved to Kreuzberg. Now it is called "Festsaal Kreuzberg" since (more or less) begin of this year; which itself used to be located close to Kottbusser Tor, but burned down a few years ago.
There is a nice
war memorial there for everyone interested in this kinda stuff. That aside, Treptower Park as such is a nice area to take a breath or relax in the evening.
and taking the Berlin Unterwelt tour of one of the old Flak towers.
Keyword and S-Bahn/U-Bahn station name is "Gesundbrunnen", for reference. The Berlin Unterwelten guys have a couple other locations to visit, but photography is generally not permitted, unfortunately.
The area between Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamer Platz and Friedrichstraße is not really that cool but you will probably find a place for breakfast there too (probably more expensive).
Well, might be worth strolling through and getting an idea of what it is all about. This includes Brandenburger Tor and a few other places in central Berlin, too.
Cold war .. hmm Teufelsberg and the big surveillance station there.
Avoid stomping around deeper into some of the buildings (certain building materials are unhealthy ...), but going up the main tower and visiting some of the artsy stuff is certainly worth a recommendation. Even if you skip on that, visiting the nearby "Drachenberg" will give you a nice view over the city. Best done during sunrise (sun coming up somewhere left of the main part of the city) or closer to the evening hours (sun shining from behind on the city).
I'm thinking of doing a brief study of Tempelhof, depending on access to the main building and apron area
I've never been into the main building, but there are some tours afaik. The airfield itself is a wide open area, parts of it closed off to give certain birds some room, and the runways are used for all kinds of activities. Also, some parts are open for BBQing.
Berlin is actually best during the summer time, because it has a lot of green in it. Many streets are lined with trees, you have many parks of various sizes, including the larger Tiergarten in the very center of the city. Although the name "Tiergarten" might hint on it (Tier = animal, garten = garden), actual zoos are called "Zoo" and "Tierpark", former also having a dedicated "Aquarium", latter having much more room and feels like an actual park.
Except for the city center you will run into quite a few people with beer in their hands roaming around, you have tons of pubs (including a good few microbreweries), restaurants of all sorts, and usually for ok prices, unless you hang around in the city center.
Berlin is active night and day, especially over weekends; you have tons of "Spätis" all around which offer drinks and snacks over the night hours, plus more and more shops have open up until midnight (and some 24/7). If up early, you may encounter the odd party zombies running around in the early hours, still
😀 Especially the more "hipster" parts of the city are also quite dirty in places; in return that's where you will also find lots of interesting things.
As for getting around beside your own feet: There are some rental bike stations, if you are into that, but Berlin traffic is, hmm, "fun". With public transport you can reach/cover
a vast area, and this diagram doesn't even show the bus and tram stops (tram in the eastern part of the city, only). There you see the ring (lines S-Bahn S41/S42, one going clockwise, the other counter-clockwise), which also defines the limits of zone A. Normal tickets cover A+B (see the different gray backgrounds); going to Potsdam (
Park Sanssouci?) requires a connecting ticket (like €1.40 or so currently, one way). Instead of taking a dedicated tourist bus I'd suggest taking bus line 100 and 200, which take you through many of the interesting parts of inner Berlin. That is probably cheaper, however, noone will tell you what is what. Note that during normal working days, most lines shut down latest towards 1am; there are however some night lines / replacements (via bus for example) available. During the weekend public transportation runs 24/7.
As for locations, which haven't been mentioned, yet: TV tower (if you want to go up there, do it in the early hours, I think they open up at 9 or so), and there are a few more places where you can have an overview of the city (see more or less badly
translated article, Funkturm image is taken from Drachenberg location most probably, btw.). Near Alexanderplatz you have some old buildings from old East Germany times, the ex Stalinallee has been mentioned already (I suggest Warschauer Tor and maybe Strausberger Allee, both stations on the U5 subway line starting at Alexanderplatz). Schloß (="castle") Charlottenburg and the park.
Last but not least, if you like building cranes, Warschauer Straße S-/U-Bahn/tram/bus station is the place to go currently.
😀 It is also the connecting hub between Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, means there are a heck lot of people moving not only between the S- and U-Bahn station, but also between these two parts of the city.
