Berlin in June with friends: must sees, transport and hotel tips?

[Sennysem]

Myself and 3 friends are heading to Berlin at the start of June.
can anyone recommend the top things to do/see?
also is there good public transport if we stayed a bit further out from the centre? Or can anyone recommend a nice central hotel?
Any tips greatly appreciated!

If you go on Easyjet there are lots of reasonable hotels in the centre. Alexanderplatz or along the Spree is a good location as it’s near S-Bahn, U-Bahn and tram stops. Good buses too. You can get a welcome card at the airport which once validated means you can use any of the transport the whole time you are there.

Such a great city, fantastic night life and public transport is straightforward and reliable.

For a first visit I’d definitely go to Alexander platz and up the TV tower (Fernsehturm) on a clear day, then walk past the Rotes Rathouse and wander round the reconstructed old part of Berlin (Nikoleiviertel). I’d have a traditional heavy German meal at Zur Gerichtslaube. I might pop to Museum Island and visit the German Historical Museum (only 7 Eur) if I wasn’t too exhausted.
Then I’d go back by to the hotel for a snooze, and hit the bars of Mitte in the evening , once pleasantly drunk I’d have a spicy kebab (sooooo much better than anything you can buy in the Uk) and find a club or bar and stay out very late.

Next day I’d probably have a lie in then take a boat ride with a guided tour on the river Spree, have a light lunch and then go back to the hotel for a nap. Then in the afternoon I’d head to Kreuzberg - Checkpoint Charlie - the Wall museum which is open until 8pm daily (it is a very popular place so you could get there at 6pm and then spend 90mins browsing the exhibits, then another night hitting the cool bars in Kreuzberg.

public transport is excellent. i highly recommend getting a berlin welcome card- you can get one that covers all transport and most visitor attractions.

www.berlin-welcomecard.de/en/berlin-welcomecard-all-inclusive

my favourite 3 things:
tv tower
high swing
body worlds

favourite restaurants:
block house
pick and cheese (conveyer belt with cheese)
Hofbräu Wirtshaus

There is a premier inn in alexanderplatz that is actually really nice and central to everything.

I think I stayed in the Alexanderplatz Premier Inn a couple of years ago. The room was really nice, with a very nice shower room. Staff were friendly and helpful. If you’re young there are lots of hostels.

I’m fairly crap at doing touristy things. We happened upon an outdoor Latino food and music street festival which was fab. The hotel was near the massive park; we had a couple of lovely breakfast / lunches in the two restaurants adjacent to each other by the lake in the park (one traditional German sausage and frites and one more health-conscious). Wasp-central though.

When we were wandering around after visiting the Berlin Wall we found a mini-commune with daytime live reggae and Caribbean and African food. It backed onto the river, which was fun and spontaneous. We walked a bit around a section which still has old building and trees. That was nice on a very hot day.
We saw an exhibition of Nazi history and atrocities. That was very sad of course.

If you stay at Alexanderplatz you can walk to loads - Fernsehtur, Nikolaiviertel, then over the road to the DDR Museum and then just walk over the river to MuseumInsel, then you can wander up the Unter Den Linden to Brandenburg Tor (via the Gendarmenmarkt) and then turn left to the Jewish Memorial and the Topographie of Terror, or right to the Reichstag (which you have to book well in advance). Big park by the Brandenburg Tor. There are river cruises outside the DDR Museum.

There are loads of other great things to do but these are all relatively close to one another so you’re spoiled for choice as to how to spend a day.

The Reichstag and the German history museum. The GDR museum was fascinating. We went to a modern art gallery in an old station and looked at the wall.